Notre Dame Dethrones No. 1 Miami Amid Controversy

In one of the biggest games of the 2026 college football season, No. 11 Notre Dame upsets No. 1 Miami, 31-24, to keep their playoff hopes alive.

It feels like Irish fans have had this Nov. 7 matchup circled since December of 2025—ever since Miami got the nod for the final College Football Playoff spot despite the Irish winning their final 10 games of the season. Notre Dame felt misled by the committee, and they vowed to “Leave No Doubt” this season.

In this year’s iteration of “Catholics vs. Convicts,” the Catholics did not disappoint.

The Irish dominated the line of scrimmage, forcing two sacks and four tackles for loss in the contest while allowing quarterback CJ Carr to have on of his best games of the season. Carr finished with 319 yards and three touchdowns, completing 72.5% of his passes, to lead Notre Dame past the top team in the land.

The Irish jumped out to a commanding 17-3 lead in the first half, propelled by two touchdowns in the second quarter to receivers Jordan Faison and Micah Gilbert. Miami mounted a comeback in the second half behind a stellar two-touchdown performance by receiver Cooper Barkate, but could not finish the job against the relentless Irish defense.

Notre Dame fell to 11th in the first College Football Playoff rankings of the 2026 season, implying that the only path for the Irish to compete for a national championship was through the Hurricanes. With this win, a hypothetical 11-1 finish should all but secure a CFP berth.

“For so many people that love this place, it’s a special moment,” said Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman after the win. “You forget how hard it is to achieve special nights like tonight… [Miami] just kept battling and I said, ‘okay, if we get one more chance, we’ll get it done.’ And [the players] did.”

Despite a program-defining win, one play down the stretch steals the show.

Notre Dame vs. Officials

Miami had the ball in the redzone with 3:36 left to go in the game, down by a touchdown.

On fourth down, Miami quarterback Darian Mensah went for the endzone, hitting tight end Elija Lofton up top near the far-side pylon. Lofton caught the ball over his head and landed with two feet in the endzone while bringing the ball down, just as Notre Dame safety Luke Talich swatted the ball down to the turf.

The play was ruled incomplete on the field and upheld upon review.

Miami almost had some Mensah magic, this was ruled incomplete pic.twitter.com/lHSgxgiXFo

— gmannVOLS (@gmannVOLS) November 8, 2026

“Really, really disappointed that [the officials] negated Elija Lofton’s touchdown with two hands on the ball and two feet in bounds,” said a visibly disgruntled Miami head coach Mario Cristobal in his postgame press conference. “But like we told our team before we left Miami, do not leave it in the hands of the officials [because] that’s what you’re going to get out here.”

It was certainly a play that ruffled some feathers, and it could not have come at a bigger time for Miami. The play being ruled incomplete resulted in a turnover on downs, ending the Hurricane drive and setting up Notre Dame to run the clock.

Cristobal said postgame that he received “zero” explanation for the ruling.

“I could sit here and go all day. I know games get called back-and-forth, certain plays that determine certain games when you have instant replay,” said Cristobal. “You know I’m pissed off, so what do you want me to say? It’s bulls–t, and I’ll leave it at that.”

Talich etches his name into Notre Dame lore, becoming another hero in the ever-mystifying ND-Miami rivalry. He finished with two of the game’s biggest defensive plays: an interception at the end of the third quarter (that would lead to a Notre Dame touchdown) and the pass breakup in question.

“I felt like I got the ball out, I feel like he didn’t have control of it,” said Talich. “I was super pumped up when they upheld it.”

“I didn’t even see [Talich] knock the ball out at the end, so I thought it was a touchdown,” said Mensah. “You can’t leave it up to one play, you can’t leave it up to the officials… I have to play better.”

Many college football fans are left scratching their heads as a result of this pivotal play. As per the NCAA Rulebook, a receiver must satisfy the following for a completed catch to be awarded:

1. Secures firm control with the hand(s) or arm(s) of a live ball in flight
   before the ball touches the ground, and
2. Touches the ground inbounds with any part of the body, and then
3. Maintains control of the ball long enough to enable that player to
   perform an act common to the game, i.e., long enough to pitch or hand
   the ball, advance it, avoid or ward off an opponent, etc.

It is the third criteria that is in question here.

“He does not have the ball long enough to perform an act common to the game,” said NBC’s rule expert Terry McAulay on the broadcast. “You see [Lofton] bobble it just a little bit before the ball gets knocked out. It’s incomplete.”

Many will point to the fact that Lofton was able to get two feet in bounds before the ball was stripped. Many will point to the fact that the ball was caught over Lofton’s head, and that the act of bringing the ball down should, by rule, be included in the “process of the catch.” In any case, this play would have been incredibly difficult to overturn… and the ruling on the field was an incomplete pass.

Notre Dame knows a thing or two about pivotal officiating decisions in game-determining situations. Just three weeks prior to this matchup, the Irish left a call up to the officials on the final play of the game against BYU. Despite blatant pass interference and a second remaining on the clock, which the Big 12 admitted to later, BYU upset the then No. 2 Irish.

This time, Notre Dame was the beneficiary.

With the signature win that the committee claimed Notre Dame needed, the Irish look to finish out the regular season with three more wins and await Selection Sunday. The final push begins with Boston College coming to South Bend on Nov. 14 before hosting SMU and finishing on the road at Syracuse.

Miami records just its first loss of the season, so the Canes’ playoff hopes are far from over. They finish the regular season at home against Duke, Virginia Tech, and Boston College.