Notre Dame handed No. 1 Miami its first loss of the season Saturday night, beating the Hurricanes 31-24 in South Bend to keep its College Football Playoff hopes alive, as reported by Forbes. Both teams now sit at 8-1.
CJ Carr was the story. The Irish quarterback went 29-of-40 for 319 yards and three touchdowns with no picks. Micah Gilbert had a career-high nine catches and two scores, and Jordan Faison made the highlight of the night early in the second quarter, keeping a toe in bounds on a 35-yard touchdown from Carr, per ClutchPoints. Faison also ripped off a 56-yard punt return that set up another score.
Miami quarterback Darian Mensah threw for 276 yards and three touchdowns, but the Canes played without star receiver Malachi Toney, who’s dealing with an ankle injury (more on Toney’s status here).
The Call Everybody’s Talking About
With about 3:36 left, Miami’s Elija Lofton looked like he hauled in a fourth-down pass in the end zone with both feet down. Notre Dame safety Luke Talich knocked the ball loose, and officials ruled it incomplete. Talich also had a third-quarter interception, so he was all over this game.
Mario Cristobal said he was “really, really disappointed” the touchdown was taken away, arguing his player had two hands on the ball and both feet in, per ClutchPoints.
The IAHHM Take
Miami became the fourth AP No. 1 team to go down this season. That tells you everything about how wide open this playoff race is. Notre Dame needed a signature win after losing at BYU, and now it has one. Miami isn’t done, but there’s very little room left for mistakes.
Was Lofton’s catch a touchdown? Sound off.
Source: Forbes
