Miami vs Notre Dame

The Hurricanes and Fighting Irish will start their 2025 campaigns on August 31 at 7:30. The game will be nationally televised on ABC. Sean McDonough and Greg McElroy will announce, with Molly McGrath and Taylor McGregor on the sidelines.

Sunday’s contest will be the 28th in the rivalry. Notre Dame leads 18-8-1 all-time in the series that started in 1955. The Irish were 12-1-1 in the 14 games played through 1980. The Hurricanes have a 7-6 edge in the games played from 1981-2017, including winning the last six played in Miami. A new era starts with Sunday’s game as seven games are scheduled over the next 13 years.

The atmosphere on the Miami campus is palpable, and I’m sure it’s the same in South Bend. Both teams come into the game with top-10 preseason rankings. Notre Dame is ranked sixth and Miami is tenth. The Las Vegas betting lines show the visitors as a 2 1/2 point favorite. The last time Miami opened the season with a top-10 contest was in 2004.

Notre Dame went 14-2 last season and lost 34-23 to Ohio State in the national championship game. The Irish return 11 starters and replaced most of the departed players through the transfer portal.

Notre Dame’s offense starts with a solid offensive line and uber-talented running back Jeremiyah Love, who toted the rock for 1,125 yards and 17 touchdowns while averaging 6.9 yards per carry in 2024. Transfers Malachi Fields (Virginia) and Will Paulding (Wisconsin) will lead the receiving group. Eli Raridon, the 6’7” starter at tight end, will be a particularly tough matchup.

Redshirt freshman CJ Carr has been named starting quarterback by head coach Marcus Freeman. The 6’3” Carr has not attempted a single pass in his college career. He was highly regarded coming out of high school and has the full confidence of Coach Freeman and offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock, but it’s hard to know what to expect.

If the Irish are successful early with their running game, it would take a lot of pressure off Carr. If Miami can force third downs, Carr will have a tough evening.

Notre Dame’s defense is loaded with NFL talent. Cornerback is a major strength with starters Leonard Moore, DeVonta Smith, and Christian Gray locked in. Adon Shuler will start at safety, and Jalen Stroman or Luke Talich will likely rotate according to game situation.

Linebackers Jaylen Sneed, Drayk Bowen, and Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa (not so surprisingly referred to as KVA) will start and round out what very likely could be the best back seven in all college football. There will be many rotational players at both DE and DT. There is no weak link position group at ND, but overall the lack of size at DT might be a shortcoming against Miami’s highly talented offensive line and running backs.

Yikes, five paragraphs without a cliché or a quote. Thanks to Miami head coach Mario Cristobal on Monday’s Joe Rose show on WQAM, I have a BOGO.

“You’ve always got to be able to run the ball and stop the run,” Cristobal said. “If you can’t do that, you’re going to get gutted.”

Hopefully weather won’t be a factor on Sunday. Both Notre Dame and Miami’s student athletes deserve a proper showcase in their season opener. We all hear about NIL deals and opinions on players being paid. What most don’t see or understand is how much of a full-time, year-round commitment the top-tier modern collegiate athletes must make to earn that compensation.

Notre Dame has a well-deserved reputation as a university with high ethical and academic standards across their athletic programs. Miami, unfortunately, is not universally held in that same esteem. I have been close to Miami athletic programs for quite a while now and can confidently state that UM deserves the same respect as ND. I’m close to the players and coaches. There are no “bad apples.”

On Sunday, one team will be better prepared and will likely come out on top. In closing, I’ll cite some quotes on preparation and planning. I promise I won’t go as far back as I did with Aristotle a couple of weeks ago. I’ll keep it within 16 centuries and open with Sun Tzu:

“He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared.”

Jumping ahead 15 centuries, I’ll start with our 34th president of the United States and Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe during World War II, Dwight D. Eisenhower:

“In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.”

…And finish with legendary Alabama football coach Paul “Bear” Bryant:

“It’s not the will to win that matters — everyone has that. It’s the will to prepare to win that matters.”

That’s it for now. Be well all and Go Canes!