Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1547512
24 NOV. 14, 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 1. Notre Dame Rediscovers Defensive Identity Miami wide receiver Cooper Barkate went in motion prior to the Hurricanes' first third-down attempt of the game. Notre Dame nickel back Christian Gray ran with him. Gray running with Barkate was a clear man cov- erage indicator. Sure enough, that's what Notre Dame played throughout the vast majority of its 31-24 win over Miami. Notre Dame fans wanted man coverage after watching heavy doses of soft zone in losses to BYU, Texas A&M and these very Canes over the past two seasons. They weren't the only ones. The players did, too. "When you're playing man, it's very simple," senior safety Luke Talich said. "You got your guy and you better not, you know, don't let him win. That gets the guys going in the DB room. We love playing man coverage, and we want to prove that we're better than the guy across from us." This was the Notre Dame defense at its best. It lost its identity in its first three marquee games of the past two seasons, ever since that identity propelled it to the national championship game following the 2024 season. In the fourth, the Irish got it back. "We were playing a lot of man coverage today," Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said. "And that was something we went into the game saying we have to be able to do. Our guys want to do it. Let's do it." 2. Freeman's Aggressiveness Wins On fourth-and-1 at the Miami 49-yard line, Notre Dame's punt unit didn't move. He went for it, he got it with a 4-yard run from sophomore running back Nolan James Jr. and he eventually got points out of it, with a 44-yard Spen- cer Porath field goal. It was an obvious go-for-it situation, and it helped the Irish win the game. "The decisions I make, when we go for it on fourth down, have nothing to do with the oppo- nent," Freeman said. "It had to do with what we believe, what I believe in terms of when we go for it on fourth or not." In the fourth quarter, Notre Dame faced fourth- and-2 on the Miami 43-yard line with a seven-point lead. Again, no hesitation. The Canes busted their coverage and James broke free for a 36-yard gain that set up the eventual game-winning touchdown. Contrast that to Miami head coach Mario Cris- tobal, who kicked a field goal on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line. That is, in layman's terms, lighting win probability on fire. 3. Luke Talich: All-American? Mid-press conference, Freeman watched Talich, junior quarterback CJ Carr and senior defensive end Boubacar Traore walk into the Bob Hinton Media Room as roaring cheers rained down on them from the tunnel. Freeman grinned as wide as he had all season and turned toward his star players. "Y'all earned that, man!" Freeman said. "Enjoy it. You all earned it. I'm proud of you all, man." After the Miami game, it's time to start discuss- ing the 6-foot-4 wunderkind from Wyoming as a potential All-American. More importantly, his two game-saving plays will go down in program history. First, with a seven-point lead, Talich picked off his team-leading third pass of the season in (sur- prise!) man coverage on Miami tight end Elija Lofton. He read the out-breaking route like a book; Miami quarterback Darian Mensah threw late to the wide side of the field and Talich made the play. Later, again with the Irish up seven, Talich knocked the ball out of Lofton's hands in the end zone on fourth-and-6 with the game on the line. "I felt like I got the ball out," Talich said. "Felt like he didn't have control of it." 4. Notre Dame's Terrifying Pass Rush Duo Is Back With A Vengeance Bryce Young was invisible against BYU. Boubacar Traore was out of the game with a targeting dis- qualification. Had the former stepped up or the latter stayed on the field, Notre Dame would likely be looking at an undefeated season. Young led Notre Dame with 8 quarterback pres- sures. Traore was right behind him with 7. It's only fitting that they combined for the sack on the Canes' last-gasp drive that all but extinguished any prayer they still had. Traore was also a hell-raising demon against the run, knocking Mensah back at the goal line during Notre Dame's stand and making a tackle for loss on its first third-down stop. 5. Notre Dame Played At A Championship Level We've judged Notre Dame's performances this season on two sets of criteria: 1. Would this be good enough to beat Miami? And 2. Does this look like a national championship-caliber team? In their first eight games, the Irish didn't meet those qualifications as much as they would have liked. Against the Hurricanes, they obviously ful- filled the first one and I think they absolutely ful- filled the second one. Notre Dame was the better team from start to finish against the No. 1 team in the country, and the score probably wouldn't have been as close if its starting cornerbacks had stayed healthy. The team that took the field in South Bend against Miami is capable of winning it all. On that front, the Irish left no doubt. ✦ FIVE THOUGHTS BY JACK SOBLE Junior cornerback Leonard Moore helped Notre Dame's aggressive man coverage contain Miami's pass- ing attack, with his temporary absence opening the door for the Hurricanes' second-half rally. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER