Hurricanes make a statement with rout

MIAMI GARDENS, FLA. >> Miami is getting championship rings when this season is over.

Maybe, just maybe, the biggest kind.

The Hurricanes sent two very clear messages to the College Football Playoff committee Saturday night — that they’re worthy of being a national title contender and that Notre Dame is not. Travis Homer ran for 146 yards, Deejay Dallas had a pair of touchdown runs and No. 7 Miami dominated No. 3 Notre Dame 41-8 to extend the nation’s longest winning streak to 14 games.

“I never would have predicted what happened,” Miami coach Mark Richt said. “But it happened.”

Malik Rosier threw for a touchdown and ran for another for the Hurricanes (90, No. 7 CFP), who forced four turnovers for the fourth consecutive week and handed the Irish their second-worst loss in the history of the Miami-Notre Dame series. Only the 58-7 Miami romp in 1985 was more decisive.

“We didn’t see this coming,” Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said. “Obviously, we felt we were prepared to play at a high level. We did not.”

And it came on the day that Miami clinched its first trip to the Atlantic Coast Conference title game. The Hurricanes wrapped up the Coastal Division title about an hour before kickoff when Virginia’s loss to Louisville went final, giving Miami a berth against Clemson in the Dec. 2 ACC title matchup.

Alize Mack caught a 14yard pass from Brandon Wimbush for the lone touchdown for Notre Dame (8-2, No. 3 CFP), which hadn’t played a road game against the Hurricanes since 1989.

The last time Notre Dame played at what is called Hard Rock Stadium was in the national championship game following the 2012 season, and the Irish fell behind 28-0 at the half on the way to getting routed 42-14 by Alabama.