Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 20, 2017 21 that resulted in three interceptions (one returned for a score) and a lost fumble on another pass attempt was unable to compensate. The result eliminated Notre Dame from the College Football Playoff pic- ture and thrust Miami into it as a vi- able Final Four contender. "Miami was the better team to- day," Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly summarized. "They deserved to win. We're all … we didn't see this coming. We felt like we were pre- pared to play at a high level. We did not. We simply have to coach better and have to play better next week against Navy. "There's not really much we can take back right now other than our players are very disappointed, but understand that the most important thing is that this won't define who they are as individuals or as a team. They'll bounce back and play well next week against Navy." FIRST QUARTER: MIAMI 14, NOTRE DAME 0 Top Moments: Miami, which had not scored a first-quarter touchdown since Sept. 29, reached the end zone twice in a span of 1:28. First, with 4:01 left, Miami quarter- back Malik Rosier on second down threw a seven-yard fade to Braxton Berrios for a seven-yard touchdown to cap an eight-play, 58-yard drive. Then after an interception by safety Jaquan Johnson set up Miami at Notre Dame's 32-yard line, Rosier on the second play took a draw for a 16-yard score with 2:33 remaining. Top Performer: Rosier completed 6 of 9 passes for 72 yards with a touch- down, and carried four times for 28 yards and a score. Stats: Miami's 18 plays accounted for 143 yards, nine rushes for 71 yards and the nine pass attempts to- taling 72 yards. Notre Dame also had nine runs (20 yards) and attempted nine passes (30 yards), a total of 18 plays for 50 yards. Items: Wimbush finished 2-of-9 passing for 30 yards, missing his last six throws and tossing his first in- terception in 122 attempts and six games. SECOND QUARTER: MIAMI 27, NOTRE DAME 0 Top Moment: Trailing 20-0, the Irish drove to Miami's 38-yard line in the closing minutes. However, when sophomore reserve quarterback Ian Book threw across the field on a slant, Miami freshman cornerback Trajan Bandy read it and easily re- turned the interception for a 65-yard touchdown with 22 seconds remain- ing until intermission. Top Performer: Miami accounted for only 51 yards of total offense in the second quarter, but the Hurri- canes' defense was phenomenal while intercepting three first-half passes, with Bandy's returned for a score and a second pick setting them up inside the Irish 10-yard line. Stats: The Hurricanes ran 33 first- half plays for 194 yards (83 rushing and 111 passing). Notre Dame's 39 plays netted 139 yards (23 carries for 76 yards and 5-of-16 passing for 63 yards). Junior running back Josh Ad- ams had 15 carries for 45 yards at the intermission. Items: With 13:27 remaining, Mi- chael Badgley gave Miami a 17-0 cushion with a 23-yard field goal. Miami cornerback Malek Young intercepted a Wimbush pass that he returned to Notre Dame's 9-yard line, but the Irish defense limited the Hurricanes to a 30-yard field goal by Badgley that made it 20-0. Book was inserted at quarterback with 5:56 left, but his first series was three-and-out prior to the fateful in- terception. Wimbush was pulled af- ter missing on his last seven passes Miami wide receiver Braxton Berrios opened the onslaught against Notre Dame in the first quarter with this seven-yard fade for a touchdown in the corner of the end zone. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA