Miami made its biggest statement of the season thus far as they dismantled Notre Dame on Saturday night.
No one can question any longer here in the 2017 college football season how good this Miami Hurricanes team is. All doubt was completely wiped away on Saturday night, as the Hurricanes demolished the No. 3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish, 41-8, inside Hard Rock Stadium. It was complete domination from start to finish, and Miami now moves to 9-0 on the season in the second year under the direction of head coach Mark Richt.
The Miami defense was once again stellar, as we got to see that turnover chain a few times in the evening. In total, the Hurricanes defense forced four Fighting Irish turnovers, making life miserable for quarterback Brandon Wimbush and the offense. On the offensive side of the ball for Miami, running back Travis Homer led the charge with 146 yards on the ground on 18 carries while his backfield mate, DeeJay Dallas, added in 53 yards on 12 carries with two scores.
It was, without a doubt, Miami’s best performance of the season, and now they’re in line for some much bigger things in the near future.
Takeaways
1. Love the defense, but respect the offense
Yes, when it comes to this Miami team in 2017, everyone focuses on the defensive side of the ball and the turnover chain phenomenon. That unit should get all the credit in the world, but what stood out the most in the emphatic win on Saturday night over Notre Dame was the performance of the offense.
In the biggest game of the year, Miami’s offense had its most complete showing of the season. Quarterback Malik Rosier was balanced in running with and passing the ball, and most importantly, he didn’t turn it over. And as mentioned, the Hurricanes’ rushing attack was lethal against a pretty good Notre Dame front, gashing the Fighting Irish for a total of 237 yards on the ground.
The Miami defense is a focus of this team, but if this offense can continue to grow from here, this team is absolutely a national championship threat.
2. No more being left out of the top four
Although Miami was undefeated to this point, they were left on the outside looking in when the first two editions of the College Football Playoff Rankings were released. The fact is, no one was really impressed with the Hurricanes’ body of work. They played close to lesser competition, and people had doubted just how good Virginia Tech really was. Even with no blemish on its record, there was no way to justify Miami being a top-four team in the country.
After this performance on Saturday night, though, you can’t keep the Canes out of the mix. Dismantling a top team like Notre Dame for the entire nation to see has to be more than enough to vault them into the top four somewhere, especially now that both Georgia and Notre Dame will be out.
Come Tuesday night, Miami will be in a position to play for the national championship.
3. Miami-Clemson is going to be so much fun
Prior to Miami even starting the game against Notre Dame, they learned they will play in the ACC Championship Game for the first time since the program joined the conference. They clinched the Coastal Division, meaning a date with the defending national champion Clemson Tigers looms on the horizon next month.
A few weeks ago, you could have assumed that this game would be a mismatch. Clemson looked like a juggernaut while Miami, again, was just squeaking by against some questionable opponents.
But, this is why you let the season play itself out, and now, you can’t wait to see Miami and Clemson take the field soon to battle one another for not just the ACC title, but a spot in the College Football Playoff.
Can Miami’s defense shake Kelly Bryant and the Clemson offense? Can Clemson’s stout defense slow down the Miami offense that we saw on Saturday night? These questions and more will be answered in the 2017 ACC Championship Game, and it’s going to be so much fun.