Underdog Stories / Football history

What Is the History of the Notre Dame–Miami Rivalry?

The history of the Notre Dame Miami rivalry runs from a 1955 shutout through 1988’s one-point classic to a 2026 rematch with playoff stakes on the line.

By Brett Hanson · Underdog Podcasts · November 8, 2026

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Miami had a chance to tie it in South Bend. Less than four minutes remained when Darian Mensah threw toward Elija Lofton in the end zone. Notre Dame safety Luke Talich got a hand to the pass. Officials ruled it incomplete, ending Miami’s drive at the Irish 18-yard line.

That play gives the history of the Notre Dame Miami rivalry a fresh ending, for now. The teams first met in 1955, then turned a regular series into a national grudge in the 1980s. Notre Dame’s 31–30 win in 1988 made it famous. After years of scattered meetings, playoff selection brought the old argument back. Notre Dame’s 31–24 win on November 7, 2026, gave it a new scene.

Chris Horwedel opened the “Notre Dame Tops Miami, Oregon Wins & Man City Falls” episode of Yesterday in Sports with that result. He called it “a very specific kind of win.” He meant the quarterback play and the stops that followed. There is more to the rivalry than one close finish, though. There is also a long habit of making the other team’s season harder.

How did the Notre Dame Miami rivalry start?

Notre Dame beat Miami 14–0 in the first meeting, at the Orange Bowl in 1955. Miami won the next game, in 1960. Five years later, the teams played to a 0–0 tie. For anyone who knows the rivalry through loud T-shirts and last-minute throws, that score takes some getting used to.

The series settled into a routine. Notre Dame won 11 straight meetings from 1967 through 1980. The schools played every season from 1971 through 1985, so neither side had to search far for a familiar opponent. Much of that stretch belonged to the Irish.

Then Miami became a national power. Its first championship came in the 1983 season, and its wins over Notre Dame began to carry a sharper edge. In 1985, Miami beat the Irish 58–7 in Gerry Faust’s final game as Notre Dame coach. Lou Holtz took over in 1986. His Irish lost 24–0 at Miami the next year. The Hurricanes went on to win another national title.

Those scores explain the feeling before 1988 better than any slogan can. Notre Dame had once owned the series. Now its fans had watched Miami shut the Irish out. The next game was set for South Bend.

Why is the 1988 Notre Dame Miami game so famous?

On October 15, 1988, No. 1 Miami arrived at Notre Dame Stadium with a 36-game regular-season winning streak. The Irish were No. 4. They had lost the previous meeting by 24 points, and both teams had a path to the national title.

The nickname came from campus. Notre Dame students sold shirts reading “Catholics vs. Convicts,” a line that spread far beyond the game. It also cast Miami’s players through an ugly stereotype. Notre Dame’s student magazine Scholastic has since pointed out the racial contrast built into the way the two teams were portrayed. The shirts are part of the history; they do not tell the whole story.

The game itself gave people plenty to remember. Notre Dame forced seven turnovers. Miami reached the final minute down by just one point, 31–30. Coach Jimmy Johnson chose a two-point try, which could have put the Hurricanes ahead. Irish safety Pat Terrell broke up Steve Walsh’s pass.

That was the finish. Notre Dame went on to an unbeaten season and the national championship. The shirt outlived the afternoon, as slogans often do. Terrell’s play tells you more about why people still watch the footage: after four quarters, the country’s top-ranked team was one pass from taking the lead.

What happened after Notre Dame won in 1988?

Miami answered the next season. Notre Dame entered their November 25, 1989, meeting unbeaten and ranked No. 1. The Hurricanes won 27–10 at home, ending the Irish winning streak before claiming the national championship themselves.

In 1990, the game returned to South Bend. Notre Dame won this one, 29–20. Rocket Ismail ran a kickoff back 94 yards for a touchdown, and kicker Craig Hentrich made five field goals. Irish quarterback Rick Mirer later recalled discussing a new play with Holtz and fullback Rodney Culver over breakfast that morning. They used it for a late touchdown.

“Notre Dame's defense made the two biggest plays.”
— Chris Horwedel, on Yesterday in Sports

Then the yearly meetings stopped. That gap is easy to miss when the same 1988 clip appears before every reunion. The teams next met in the 2010 Sun Bowl. Notre Dame won 33–17. The Irish won again at Chicago’s Soldier Field in 2012 and in South Bend in 2016.

Miami answered in 2017 with a 41–8 win at Hard Rock Stadium. Yet the games still came years apart. For a generation of fans, this was a rivalry passed down in stories, then briefly restored when the schedule allowed it. The next meeting would give it a different kind of consequence.

How did the playoff bring Notre Dame and Miami back together?

They opened the 2025 season in Miami Gardens. Notre Dame erased a late deficit to tie the game 24–24. Then Carter Davis kicked a 47-yard field goal with 1:04 left. Miami won, 27–24. The Irish had months to live with a loss decided by one kick.

Both teams finished 10–2 in December. The final College Football Playoff rankings placed Miami 10th and Notre Dame 11th. Miami made the 12-team field; Notre Dame did not. Their head-to-head result mattered when the committee compared the teams. An August game had followed the Irish all the way to selection day.

That does not mean every meeting now decides a playoff spot. These two had an unusually clear reason to remember their last one. And they already knew when they would meet again: November 7, 2026, at Notre Dame Stadium.

In the first playoff rankings of that season, Miami was No. 1 and unbeaten. Notre Dame was No. 11. Those were the committee’s rankings, rather than the separate media poll, and they made the stakes plain before kickoff. A win would strengthen the Irish case. A loss would leave them chasing a place with fewer chances to make one.

What happened in the 2026 Notre Dame Miami rematch?

Notre Dame went up 24–3, then Miami made it 24–17. The Irish needed a play. Late in the third quarter, Talich picked off Mensah near midfield, and the ensuing possession stretched into the fourth: CJ Carr hit Nolan James Jr. for 36 yards on fourth down, then James scored from a yard out.

Carr finished with 319 passing yards and three touchdowns. Horwedel said in Yesterday in Sports that Notre Dame had avenged both the previous season’s loss and the playoff disappointment that followed it. His account puts Talich at the center of the finish, where he belongs.

One detail needs care. Horwedel said Talich forced a fumble late in the fourth quarter as Miami sought a tie. Talich did force a fumble, but the official play-by-play places it in the third quarter; Miami recovered and kept the ball. The late defensive play was Talich’s breakup of the pass to Lofton. Miami disputed the incomplete-pass ruling, which stood after review.

That distinction does nothing to shrink Talich’s night. He had arrived at Notre Dame as a walk-on and earned a scholarship in 2024. Against the country’s top-ranked team, he took away one drive with an interception and helped stop another at the edge of the end zone. In a series with a long memory for safeties, that will do.

Does Notre Dame’s 2026 win settle the rivalry?

It settles the rematch. Notre Dame finished November 7 at 8–1. Miami took its first loss and fell to 8–1. The result reversed 2025’s head-to-head outcome, though the final 2026 playoff field had yet to be chosen. There was no selection-day verdict to claim that night.

It also kept the rivalry’s odd rhythm intact. These schools have played enough to know each other and spent enough years apart for each new game to feel like a return. One season, a missed pass helped Notre Dame win a title. Another, a field goal helped Miami reach the playoff while the Irish stayed home.

In 2026, the last pass that mattered most went to the corner of the end zone. Talich reached it. By the time everyone agreed the ball had hit the ground, Miami’s best chance to tie was gone.

The full episode of Yesterday in Sports is on Underdog Podcasts, with the rest of the network's shows.