Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM NOV. 14, 2026 25 PASSING ATTACK LIFTS NOTRE DAME'S OFFENSE With one spinning, toe-tapping touchdown reception early in the sec- ond quarter, senior wide receiver Jordan Faison announced that Notre Dame's passing attack could meet the moment against No. 1 Miami. When the Irish played on a big stage earlier this season at then-No. 8 BYU, they finished the game without a single touchdown reception. But against the Hurricanes, the Irish hauled in 3 touch- down passes from junior quarterback CJ Carr in a 31-24 victory. The breakthrough touchdown recep- tion by Faison, which gave the Irish a 10-0 lead, reminded his fellow wide re- ceivers to keep attacking. "We all feed off each other," junior wide receiver Micah Gilbert said. "See- ing that, which was a hell of a play, be- ing able to toe tap on the sideline, keep feet in and catch that ball. Seeing that, we all boost off that." Gilbert made the most of his touch- down opportunities as well. He beat cornerback Xavier Lucas in man cover- age on a run-pass option throw by Carr for an 18-yard touchdown with 29 sec- onds remaining in the second quarter. Then Gilbert ran into a zone opening for a 20-yard touchdown reception from Carr early in the third quarter. Particularly on the RPO play, Gilbert didn't necessarily know that the ball would come his way. Carr could have handed the ball to junior running back Aneyas Williams. But Gilbert made sure to beat his defender to the inside to be available for Carr. "Unbelievable consistency," Carr said of Gilbert's performance. "A guy who shows up play after play, doing his job, willing to block, and then makes big plays when the ball goes his way." Gilbert, who finished with a team- high 9 receptions for 98 yards, and Faison, who contributed 6 catches for 77 yards, weren't the only reliable con- tributors for Carr in the passing game. Junior wide receiver Mylan Graham caught all 3 of his targets for 32 yards. Freshman running back Jonaz Walton turned his 3 targets into 3 catches for 26 yards. But Notre Dame's longest reception of the game went to sophomore running back Nolan James Jr., who ran open on a swing route on a fourth-and-2 conver- sion that eventually led to Notre Dame's final touchdown, which James scored MIAMI GAME NOTES BY TYLER JAMES AND ERIC HANSEN Senior wide receiver Jordan Faison's toe-tapping 27-yard touchdown catch sparked Notre Dame's passing attack and gave the Irish a 10-0 lead early in the sec- ond quarter of their 31-24 victory over No. 1 Miami. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER MISCELLANEOUS NOTES • With its 31-24 victory over Miami, Notre Dame now leads the series 19-9-1. • Head coach Marcus Freeman improved to 15-2 in his career in the month of November, includ- ing 12 straight November wins since a loss at Clemson on Nov. 4, 2023. He is now 8-0 at Notre Dame Stadium in November. • The Irish are now 23-4 against current ACC opponents under Freeman. He now has five wins against ACC opponents in every season he has coached at Notre Dame. • Notre Dame is now 16-4-1 all time on Nov. 7, including 9-2 at home. The previous Nov. 7 home game was the 2020 double-overtime win over Clemson (47-40) — also Notre Dame's previous win over an Associated Press No. 1 team. • Junior quarterback CJ Carr tossed a pair of touchdown passes in the second quarter, one to senior wide receiver Jordan Faison and one to junior wide receiver Micah Gilbert with 29 seconds left in the half. It was his seventh game with multiple touchdown passes this season and his fifth with multiple first-half touchdown passes.