Biggest winners and losers from the Notre Dame football season opening loss to the Miami Hurricanes down in Hard Rock Stadium

Head coach Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame football left Hard Rock Stadium Sunday night with a 27 to 24 loss to the Miami Hurricanes. It was an incredibly disappointing performance for the Fighting Irish, who came into the 2025 college football season with a ton of hype, and even greater expectations. Most believed this was a championship roster going into this battle. 

At the end of the day, this was just one football game. Notre Dame has the talent to go on a huge run for the remainder of the 2025 season. That fact, however, doesn’t make this loss any less difficult for Irish fans out there. They expected to see an outstanding team go into enemy territory and erase a history of losing. The team wasn’t able to accomplish that milestone. 

As is the case with every loss or win, there were some standouts on both sides of the football, and some players who did not live up to expectations. Let’s check out the winners and losers from the loss against Miami. 

Winners

QB CJ Carr 

Despite some early struggles and Notre Dame falling behind, Carr never flinched. He showed a ton of toughness both as a passer and a runner. While his stat line was solid (19 for 31 for 221 yards and two touchdowns), it was important to see how Carr performed with his back against the wall. As he gains more experience, this type of game will end up being good for him. Those positive signs will eventually turn into more consistency down the road. 

EDGE Boubacar Traore 

Traore was by far the team’s best defender on Sunday night, and it wasn’t particularly close. The 6-4, 250-pound pass rusher looked very healthy, and his closing burst was on full display. He had some nice battles against right tackle Francis Mauigoa, and won his fair share. The Notre Dame pass rush was extremely inconsistent, but Traore did his best to bolster that group. 

Losers

The coordinators 

This was a game to forget for both offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock and defensive coordinator Chris Ash. Denbrock’s unit appeared to severely lack identity, limiting Carr to the screen game early on, and trying to lean on him in the designed quarterback run game as well. There just didn’t seem to be cohesion, which matched Coach Ash’s debut. His game plan felt passive, and lacked creativity. Both coordinators need to be a ton better moving forward. 

The offensive tackles 

Whether it was Anthonie Knapp, Aamil Wagner, or Styles Prescod, the offensive tackles for Notre Dame had a night to forget against Miami. The last drive of the game was especially pathetic, and pass protection was an issue throughout against defensive ends Rueben Bain and Akheem Mesidor. Carr was under duress throughout the contest, and most of it came off the edges. 

Interior defensive line 

Jason Onye had some flashy plays at defensive tackle, but he was very inconsistent in the run game. Donovan Hinish, Jared Dawson, and Gabriel Rubio were each mostly invisible during the contest as well. After receiving some rave reviews from Coach Freeman last week, that position group struggled mightily. They are going to have to be better. 

Nickel position 

Over the last several years, the nickel position has been tremendous for Notre Dame. With players like TaRiq Bracey, Thomas Harper, and Jordan Clark making an impact, that spot was a major strength. That wasn’t the case on Sunday night with Karson Hobbs and DeVonta Smith each having major struggles. True freshman Malachi Toney gave everyone who covered him in the slot issues.