Notre Dame knocked off number one Miami 31-24 in South Bend on Saturday, in a result that shakes the playoff race and ends the Hurricanes perfect season. The Irish, ranked 11th coming in, played like a team with nothing to lose, and the crowd at Notre Dame Stadium watched a favourite fall in a game that was close until the final minutes.
Why it matters
The win matters because of what Miami was. The Hurricanes arrived in South Bend as the top ranked team in the country, unbeaten and talked about as a title favourite, and they left with a loss that will cost them in the rankings on Tuesday. A November loss to a ranked opponent is survivable, but the margin for error is now gone, and every game from here is a must win. Miami had been talked about as a title favourite, and the loss will cost the Hurricanes in the rankings on Tuesday, when the new order appears.
The rest of Saturday was just as wild. Georgia crushed Ole Miss 42-7 in Oxford, Tennessee thumped Kentucky 34-6 in Knoxville, Utah stayed perfect with a 28-20 win over BYU, Alabama hammered LSU 31-13 in Baton Rouge, and Oregon beat Ohio State 41-28 in Columbus. With seven ranked matchups on the card, the day produced surprises in almost every time slot, and the playoff picture will look very different by Sunday morning.
What happens next
For Notre Dame, the win is the kind that defines a season. A victory over the number one team, at home, in November, is a statement to the committee, and it puts the Irish firmly in the conversation for a top seed. The defence held when it mattered, the offence did enough, and the fourth quarter belonged to the home team.
What happens next will be decided on Tuesday, when the new rankings appear. Miami will expect a fall, Notre Dame will expect a jump, and the committee will have to sort out a field in which the top teams keep beating each other. For the Irish, the night in South Bend is the win that keeps everything alive.
