South Bend remains a house of horrors for the Canes.
Despite the Hurricanes best efforts to undo a 21-point deficit in the third quarter, No. 1 Miami took its first loss of the season, 31-24, at the hands of the No. 11 Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
The loss marked Miami’s tenth loss in eleven trips to South Bend, remaining winless in the road matchup across the past 42 years.
Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr led the way for the Fighting Irish with 319 yards and three touchdowns, two of those to Micah Gilbert who led the team with 98 receiving yards.
For Miami, Duke transfer duo Darian Mensah and Cooper Barkate led the near-comeback in the second half.
Mensah threw for 276 yards with three touchdowns and an interception, while Barkate stepped up in Malachi Toney’s absence (high ankle sprain) with 92 yards, 10 receptions and two touchdowns.
UM tight end Elija Lofton led both teams with 112 receiving yards, also notching a touchdown.
There was certainly no love lost between the historic rivals, who met for the 29th time Saturday evening.
With the home crowd behind them, Notre Dame jumped out to an early 10-0 lead in the first half, holding Miami scoreless in the opening quarter for the first time this season.
Carr torched the Hurricane defense early, who came into the matchup under the microscope after allowing 407 total yards and missing 14 tackles in Miami’s narrow 38-35 win over North Carolina last week.
On top of the defensive struggles, Miami also had to battle the loss of star wideout Toney, which proved crucial early. UM came into the matchup averaging a nation-best 47.6 points per game, but struggled to get the ball moving — only tallying 28 yards in the first quarter.
This was highlighted in the Canes settling for a field goal with 6:25 left in the second quarter after being stuffed at the one-yard line three separate times.
While Miami looked to win the “middle eight,” and get a footing into the game, Notre Dame broke free with a pair of touchdowns going into and coming out of the half.
Gilbert reeled in 18 and 20-yard touchdown grabs from Carr and sent Notre Dame fans wild with a 24-3 lead in the third quarter.
But as Notre Dame fans started chanting and throwing down the “U,” both Miami’s offense and defense answered the call.
What followed was a string of quick touchdown drives from the Canes and much-improved defensive stops, bringing Miami within one score at 24-17 in the fourth quarter.
But an interception from Mensah led to a Notre Dame score with just less than 13 minutes remaining, giving the Irish just enough cushion to see the game out at 31 points.
It wasn’t a comfortable win, however.
Miami continued to keep its head up and drove down the field with a 7-play, 75-yard drive ending in a one-yard Barkate score.
And following another defensive stop and subsequent offensive drive down the field, the Canes were left with fourth-and-six from Notre Dame’s 18 yard line.
Mensah looked to Lofton in the endzone who appeared to have completed the catch and stepped out of bounds, but officials ruled it incomplete after Luke Talich punched the ball out.
The controversial call left UM head coach Mario Cristobal furious on the sideline as Notre Dame subsequently killed enough time with just more than three minutes remaining to end any hope of a Hurricane comeback.
It was a must-win game for Notre Dame (8-1), who likely cements itself into the College Football Playoff as an at-large bid with its tenth win over an AP No. 1 opponent in program history.
Miami (8-1, 6-0 ACC) returns home with three games left in the regular season, starting with a Homecoming matchup against Duke on Nov. 14.
Kickoff is set for noon and will air on ABC.