The No. 17 Notre Dame Fighting Irish are back at home and hoping to stick to winning ways after a dominant 66-7 victory over Purdue on the road last week. Still looming large in the mind of Notre Dame fans is week two’s stunning upset loss to Northern Illinois at home, especially with another MAC school coming to town this week in the form of Miami (Ohio). Beyond this matchup with the unranked RedHawks, Notre Dame has a visit from No. 19 Louisville on the books for next week, but the Irish need to take care of business in week four first, to avoid two losses to unranked opponents tanking their aspirations for a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff later this fall.
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This is the second meeting between Miami (Ohio) and Notre Dame in program history, with Notre Dame winning their 2017 matchup 52-17. A win would be the RedHawk’s first road win against a ranked opponent since 2003, when a Ben Roethlisberger-led squad defeated #20 Bowling Green for the 2003 MAC Championship.
Miami is coached by former Notre Dame assistant Chuck Martin, who’s in his 11th season in the top job. The RedHawks have started the 2024 season 0-2, with losses to Northwestern and Cincinnati in their first two games. The 2023 MAC champions still have the chance to defend their conference title, as they won’t start MAC play until an October 5th visit to Toledo.
After the crushing loss to Nothern Illinois, Notre Dame was at full strength against Purdue, outscoring the Boilermakers 42-0 in the first half and outrushing them 362-38. The strength of the Irish run game was on full display in the hands of running backs Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price, as well as QB Riley Leonard, who tallied 11 carries for 100 yards and 3 TDs. The run game has been core to Notre Dame’s success, but it’s hard to ignore the limitations of the passing game: through three games, Leonard has yet to throw a passing touchdown. He’s the only quarterback in FBS this season with 75+ pass attempts and 0 TD passes, while backup QB Steve Angeli threw two TD passes after entering in the second-half of the blowout victory.
But there’s no question last Saturday’s win provided a much-needed course correction and confidence boost for Leonard and Notre Dame.
“My coaches and teammates, all credit to them,” Leonard said after the win. “All credit to [Marcus Freeman]. He brought me to his office every day saying, ‘Hey, you’re the guy. I trust you and I have all the confidence in the world in you.’ That stuff built me up and this game I was extremely prepared. All week, I was just itching to get out to the field again to prove myself.”
Notre Dame vs. Miami (OH) Best bets: Odds, predictions, recent stats, and trends for September 21
How to Watch Miami (Ohio) vs Notre Dame College Football
- Date: Saturday, September 21st
- Time: 3:30pm ET
- TV: NBC
- Streaming: Peacock
Game odds for Miami (Ohio) vs. Notre Dame
● Moneyline: Miami (OH) +1400, Notre Dame -8000
● Spread: Notre Dame -27.5
● Total: 44.5
*odds courtesy of BetMGM
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