Miami came to South Bend, Indiana, on Saturday, November 7, 2026, as the only undefeated team at the top of American college football, ranked first in the Associated Press poll and first in the season's opening College Football Playoff rankings. It left Notre Dame Stadium with a 31-24 defeat and its first loss of the season.
Notre Dame, fourth in the AP poll and eleventh in the playoff rankings, scored on its opening drive and never trailed. The Irish led 17-3 at halftime and 24-3 early in the third quarter before Miami's comeback began. Both teams finished the night 8-1.
The numbers
Quarterback CJ Carr threw for 319 yards and three touchdown passes for Notre Dame, two of them caught by Micah Gilbert and one by Jordan Faison. Nolan James Jr. added a rushing score. The quarter-by-quarter line tells the shape of the game: Notre Dame 3-14-7-7, Miami 0-3-14-7.
Miami's Darian Mensah also threw three touchdown passes, two to Cooper Barkate and one to Elija Lofton, and the Hurricanes twice cut the deficit to a single score. The drive that would have tied it ended with a Lofton catch in the end zone ruled incomplete after a hit by Notre Dame safety Luke Talich, who had already intercepted a pass in the third quarter.
Two earlier moments mattered as much as the last one. Miami reached first-and-goal at the Notre Dame 1 in the second quarter and came away with a field goal rather than seven points — the margin of the game, in the end, was the same seven. And the Hurricanes played without wide receiver Malachi Toney, out injured.
Kickoff temperature was about 40 degrees Fahrenheit and fell into the mid-30s, conditions far removed from Miami's home field.
What it does to the playoff picture
The first playoff rankings of the season, released days earlier, had Miami first, Georgia second and Utah third. Saturday rearranged the board rather than settling it: Utah and UCLA, both 9-0, are now the only unbeaten teams in the top division, after Utah beat BYU 28-20 and UCLA beat Minnesota 34-20.
Elsewhere among ranked teams, Georgia routed Ole Miss 42-7, Alabama beat LSU 31-13, Tennessee beat Kentucky 34-6, Texas beat Missouri 34-20, and Oregon came back from 14-0 down to beat Ohio State 41-28.
For Notre Dame, which plays no conference schedule and therefore has no conference title game to lean on, a win of this size is the sort of result the selection committee is asked to weigh directly. According to CBS News, the Irish are now 10-17-1 all-time against teams ranked No. 1, and had not beaten a top-ranked opponent in six years.
Miami hosts Duke next Saturday; Notre Dame hosts Boston College.
Reporting from CBS News, ESPN and NCAA.com.
