Monday Musings: Notre Dame postmortem; adios, ACC title game

It’s Monday. It is not a victory Monday. That said, I hope you all are still doing well today. Let’s get down to brass taxes. 1) The Hurricanes proved they can still win without Malachi Toney. But it’s going to be a whole lot more along the lines of “hold on to your butts” fashion. I honestly believe the Canes win on Saturday if Toney is on the field. I don’t think that’s a wild take. Miami was an arguably shitty call away from tying it up without him. But Miami is mortal indeed over the next three games without him. The ground game was very underwhelming against a Notre Dame defense that was missing A TON of talent, including their interior DL duo. That’s what worries me the most. And Miami’s OL got their asses whipped in pass pro. Not quite Miami whipping Notre Dame’s ass in 2025 type of whipped, but still, the Irish won both sides of the line of scrimmage, and there isn’t much doubt about that. Miami NEEDS to get back to running the ball, and that starts will creating better running lanes and better overall production on the ground, however that happens. 2) I do not know what a catch is. You don’t. College football doesn’t. The NFL doesn’t. I have seen multiple attempts to interpret it through the supposed rules. And it’s always hinged on an “act common to the game”. Well, that includes taking another step. Elija Lofton took another step before the ball was dislodged from his hands. Apparently complying with that rule doesn’t matter. So, again, nobody knows what a catch is. Just catch the ball, hold it through the ground, take a nap, do your taxes, and maybe it’ll stand. Honestly, the thing that pisses me off more is no DPI call on the play before where Daylyn Upshaw’s arm was CLEARLY grabbed and he couldn’t sky to attempt to grab the pass. That was unequivocally interference and would have set up first and goal. Not even up for reasonable debate. But I’ll do what FSU fans can’t, and I’ll say that there’s absolutely no guarantee at all Miami wins if that happens. That likely ties the game up, and Notre Dame gets it back looking to score. Who knows what happens. 3) Now, back to the ACC, I ran the math, and Miami can clinch a spot in THE FINAL ACC title game on Saturday. Here’s what needs to happen: Miami needs to win, obviously. Wake Forest needs to beat SMU. North Carolina needs to beat Louisville. If those things happen, the only ACC teams with less than three ACC losses would be Miami, Wake, and Clemson. Clemson, at best, will finish 6-2 in the ACC. Miami, at worst with a win over Duke, would finish 7-2 in the ACC. Miami beat Clemson, as well as Wake. Miami clinches. 4) And yes, this will be it for the ACC Championship game, per the conference. The 24-team playoff has been approved, so adios conference title games. This is it. Time to end the jokes. Winning a conference title game matters, particularly the final one. Not as much as going on a playoff run matters, but getting one and having it for the trophy case would still mean a lot. First things first: got to show Manny Diaz and the Duke Blue Devils just why Darian Mensah and Cooper Barkate left for greener pastures. Saturday. Noon. Hard Rock Stadium. Be there, and be loud. Go Canes!