CJ Carr (13) in first quarter action (Photo Credit: AJ Houk)
Notre Dame kicked off their season where the Irish achieved their last win of the season a year ago, at rainy Hard Rock Stadium. This time-around, however, it was a true road game for the Irish as they squared off against the Miami Hurricanes. When asked about the potential rain in the forecast, head coach Marcus Freeman stated it would not be an issue. “We’ve had some opportunities to practice with wet balls in practice, and if it happens to rain, I think our guys will handle it perfectly.” But, on a rainy Sunday evening, Notre Dame dug themselves in too deep of a hole to crawl out of, as the Miami Hurricanes claimed the opener in South Beach 27-24.
The first quarter was full of first game jitters by both teams, as Notre Dame coughed up its first turnover of the year due to a Malachi Fields fumble after hulling in a screen pass. However, when Miami attempted to notch the first points of the game with a field goal attempt, Dylan Joyce could not handle the snap, and the Hurricanes could not even get the attempt off before Joyce was forced out-of-bounds.
Miiami started the scoring in the second quarter as Carson Beck threw his first of two touchdowns in the game, as Beck hit true freshman Malachi Toney with Notre Dame defenders in his face. A few drives later, Notre Dame answered when CJ Carr threw his first touchdown of his Notre Dame career when he hit freshman Micah Gilbert for a six. It was an acrobatic play, as the play started on the seven-yard line, Carr had to retreat to the 29-yard-line when he was forced back by a few Hurricane defenders and eventually threw a dart on the run to the freshman to tie the game.
In the final drive of the half, Beck led the Hurricanes on a touchdown drive which was capped with an early candidate for catch of the year catch by CJ Daniels. Safety Adon Shuler was patiently waiting for the interception, but a one-handed snag by Daniels gave the Hurricanes a 14-7 lead heading into halftime.
The end of the first half for the Hurricanes was a carbon copy of their opening drive of the second half, Beck led his team right down the field as CharMar Brown punched it in from five yards out. The Hurricanes opening drive took up the first seven minutes of the second half, and the Irish found themselves down 21-7.
The Irish never quit, despite being down two touchdowns going into the fourth quarter. The Irish defense forced some three and outs and then at the start of the fourth, Carr hit speedster Jordan Faison for a 1-yard score to cut the lead to 21-14. After an exchange of field goals by both teams, Bryce Young pressured Carson Beck to force an errant throw with five minutes left in the fourth quarter to give the Irish offense a chance to tie the game. After a Hurricane punt, Carr found tight end Eli Raridon for a 65-yard completion to set up a Carr 7-yard touchdown run to tie the game with 3:21 left.
On the Hurricanes final offensive possession, a pass interference call on Notre Dame’s Christian Gray gave Miami prime field position to take the lead. Carter Davis snuck a 47-yard field goal inside the right upright to take a 27-24 lead with 1:04 left. With no timeouts, the Irish offensive line gave Carr little time to throw, and the Hurricanes defensive line forced an intentional grounding which was sunk any hope of an Irish comeback.
Unexpectedly, Miami won the game in the trenches. Beck had plenty of time to stand back and throw, and finished with 205 passing yards and two scores. “We’ve got to be better with our four-man rushes… I feel like they did a good job protecting the quarterback” said Freeman about his pass rush. Throughout the offseason, the Irish backfield and offensive line was supposed to be an asset. On Sunday night, Notre Dame’s inability to run the football due to ineffective offensive line play was largely why the Hurricanes came away victorious. Running back sensation Jeremiyah Love had a total of 14 touches for 59 yards. The Irish are still trying to figure out their offensive line play, as Charles Jagusah is still out with an injury for at least another month. “The effort was there. You’ve got to give credit to their team . . . we played hard, but they played hard too. We had some self-inflicted wounds that we cannot have” when Freeman was asked about the o-line play.
Despite CJ Carr’s outstanding performance in his debut, the Irish fell short in South Beach and open the season 0-1. “He’s going to be a really good quarterback. Everything I thought he was going to be. He’s a gamer, man” said Freeman. Carr finished with 221 yards passing and three total touchdowns.
Notre Dame has two weeks to prepare for Texas A&M, when the Aggies come to South Bend for a primetime matchup on September 13, 2025. The Aggies will be looking for revenge after the Irish won at College Station last year. Texas A&M opened up its season Saturday with a 42-24 win against UTSA and will take on Utah State next week in College Station.