Notre Dame's defense defuses any chance of upset by Miami (Ohio)
The slipper didn’t fit Miami (Ohio).
Even though Dan Hicks and Jason Garrett in the NBC booth couldn’t help but repeatedly attempt to draw parallels between Saturday’s game in Notre Dame Stadium and the one two weeks ago that ended in a 16-14 Notre Dame loss at the hands Northern Illinois, Miami didn’t fit the script.
The RedHawks hung tough and covered the spread in a 28-3 loss to No. 17 Notre Dame, but they didn’t have enough to pull off a Cinderella upset of the Irish (3-1).
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Miami (0-3) didn’t have enough explosive plays. The RedHawks had just one play of more than 20 yards. Northern Illinois had three.
Miami didn’t play clean enough. The RedHawks were penalized 10 times for 100 yards and turned the ball over twice. Northern Illinois only committed three penalties.
Miami’s offense didn’t stay on the field long enough. Though only by a 12-second margin, Miami lost the time of possession battle and converted only two of its 13 third-down and fourth-down attempts. Northern Illinois won the time of possession by more than nine minutes and converted six third downs and one fourth down.
Miami did have enough to make Notre Dame fans uncomfortable to the point of booing its home team and coax an uneven effort out of the Irish offense for a good chunk of the first half, but the RedHawks lacked the consistency required to finish the job. And Miami didn’t really have a good enough starting point to build momentum from either.
Unlike when Notre Dame’s defense allowed Northern Illinois to score 13 points on its first three possessions, the Irish defense set a better tone. Even though Notre Dame’s defense had to come back out on the field after forcing Miami to punt on its opening drive thanks to a fumble by Jordan Faison, the Irish stood tall and forced a turnover of their own.
Cornerback Christian Gray jumped a slant route on first-and-goal at the five-yard line to force Miami quarterback Brett Gabbert into an interception. Gray failed to make the catch himself, but the ball redirected into the air and vyper end Junior Tuihalamaka managed to get underneath it.
“On the muffed punt, it was just, OK, it’s football,” Gray said. “It happens sometimes. Situational masters, that’s what we are. Went back out there and just got a stop.”
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After Notre Dame’s offense whimpered with a three-and-out, the defense responded by forcing a turnover on downs after eight plays. Tuihalamaka tackled running back Kevin Davis for a four-yard loss on third-and-2, then safety Adon Shuler broke up a fourth-down pass intended for Davis.
The best Miami’s offense looked all game long came on its fourth possession. Miami ate up yardage with a 14-yard scramble by Gabbert, a 20-yard run by Davis, an 11-yard run by running back Keyon Mozee and a 13-yard completion to wide receiver Kam Perry to put the ball on Notre Dame’s seven-yard line. But then Miami provided more examples of why it wasn’t going to win Saturday. A false start on second-and-goal moved the ball back to the 12-yard line. On third-and-goal, Gabbert tried to challenge cornerback Benjamin Morrison in the end zone. Following that seemingly inevitable incompletion, Dom Dzioban gave Miami a 3-0 lead with a 26-yard field goal less than three minutes into the second quarter. Miami never scored again.
Notre Dame’s defense tightened the clamps and didn’t allow Miami to sustain a drive of more than six plays or 26 yards on the next six drives. The Irish offense found its footing in the meanwhile with a pair of touchdowns in the final four minutes before halftime — an 8-yard run by quarterback Riley Leonard and a 38-yard pass from Leonard to wide receiver Beaux Collins — and one each in the third and fourth quarters — a 15-yard run by running back Jeremiyah Love and a 50-yard run by Leonard, respectively.
Notre Dame played so well defensively that the Irish could withstand their own mistakes in other areas. After the muffed punt, ND’s special teams failed again with a poor snap/hold exchange between long snapper Andrew Kros and Chris Salerno on what should have been a 51-yard field goal attempt but instead became an incomplete pass thrown by Mitch Jeter.
Even Leonard’s lost fumble at the end of a 43-yard run didn’t cause much concern. Miami went three-and-out immediately after it.
“Obviously, with the way the defense plays,” Leonard said, “it takes a lot of pressure off us as an offense. We’re able to go out there and maybe take risks and play freely, because we know we have such a great defense.”
Sophomore Boubacar Traore made his first career start by replacing injured vyper Jordan Botelho, and he made the most of it. Traore tied for a team-high in tackles (5), recorded two sacks, one forced fumble and one quarterback hurry. Tuihalamaka, who didn’t play a defensive snap this season prior to Botelho’s injury last week against Purdue, had one other tackle in addition to his interception and tackle for loss.
“Junior had a huge pick on the goal line,” said Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman. “I know he made another good play. I can't remember exactly what it was — big tackle for loss. Boubacar is playing at a high level. He's been playing at a high level the first three games, and he's continuing to progress. And so we need them both. And proud of the way they performed today.”
Linebacker Drayk Bowen and nose tackle Howard Cross III accounted for the other half of the four sacks Gabbert took. Though Miami rushed for 110 yards after totaling 64 in its first two games combined, the offensive attack was put on the arm of Gabbert. He couldn’t provide enough lift while completing 14 of his 35 attempts (40%) for 119 yards with two interceptions.
Notre Dame’s defenders, particularly in the secondary, challenged Miami’s receivers at the catch point to combine for eight pass breakups. Safeties Xavier Watts and Shuler each had two. Morrison had one. Gray had one in addition to an interception in the third quarter.
“We were confident in our DBs being able to execute the defense that we called, and they did a good job doing it,” Freeman said.
Gray expected to be challenged playing the opposite side as Morrison. All he could do was thank God, he said, after recording his first interception of the season.
“Pretty much I just know the ball’s coming my way every time, and I’m just gonna get it,” Gray said. “That’s the real thought in my mind every time.”
Notre Dame’s defense should only be gaining confidence after allowing 10 combined points in the past two games. Even on a day that it was Notre Dame’s only phase playing near its peak, the Irish defense played good enough to prevent any deserved panic.
“Our defense did a really good job of competing,” Freeman said. “We had some drives where they had some yards, but they stuck their cleats in the ground and didn't let them into the end zone, which is a huge credit to coach [Al] Golden and our defense and the players.”
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