Notre Dame Lost To Miami, and Everything Will Be Okay: 25 Thoughts on the Irish's Tough Night

Notre Dame Lost To Miami, But It Was Close Enough - and That Matters

Miami is really good. We knew that going in.

Carson Beck is really good. That was forgotten/lost in the narrative of this offseason, but it was a given going in.

The Miami weather conditions were going to be brutal. 80 degrees, misting/rain, and about 10,000% humidity. We knew that going in.

What we didn’t know was whether or not CJ Carr could handle the moment.

We assumed he could, but the rest of the weekend wasn’t exactly a showcase for the newbie QBs.   

Ohio State’s Julian Sayin didn’t have to do much, but he came through. Other than that, and forgetting the openers some had against lightweights, Ty Simpson struggled for Alabama against the Florida State ferocity, and Arch Manning was just plain bad against the killer Buckeye defense. And Carr?

The coaching staff put the game on his shoulders. Obviously - to everyone but the broadcast team - the Irish were saving Jeremiyah Love for late, and were planning on making him the workhorse when it mattered.

In the extreme environment, and with the Rueben Bain and Akheem Mesidor jumping on his head for most of the game, Carr showed all the poise Irish fans could’ve asked for. Try this …

Carson Beck. Hero. Winner. 20-of-30, 205 yards, two touchdowns, 6.8 yards per throw, no rushing yards.

CJ Carr. 19-of-30, 221 yards, two touchdowns, 7.8 yards per throw, one pick that wasn’t quite his fault, one rushing score.

Aug 31, 2025; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish wide receiver Micah Gilbert (14) reacts after scoring a touchdown against the Miami Hurricanes during the second quarter at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

That Miami offensive front will be the best the Irish will face - maybe. Texas A&M's is great, but let's take a deep breath before diving in on that.

Miami offensive tackle Francis Mauigoa had himself a game. That group blasted away, the Hurricane receivers made a few miracle catches, the defensive front got its mail sent to the Irish backfield, and …

If the College Football Playoff committee goes by its new guidelines, this was about as acceptable a loss as it gets.

Texas losing at Ohio State in a fierce defensive battle was obviously okay. Clemson losing to LSU was fine, but that was at home. Alabama doing that against Florida State? Ehhhhhh …

27-24 with a gut-check comeback that came down to Carter Davis drilling a 47-yard field goal at home in front of a jacked-up program and crowd in those conditions? As tough losses come, that was more than okay.

The CFP committee is supposed to be into schedule strength and acceptable losses. It always did that, to a point, but trust me on this, it was more interested in giant wins rather than a tough loss and how that defeat happened. (Notre Dame caught a break on that in 2020 thanks to Texas A&M playing at Alabama in the regular season.)

Every College Football Playoff committee member watched the Notre Dame vs Miami game. And while the loss wasn’t ideal - yeah, no duh - that sure as shoot looked like a College Football Playoff team that ended up on the wrong end. However …

The Irish have to beat Texas A&M in two weeks, and they have to do it relatively impressively, because ...

At Arkansas, Boise State (maybe), NC State, USC, at Boston College, at Pitt, Syracuse - those are the dangerous remaining games. If you’re a College Football Playoff team - and bigger picture, if you’re a national championship contender - you rip through the rest of this schedule after dealing with Texas A&M.

Even 10-2 will probably get it done as long as that one other loss is acceptable, but that’s asking for help.

We know Notre Dame’s schedule is relatively manageable. Just keep winning.

We know what Marcus Freeman thinks about this team. He has said that he thinks it's better than last year’s version.

We know CJ Carr can ball out, and we know he might actually end up adding more to the passing game once he gets comfortable.

We know that this stinks. After all of the hype and all of the offseason excitement, this wasn't what the base was hoping for. But if the Irish are as good as we all know they are, even with this defeat …

It’s all going to be okay. | @PeteFiutak