The No. 9 Notre Dame Fighting Irish have moved to 5-0 after blowing out the Miami Hurricanes 41-3 on Saturday night at Soldier Field.
The game began with some controversy, as Notre Dame quarterback Everett Golson was benched for violating team rules. But Golson would quickly replace starter Tommy Rees in the first quarter, and there would be little controversy the rest of the night.
After building a 13-3 halftime lead, Notre Dame blew things open in the third quarter, scoring three touchdowns in the frame thanks mostly to a dominant rushing attack. The Fighting Irish finished with 379 yards rushing on 52 carries, good for a 7.3 average. Running backs George Atkinson III and Cierre Wood led the way with 123 and 117 yards on the ground, respectively.
Miami had several chances to grab momentum early, but they dropped passes and committed boneheaded penalties that derailed their efforts. And once Notre Dame's vaunted defense found their groove, they snuffed out any chances of a comeback.
Miami fell to 4-2 with the loss.
Box Score Hero: Although Golson failed to account for any touchdowns, he set the tone immediately upon replacing Rees. Golson finished the game 17-of-22 passing for 186 yards and also had 51 yards rushing on six carries.
Rankings Ramifications: Notre Dame came into the game ranked No. 9 in the AP Top 25. With No. 4 LSU and No. 5 Georgia losing, the Fighting Irish stand to move up a few spots. Miami had received a handful of votes in the poll, which they may lose thanks to this blowout.
But Did They Cover?: Notre Dame easily covered the 14.5 spread made by BOVADA. The over/under according to BOVADA was 55 points, so this game went under.
For More On This Game: Check out the Notre Dame blog One Foot Down. For more on Miami, check out The 7th Floor.
Next Week's Schedule: Notre Dame will host Stanford. Miami will host North Carolina.
This story originally appeared at SB Nation.