Miami beats Notre Dame in Irish style: more physical play

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – It’s hardly an identity crisis, but an identity swap unfolded here Sunday night beneath a steady rain and heavier humidity inside Hard Rock Stadium.

Showcased: a new Miami.

Laid bare, at least for one night: the Notre Dame program that previously established its physical bona fides throughout its enduring march to the College Football Playoff Championship game to cap 2024.

These weren’t your Marcus Freeman Fighting Irish, and that’s a problem for them.

These weren’t the porous, tatter-like-wet-toilet-paper Hurricanes that limped down the stretch of last season, either.

Miami outlasted No. 6 Notre Dame, 27-24, despite blowing late-game leads of 21-7 and 24-14. 

"It was a muddy and bloody night," Canes coach Mario Cristobal. noting some 150 recruits witnessed this game in person, said. "All night it was like rock-em, sock-em robots. First of all, hats off to Coach Freeman and his team, because he has an unbelievably talented and competitive team and a great coaching staff. He has done an awesome job. 

"We knew this game was going to be about who has one more shot in them. Who is willing to go and not let anything get in the way of doing their job? Everything was about the players and doing our jobs on every single play. They took to that challenge and they ate it up. They got after it all the way to the end and sometimes domination takes place on the final play of the game and that is what happened."

The Hurricanes never turned over the ball.

Prized quarterback Carson Beck, the NCAA Transfer Portal acquisition via Georgia, had two highlight-reel touchdown passes, but his jersey mostly told the story of this game.

It was nearly as clean at game’s end as it was coming out of the pre-game tunnel. Beck was sacked just once, deep into the second half, and the Irish, among college football’s best and most aggressive defenses a year ago, mustered just two total tackles for losses.

Entering Year 4 with Freeman as its head coach, and, frankly, even with his thumbprints on the defensive composition from his 2021 campaign as coordinator, Notre Dame has redoubled its efforts to fashion a faster, more athletic, explosive roster – the likes of those permeating the Southeastern Conference, as well as Ohio State and select outposts.

This, Freeman often reminds, while remaining "an offensive line and defensive line-driven program."

Those lines, on this night, too often were driven back. Ultimately, Notre Dame averaged 3.3 yards per carry. It did not rush for 100 total yards.

Deep into the second half and with seven offensive possessions to its credit, Notre Dame had leaned on reigning and consensus All-American running back Jeremiyah Love to the tune of just five touches, four of them rushes.

Love should often have been the best player on the field. Too often he was a decoy, if not a footnote.

“The effort was there. I guess you've got to give credit to their team. I've told the guys in the locker room, we have to play harder, longer,” Freeman said, asked if his team met Miami’s intensity and physicality- especially early. “We played hard, but they played hard too. Both of us played hard. We had some self-inflicted wounds that we can't have, but I think our guys played well.

“Our O-line stepped up to the challenge. We didn't always run the ball. Listen, that two-minute situation where everybody knows we have to throw the ball. We got Styles (Prescod) in there because (starting left tackle Anthonie) Knapp went down. It's a tough situation and so I'm not going to evaluate them just off of the two-minute situation. We got to find a way to win the game in that situation, but I thought, for the most part, the O-line did a good job.

“D-line, I want to be more dominant. My expectation for that unit is to dominate the game in the run and the pass, put pressure on the quarterback and stop the run. And credit to Miami, we weren't able to do that, but that's my expectation for those guys.”

Freeman's expectation is fair, because he has demanded and developed it throughout his time with the program.

An expectation met on this night - more consistently and often by Miami, rather than Notre Dame. 

What’s the Irish identity moving forward, with top-20 Texas A&M visiting in 12 days and 10 more games to follow?

It better look more like Sunday night — like Miami did through four quarters.