Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1547512
22 NOV. 14, 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED TURNING POINT When Notre Dame's defense desperately needed a big play, senior safety Luke Talich took the ball away from Miami's offense. The No. 1 Hurricanes appeared on their way to erasing a 21-point deficit in the third quarter after their first two touchdowns of the game and a pair of defensive three-and-outs. Instead, Talich stepped in front of quarterback Darian Mensah's pass in- tended for tight end Elija Lofton and intercepted it near midfield. Talich offered a reprieve to an Irish secondary that started to have problems slowing down Men- sah and his pass catchers in the third quarter. It marked just the second interception of the season for Mensah. "The tight end, he's a really good player," Talich said of Lofton. "He was beating us on out routes during the game. I felt it coming, then I was able to slip that play and make a play on the ball. It was great momentum." Notre Dame's offense took advantage of the turn- over and ended its own skid with an 8-play, 51-yard touchdown drive to regain a 14-point lead with 12:55 remaining in the eventual 31-24 victory. STATS OF THE GAME Notre Dame became the first team to prevent Miami from scoring in a first quarter this season. The Irish also held the Hurricanes to season lows of 3 points and 145 total yards in the first half. Notre Dame's defense managed to be so effec- tive in the first half in large part due to limiting the Hurricanes to just one third-down conversion on six attempts. Miami finished 6 of 14 (42.9 percent) on third downs in the game, which was considerably lower than the 54.5 percent rate it carried into the matchup. With star Miami wide receiver Malachi Toney sidelined with an ankle injury, Cooper Barkate stepped up with 10 catches for 92 yards and 2 touchdowns for the Hurricanes. Barkate, who to- taled 72 catches for 1,106 yards and 7 touchdowns for Duke last season, hadn't caught more than 5 passes in a game this season. AN NFL SHOWCASE How much future NFL talent was on the field Nov. 7 in Notre Dame Stadium? Enough that 25 NFL teams sent representatives to the game. The press box had 41 seats reserved for NFL per- sonnel with multiple seats for 10 teams: Atlanta Falcons (2), Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers, Cleveland Browns (4), Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos (2), Detroit Lions (2), Green Bay Packers, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Jack- sonville Jaguars (2), Los Angeles Chargers, Los Ange- les Rams, Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings, New England Patriots, New Orleans Saints (2), New York Jets, Philadelphia Eagles (2), Pittsburgh Steelers, Seattle Seahawks (2), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5), Tennessee Titans (3) and Washington Commanders. THREE OBSERVATIONS BY TYLER JAMES QB CJ CARR Miami's Darian Mensah entered as the Heisman Trophy front-runner, but he was the second-best quarterback Nov. 7 at Notre Dame Stadium. Mensah found a rhythm in the second half, but Irish junior CJ Carr still outplayed him, throwing for a season-high 319 yards. Carr connected on 29 of 40 throws with 3 touchdowns while helping lead Notre Dame to the 10th win over a No. 1 team in school history. The 29 completions are a career high for Carr, who went interception-free and has thrown just 1 interception this season. Carr threw 2 touchdown passes to junior Micah Gilbert and 1 to senior Jordan Faison, giving him 21 this season. He completed passes to 10 different Irish players in the game. WR MICAH GILBERT When Notre Dame grabbed Ohio State transfer Quincy Porter out of the transfer portal in January to be its starting boundary receiver, junior Micah Gilbert was still considered a strong bet to make the wide receiver rotation. As a backup. With Porter out for the season with a knee injury, Gilbert assumed the starting role and is evolving into a star. Against Miami, Gilbert played all 69 offensive snaps and recorded a career-high 9 receptions for 98 yards and his fourth and fifth touchdowns of the season. Through nine games, he's Notre Dame's second-leading receiver, behind senior Jordan Faison, with 33 catches for 528 yards (16.0 yards a reception). S LUKE TALICH With each passing week, the man who was an injury replacement for a preseason All-American in the second half of Notre Dame's season opener Sept. 6 looks more and more like an All-American himself. When the Irish and Miami were at the epicenter of the college football universe, senior safety Luke Talich took another stride in that direction. The former walk-on from Wyoming collected 6 tackles, picked off the quarterback who entered the game leading the nation in passing efficiency, Darian Mensah, and then broke up a fourth-down pass in the end zone late in the fourth quarter as Notre Dame took down No. 1 Miami in an epic showdown. At some point in November, junior Brauntae Johnson is expected to return from a foot injury, but Talich keeps stacking standout performances. He had a career-high 10 tackles in the previous game, a 35-13 win over Navy on Halloween. That broke his previous high of 8 tackles recorded in the loss at BYU Oct. 17. Talich's interception late in the third quarter set up a Notre Dame touchdown in the fourth quarter that gave the Irish a 31-17 lead. But Miami (8-1) answered with a touchdown of its own and was driv- ing for the tying score when Mensah threw to tight end Elija Lofton in the end zone, and Talich broke up the fourth-down play. GAME BALLS BY ERIC HANSEN Junior quarterback CJ Carr completed a career-high 29 passes for a season-high 319 yards with 3 touchdowns to lead Notre Dame to a 31-24 victory over No. 1 Miami. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER