Notre Dame and Miami remain unbeaten after four weeks, and the Nov. 7 meeting at Notre Dame Stadium is shaping up to be a contender for game of the year. Each program still has quality opponents left on the schedule, including shared dates with North Carolina and other ranked or bowl-caliber teams, but the larger truth has not changed.
A loss in South Bend would almost certainly knock either team out of the College Football Playoff conversation, while a win would give the victor a clear path into the postseason.
This is the first installment of a weekly series that will document both programs until kickoff.
Both teams enter October with a 4-0 record
Notre Dame
No. 3 Notre Dame is 4-0 after Saturday's 49-10 win at Purdue, a result that extended the Irish winning streak to 14 games and gave them their first 4-0 start since 2021.
Notre Dame opened the season with a 41-13 victory over Wisconsin in the Shamrock Series at Lambeau Field, followed with a 52-0 home shutout of Rice and a 27-10 win over Michigan State, and has now outscored opponents 169-33. The defense has allowed 10 points or fewer in three of four games and surrendered only 33 points through a month of work.
Quarterback CJ Carr completed 14 of 22 passes for 237 yards against Purdue, threw three touchdown passes, ran for another score and threw his first interception of the season. Carr now has thrown for 963 yards, nine touchdown passes and one interception through four games, and he has produced a passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown in the same game in consecutive weeks.
Running back Aneyas Williams carried the ball 14 times for 80 yards and a touchdown as Notre Dame rushed for a season-high 177 yards. Linebacker Drayk Bowen scored his first career touchdown on a 15-yard fumble return after Bryce Young's strip-sack, and Micah Gilbert led the Irish with 83 receiving yards and a score.
Miami
No. 6 Miami is also 4-0 after a 52-3 home win over Central Michigan. The Hurricanes opened with a 45-6 road victory at Stanford, piled up a 77-7 win against Florida A&M, won 33-20 at Wake Forest and have now outscored opponents 207-36. Miami is averaging 51.8 points per game while allowing just nine points on average.
Quarterback Darian Mensah threw for 338 yards and three touchdowns against Central Michigan and added a rushing TD on a 97-yard drive that made it 35-3 at halftime. Through four games Mensah is 94 of 106 passing for 1,211 yards, 14 touchdown passes and no interceptions. His 88.7% completion rate has him as the first FBS quarterback in 30 years with more touchdown passes than incompletions through four games.
Wide receiver Malachi Toney caught six passes for 120 yards and a touchdown Saturday and now has 34 receptions for 564 yards and six scores. Toney set a Miami single-game receiving record with 12 catches for 234 yards and three touchdowns at Stanford, then added 12 catches for 114 yards at Wake Forest even while limited in the second half.
Injuries for Miami and Notre Dame
Both teams look like playoff contenders, but both also have some notable injuries.
Notre Dame
- Safety Brauntae Johnson has missed multiple games with a left foot injury that Freeman has described as a multi-week absence.
- Defensive tackle Jason Onye remains out with an ankle injury suffered against Wisconsin.
- Wide receiver Quincy Porter is out with a knee injury.
- Safety Luke Talich is dealing with a wrist injury that made him questionable before Purdue.
- Several offensive and defensive linemen, including Matty Augustine, Charles Jagusah, Chris Terek, Christopher Burgess Jr. and Tiki Hola, have also been unavailable.
Miami
- Running back CharMar Brown is out for the season with a knee injury.
- Wide receiver Joshua Moore is out for the year with an upper-body injury from the same game.
- Starting running back Mark Fletcher Jr. sat out Saturday with an upper-body injury suffered against Wake Forest, and defensive tackle Ahmad Moten also missed the Central Michigan game.
- Cornerbacks OJ Frederique Jr. and Xavier Lucas have been out for multiple weeks, and linebacker Ezekiel Marcelin Jr. is expected to miss several weeks with a lower-body injury.
- Cornerback Ja'Boree Antoine has not played this season and is expected to miss until the second half of the year.
The remaining schedules before Nov. 7
Notre Dame's remaining games before Miami are at North Carolina on Oct. 3, Stanford at home on Oct. 10, at BYU on Oct. 17, a bye, then Navy on Oct. 31 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
- North Carolina is 2-1 after a 15-10 win over TCU in Dublin, a 35-3 win over East Tennessee State and a 28-20 loss at Clemson.
- Stanford is 2-2 after a win over Hawaii and Georgia Tech and losses to Miami and Duke.
- BYU is 3-0 and Notre Dame's most difficult game before Miami.
- Navy sits at 1-2 after consecutive one-score losses to FAU and UAB.
Miami's remaining schedule before ND includes a road trip to Clemson on Oct. 3, a bye on Oct. 10, Florida State at home on Oct. 17, Pittsburgh at home on Oct. 24 and at North Carolina on Oct. 31.
- Clemson is 3-1 and 2-0 in the ACC after a 51-10 loss at LSU, then wins over Georgia Southern, North Carolina and California. The Tigers beat Cal 24-10 on Friday behind Gideon Davidson's 159 rushing yards and Bryant Wesco's 65-yard punt return touchdown.
- Florida State is 2-2 after a midweek win over Central Arkansas.
- Pittsburgh is 4-0 and has scored 59 points in each of its last two home games.
- North Carolina will have already faced Notre Dame by the time Miami arrives in Chapel Hill on Halloween.
Will College GameDay come to South Bend?
The Nov. 7 game is set for 7:30 p.m. Eastern on NBC and will be the first night meeting between the programs at Notre Dame Stadium since 1984. ESPN's College GameDay has not been to South Bend for a regular-season game since 2023.
If both are still ranked in the top 10 and unbeaten, the show has a ready-made rematch of last year's 27-24 Miami win in the 2025 opener, plus decades of history between the programs.
The same Saturday also includes Alabama at LSU in Baton Rouge, Georgia at Ole Miss in Oxford, Oregon at Ohio State in Columbus, Texas at Missouri in Columbia, and BYU at Utah in Salt Lake City.
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