Miami lost 31-24 to Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, after a fourth-down pass into the end zone was ruled incomplete in the closing minutes, a call that left Miami coach Mario Cristobal visibly angry and questioning the decision. Miami had been ranked No. 1 in the College Football Playoff rankings, while Notre Dame was No. 11, making the result a significant setback for the favorite.
The disputed play came with about 3:36 remaining. Miami quarterback Darian Mensah threw toward Elija Lofton in the end zone, and the pass appeared to give Miami a touchdown that would have brought the team within an extra point of tying the game. Officials instead ruled that Lofton had not maintained control of the ball. Notre Dame defender Luke Talich knocked the ball loose at the last moment, and the ruling stood. Had the catch been counted, Miami would have trailed by only a single point with time still left on the clock.
Cristobal said he was very upset with the ruling and that he had received no explanation for the call. Mensah also said he believed the pass had been a touchdown. Their reactions came after a game in which Miami had fallen into a deep hole, trailing 24-3 in the third quarter before mounting a rally that brought the Hurricanes back into contention. The comeback had made the final possession the moment on which the game turned, which is why the officiating decision drew such immediate attention from players and coaches alike.
NBC referee analyst Terry McAulay later said the call was correct. McAulay pointed out that Lofton bobbled the ball before it was knocked free, a detail that became central to the officiating debate. Whether the ruling was correct or not, it determined the final possession and denied Miami a chance to tie or take the lead in the late stages of a game it had worked hard to reclaim. Under the rules applied on the field, the question was not simply whether the ball had touched the ground, but whether the receiver had controlled it through the process of the catch, a standard that McAulay's explanation placed at the heart of the decision.
For Miami, the loss ends a stretch in which it had been positioned as one of the top teams in the national picture, and it leaves the program to absorb a defeat decided in its final drive rather than through a sustained failure of offense or defense across the afternoon. For Notre Dame, the victory provided a major result in a game where it had built a commanding lead before holding on against a determined comeback attempt, and it kept the home side in position to celebrate a win over a team ranked first in the country.