Notre Dame Football: 5 biggest ‘What If’ losses in Irish history

1.  1989: Notre Dame 10, Miami 27

Prior to their Week 12 matchup with Miami, Notre Dame had only spent one week ranked lower than No. 1. The Irish came into the tilt with Miami scoring 36 points per game. That was with Tony Rice, not Joe Theisman, at quarterback. On the defensive side, they were allowing a mere 14.2 points per game. Five of the eleven teams Notre Dame had played were ranked. This team was dominant.

Unfortunately, so was Miami. This was during the Catholics vs Convicts series of games, and it was following Notre Dame’s National Championship the year prior. Notre Dame had beaten Miami in a thriller, which put the Irish in the driver seat for the rest of that season.

This game, however, was Miami’s revenge. They took Notre Dame out of the driving seat for the first time since 1988 and reclaimed their place on top of the college football throne. Miami didn’t enter the game perfect. They had slipped up to a very good Florida State team. However, everyone knew that they were still a dominant force.

The Hurricanes proved that dominance when the Irish went into the Orange Bowl and never stood a chance.

The Miami defense swallowed Rice alive. As a running quarterback, he didn’t run for longer than 12 yards all game. That 12-yard run was his first carry of the game. The Miami stiffened against him. They allowed11 fewer points than the next best defensive performance against Notre Dame all season.

After Miami’s back breaking 11-minute touchdown drive to start the second half, the game was over. Notre Dame let them keep the drive alive via a number of mistakes. This included — but was not limited to — not being unable to recover an easy strip sack and giving up a 3rd and 44.

Without much time left and a deficit to make up, the 1989 Notre Dame team wasn’t built to come back from being down by more than one score. Rice was not a good passer, and coach Lou Holtz ran an option offense. That’s a fairly slow, ground attack and the Irish simply could not score quick enough.

What would have changed if Notre Dame had won?

The first thing is that Miami would have been entirely eliminated from National Championship consideration with a second loss. The other thing is Notre Dame’s Orangle Bowl match-up with top-ranked Colorado would have been a de facto National Championship Game.

Notre Dame beat undefeated Colorado handily, which ripped a National Championship from their clutches. Had Notre Dame beaten Miami, they would have been voted National Champions. Ironically, because Notre Dame knocked off Colorado, it cleared the way for Miami to be voted National Champions of the 1989 season.