6 notable stats from No. 10 Miami Hurricanes’ upset win over No. 6 Notre Dame
The No. 10 Miami Hurricanes made a statement in their season opener on Sunday, upsetting the No. 6 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 27-24 at Hard Rock Stadium.
Here are six notable stats from the victory.
6-5: Sunday marked the 11th time in school history that the Hurricanes opened the season against a top-10 opponent. Miami now has a winning record in those games, 6-5 overall.
The win over Notre Dame marked Miami’s first season-opening win over a top-10 team since beating FSU 16-10 in overtime to start the 2004 season. UM had two other games against top-10 teams to begin a season since then — No. 1 Alabama in 2021 and No. 8 Florida in 2019 — but dropped both of those games.
Within that 6-5 record, the Hurricanes are 4-1 when both teams were in the top-10 for the matchup, with the others beyond Sunday being the FSU game in 2004 (No. 5 Miami over No. 4 FSU), 1988 (No. 6 Miami’s 31-0 win vs. No. 1 Florida State) and 1984 (No. 10 Miami’s 20-18 win at No. 1 Auburn). The one loss came in 1955 (No. 9 Miami’s 14-6 loss at No. 10 Georgia Tech).
Additionally, Miami’s win over Notre Dame was its first top-10 win overall in eight years. The last such win for the Hurricanes: Notre Dame in 2017. They had lost eight consecutive games against top-10 teams in between.
3.3: Miami held Notre Dame to an average of 3.3 yards per rush — 93 total rushing yards on 28 rushing attempts. This included limiting All-American Jermiyah Love to just 33 yards on 10 carries. Nearly one-third of their total rushing yards — 30 of the 93 — came on one run, a massive break by Jadarian Price in the second quarter that led to Notre Dame’s first touchdown of the game.
Plus-2: The Hurricanes forced both turnovers in the game, with Jakobe Thomas recovering a fumble forced by Justin Scott in the first quarter and Rueben Bain Jr. intercepting a pass that was twice deflected in the fourth quarter. Miami was 5-0 when it won the turnover battle last season, compared to 1-2 when it lost the turnover battle and 4-1 when turnovers were equal.
11: Eleven of the Hurricanes’ starters on offense and defense were new to the team this season. On offense, it was quarterback Carson Beck (Georgia transfer); wide receivers Keelan Marion (BYU transfer), CJ Daniels (LSU transfer) and Malachi Toney (true freshman); and center James Brockermeyer (TCU transfer). On defense, it was cornerbacks Keionte Scott (Auburn transfer) and Xavier Lucas (Wisconsin transfer); safeties Zechariah Poyser (Jacksonville State transfer) and Jakobe Thomas (Tennessee transfer); linebacker Mohamed Toure (Rutgers transfer); and defensive tackle David Blay (Louisiana Tech transfer). Two more in kicker Carter Davis (FAU transfer) and long snapper Adam Booker (Charlotte transfer) are factored in.
2: Kicker Carter Davis made two fourth-quarter field goals, including the game-winner from 47 yards with 1:04 left on the clock, in his Miami debut after primarily serving as a kickoff specialist at FAU. Davis never made multiple field goals in a game during his three years at FAU — he only had four total makes in 11 tries. However, he has a strong leg and showed on Sunday the potential he can have for UM. As for his career long in a game? Davis hit a 51-yard attempt for FAU last season against Wagner.
82: Hurricanes true freshman wide receiver Malachi Toney, who reclassified to start at UM a year early, caught a team-high six passes for 82 yards, including a 28-yard touchdown, in his Hurricanes debut.
His 82 receiving yards are the most by a UM freshman against a top-10 team since Ryan Moore had 101 yards in then-No. 2 Miami’s 31-7 loss to then-No. 10 Virginia Tech on Nov. 1, 2003.
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