Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1547512
20 NOV. 14, 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED Items: Miami's 19-yard field goal came with 6:25 remaining after a 14-play, 83- yard drive. THIRD QUARTER NOTRE DAME 24, MIAMI 17 Top Moment: Senior safety Luke Ta- lich halted the Hurricanes momentum. After consecutive Miami touchdown drives, he intercepted Mensah near mid- field with 1:44 remaining in the quarter, ending another promising possession. Feature Performer: Despite the inter- ception, Mensah brought Miami back into contention, completing 10 of 18 passes for 117 yards with 2 touchdowns, one each to Elija Lofton and Cooper Barkate. Stats: Miami outgained Notre Dame 126-50 and collected 8 first downs to the Irish's 2 … The Hurricanes converted 3 of 5 third downs … Notre Dame went 0 of 2. Items: Gilbert caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from Carr at 12:05, ex- tending Notre Dame's lead to 24-3 after a 56-yard Jordan Faison punt return set up the short field. FOURTH QUARTER NOTRE DAME 31, MIAMI 24 Top Moment: Talich delivered an- other critical play, breaking up a fourth- down pass intended for Lofton in the end zone with 3:36 remaining, preserving Notre Dame's seven-point lead. Feature Performer: James scored what proved to be the winning touch- down on a 1-yard run with 12:55 remain- ing. Later, he carried 6 times for 19 yards on a clock-draining possession that forced Miami to use its final two timeouts. Stats: Notre Dame gained 111 yards on 19 plays to Miami's 106 on 18. The Irish converted 2 of 6 third downs … The Hur- ricanes went 2 of 3. Items: Mensah's 1-yard touchdown pass to Cooper Barkate cut the lead to 31- 24 with 9:53 left … Leonard Moore forced a fumble on Miami's final play, and Aus- berry recovered it. ✦ Senior defensive end Boubacar Traore and the Irish defense limited Miami's potent offense to season lows of 3 points and 145 total yards in the first half. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER NOTRE DAME 31, MIAMI 24 Nov. 7, 2026 ✦ Attendance: 77,622 Notre Dame Stadium ✦ South Bend 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final Miami 0 3 14 7 24 Notre Dame 3 14 7 7 31 UM ND FIRST QUARTER ND Porath 44-yard field goal 9:38 0 3 Drive: 12 plays, 50 yards, 5:22 SECOND QUARTER ND Faison 27-yard pass from Carr (Porath kick) 14:02 0 10 Drive: 4 plays, 65 yards, 1:22 UM Weinberg 19-yard field goal 6:25 3 10 Drive: 14 plays, 83 yards, 7:33 ND Gilbert 18-yard pass from Carr (Porath kick) 0:29 3 17 Drive: 8 plays, 81 yards, 1:39 THIRD QUARTER ND Gilbert 20-yard pass from Carr (Porath kick) 12:05 3 24 Drive: 3 plays, 30 yards, 1:19 UM Lofton 12-yard pass from Mensah (Weinberg kick) 8:26 10 24 Drive: 11 plays, 65 yards, 3:39 UM Barkate 12-yard pass from Mensah (Weinberg kick) 5:29 17 24 Drive: 6 plays, 52 yards, 1:58 FOURTH QUARTER ND James 1-yard run (Porath kick) 12:55 17 31 Drive: 8 plays, 51 yards, 3:49 UM Barkate 1-yard pass from Mensah (Weinberg kick) 9:53 24 31 Drive: 7 plays, 75 yards, 3:02 UM ND Total First Downs 21 22 Rushing 4 6 Passing 13 14 Penalty 4 2 Rushing Attempts 28 29 Yards Gained Rushing 121 98 Yards Lost Rushing 20 5 Net Yards Rushing 101 93 Net Yards Passing 276 319 Passes Attempted 43 40 Passes Completed 24 29 Had Intercepted 1 0 Percent Completion 55.8% 72.5% Yards Per Attempt 6.4 8.0 Yards Per Completion 11.5 11.0 Total Offensive Plays 71 69 Total Net Yards 377 412 Average Gain Per Play 5.3 6.0 Fumbles: No.-Lost 2-1 0-0 Penalties: No.-Yards 5-30 7-56 Punts: No.-Yards 5-219 5-203 Average Per Punt 43.8 40.6 Average Net Punt 32.8 40.6 Punt Returns: No.-Yards 0-0 2-55 Kickoff Returns: No.-Yards 2-39 0-0 Interception Returns: No.-Yards 0-0 1-0 Fumble Returns: No.-Yards 0-0 1-8 Miscellaneous Yards 0 0 Possession Time 29:05 30:55 Third-Down Conversions 6-14 5-15 Percentage 42.9% 33.3% Fourth-Down Conversions 1-2 2-2 Percentage 50.0% 100.0% Sacks By: No.-Yards 0-0 2-14