The Notre Dame Fighting Irish came within one step of winning a national championship last season. Will they get a better result this year, employing a new quarterback without any real experience?

The Miami Hurricanes are loaded with talent, but they have to replace a quarterback too - someone who was good enough to be taken first in the NFL Draft. They were on the verge of the playoff last season, but didn't help themselves much against a couple of beatable teams.

This might be the right setup for a very intriguing season opener as these schools meet at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens at 7:30 PM ET on Sunday night.

College football betting odds on this game from the folks at BetOnline

Notre Dame Fighting Irish -2.5
Miami Hurricanes +2.5

Over 51.5 Points -110
Under 51.5 Points -110

What Miami did about Cam Ward

QB Cam Ward, who had played at Incarnate Word and Washington State, came to Miami and lit up the offense, leading the nation in passing yards and emerging as the top choice in the NFL Draft (by the Tennessee Titans).

So he was hard to replace, and the 'Canes have endeavored to do so with Carson Beck, who backed up Stetson Bennett on two national championship teams at Georgia, then threw for over 7400 yards over two seasons as the starter.

What does Miami have surrounding Beck?

Miami will be able to trot out a couple of talented running backs with Mark Fletcher and Jordan Lyle (who averaged 7.4 yards per carry last year). What they have to do is replenish the receiver group, but we wonder if that becomes a major problem with a master recruiter like head coach Mario Cristobal.

One of the big assets is a strong offensive line, and Miami has that. Everybody they have up front has starting experience, and among tackles on the right side of the line, Francis Mauigoa might be the best in the country.

Defensively, can the Hurricanes slow down Notre Dame?

Well, they are bringing back eight starting players, and customarily, Miami has done very well against the run. Cristobal was expected to do well in the portal, and he brought in some defensive help. This includes CB Xavier Lucas from Wisconsin, LB Mohamed Toure from Rutgers and DT David Bray from Louisiana Tech.

What can we expect from Notre Dame's offense?

First of all, you can expect a redshirt freshman at quarterback. After going with Sam Hartman and Riley Leonard as transfers the last two seasons, the Irish turn to CJ Carr, the grandson of Lloyd Carr, the former head coach at Michigan. He came to South Bend with a formidable reputation, but was hurt and had to redshirt last season, and just had to beat out Kenny Minchey in a fall competition for the job. Maybe that's a concern, as is the fact that coach Marcus Freeman was considering bringing Tyler Buchner, who had converted to wide reciever, back in as a candidate. But Freeman claims he loves Carr's level of intelligence and is confident in his decision-making.

It's a good thing the Irish can run the ball, because that's what they're going to do. As a team they averaged 5.7 yards per carry, and the backfield is headlined by Jeremiyah Love, who scored 17 touchdowns with 1125 yards, and Jadarian Price, who (6.2 yards per rush). So they'll always have a fresh quality back in the game.

Freeman seems to think this may be the deepest receiver group he's seen at Notre Dame, but for that to happen the transfers, including Malachi Fields from Virginia, need to produce something quickly.

Who's going to win between Notre Dame and Miami?

First of all, in the area of distractions, Adarius Hayes, a backup linebacker for Miami, was just charged with vehicular homicide, so that's one issue the program is dealing with.

Beck is unquestionably the more polished guy here, and yes, fundamentally speaking, on may consider it unsound to lay points on the road with a QB making his first start. But we also take into consideration that Carr, as a redshirt, spent last year in the program.

Another important thing to look at here is that Miami hasn't been as good as its record. Last season they won their first nine games, and were in the driver's seat for a spot in the College Football Playoff. But they lost to Georgia Tech, and again to Syracuse. Miami did not play one ranked team until they got to the Pop Tarts Bowl, where they lost to Iowa State.

Notre Dame's crew is much more battle-tested. After an early hiccup against Northern Illinois, they beat Indiana, Georgia and Penn State before the championship loss to Ohio State.

All told, they have the ground game and defense to make another run at the title. And they have enough to get by this opponent. We'll lay this small number.

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