Miami Holds Off Notre Dame 27-24 in CJ Carr's First Career Start

Notre Dame's season opened with heartbreak Sunday night at Hard Rock Stadium, as Miami's Carson Beck-led Hurricanes escaped with a 27-24 win over the No. 6 Fighting Irish, sealed by a 47-yard Carson Davis field goal with 1:08 remaining.

The loss dropped Notre Dame to 0-1, but the story of the night was the debut of redshirt sophomore quarterback CJ Carr, who made his first career start in one of the toughest environments in college football and nearly rallied the Irish to an upset road win.

A Rocky Start, A Furious Finish

Notre Dame trailed 21-7 entering the fourth quarter after Miami controlled much of the game, riding two Beck touchdown passes and a five-yard touchdown run from Mark Fletcher Jr. The Irish struggled early to establish rhythm, leaning heavily on short screen passes rather than getting the ball to All-American running back Jeremiyah Love.

But Carr and the offense came alive in the final period. He found Jordan Faison for a touchdown to cut the deficit, then Noah Burnette connected on a 39-yard field goal to make it a one-score game. With the season on the line, Carr capped the comeback himself, scrambling in for a 7-yard touchdown run with 3:21 left to tie the game at 24-24.

It wasn't enough. Miami answered with a methodical drive, setting up Davis for the game-winning kick as time bled off the clock.

Carr finished his debut 19-of-30 passing for 221 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, adding the game-tying score on the ground. Miami's Beck, a Georgia transfer making his own Hurricanes debut, was efficient in the win, completing 20 of 30 passes for 205 yards and two touchdowns.

Freeman on Carr: "His Ceiling Is So High"

Speaking to reporters after the game, head coach Marcus Freeman made clear he walked away encouraged by what he saw from his first-year starter, despite the result.

"He's going to be a really good quarterback," Freeman said of Carr. "Everything that I thought he was going to be."

Freeman pointed to Carr's growth as the game progressed, particularly in the fourth quarter when the Irish trusted him to push the ball downfield instead of relying on the short passing game that had defined the first three quarters.

"His ceiling is so high," Freeman continued. "He's going to have to learn to take this loss and not let it beat him up too much, because he's an ultra competitor."

The head coach also praised the mentality Carr showed under pressure in a hostile road environment against a ranked opponent.

"He's a gamer, man," Freeman said. "He performs when the lights are on. He prepares his tail off."

Freeman was also asked about Notre Dame's early offensive game plan, which leaned on a heavy dose of screens and RPOs before opening up in the second half.

"It was creating some easy throws, some easy decisions," Freeman explained. "Obviously some RPOs and hey, you can hand the ball off or, depending on what the defense does, pull it and throw it. We started to say later in the game, 'Stop reading it, hand the ball to J-[Jeremiyah] Love, and we need to establish this run game.'"

What's Next

Despite the disappointing start, Freeman struck a defiant tone in the locker room afterward, telling his team to stay unified as they turn the page. Notre Dame returned home to host No. 19 Texas A&M on September 13, looking to bounce back from the season-opening setback and begin building toward its College Football Playoff aspirations behind its first-year starting quarterback.

Box Score

MIAMI 27, NOTRE DAME 24 Hard Rock Stadium — Miami Gardens, Fla.

SCORING BY QUARTER 1 2 3 4 F Notre Dame 0 7 0 17 — 24 Miami 0 14 7 6 — 27

SCORING PLAYS Q2 14:11 — Beck 28-yd TD pass to M. Toney (Miami 6-0) Q2 14:03 — C. Davis PAT good (Miami 7-0) Q2 5:31 — Carr 7-yd TD pass to M. Gilbert (Miami 7-7) Q2 5:21 — N. Burnette PAT good (Miami 7-7) Q2 0:18 — Beck 20-yd TD pass to C. Daniels (Miami 13-7) Q2 0:12 — C. Davis PAT good (Miami 14-7) Q3 7:41 — C. Brown 5-yd TD run (Miami 21-7) Q3 7:23 — C. Davis PAT good (Miami 21-7) Q4 15:00 — Carr 1-yd TD pass to J. Faison (Miami 21-14) Q4 14:55 — N. Burnette PAT good (Miami 21-14) Q4 9:47 — C. Davis 38-yd FG (Miami 24-14) Q4 5:37 — N. Burnette 39-yd FG (Miami 24-17) Q4 3:27 — Carr 7-yd TD run (Miami 24-24) Q4 3:21 — N. Burnette PAT good (Miami 24-24) Q4 1:08 — C. Davis 47-yd FG (Miami 27-24, Final)

TEAM STATS Miami Notre Dame Total Yards 339 314 Passing Yards 205 221 Rushing Yards 134 93 First Downs 19 18 Penalties-Yards 6-51 5-30 Turnovers 0 2 Time of Possession 33:57 26:03

PASSING Carson Beck (MIA) — 20/30, 205 yds, 2 TD, 0 INT CJ Carr (ND) — 19/30, 221 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT

RUSHING Miami — 38 att, 134 yds, 3.5 avg, 1 TD, long 18 Notre Dame — 28 att, 93 yds, 3.3 avg, 1 TD, long 30

RECEIVING Miami — 20 rec (30 targets), 205 yds, 2 TD, long 28 Notre Dame — 19 rec (29 targets), 221 yds, 2 TD, long 65

KICKING Carson Davis (MIA) — 2/2 FG, long 47 Noah Burnette (ND) — 1/1 FG, long 39

DEFENSE Miami Notre Dame Total Tackles 54 70 Sacks 3.0 1.0 Interceptions 1 0 Forced Fumbles 2 0 QB Hits 4 1