Saturday night's showdown between Notre Dame and Miami is one of the most anticipated games on the college football schedule this entire year.

It's two powerhouse programs with rich histories that are battling for College Football Playoff positioning as the regular season enters its final month.

Miami won the thriller on South Beach last year, but Notre Dame hasn't lost to the Hurricanes in South Bend since Jimmy Johnson and the Hurricanes beat Gerry Faust's Irish squad 31-13 in 1984.

As close as the matchup appears to be this coming weekend, there is one area Notre Dame especially needs to exploit if it's going to knock off No. 1.

Notre Dame's Advantage When Passing vs Miami

The bad news for Notre Dame is that CJ Carr hasn't looked his best the last two games out. He missed a couple of throws that would have changed the game at BYU and was rather pedestrian against Navy, completing 19 of 29 pass attempts for 210 yards and two touchdowns.

The good news is that Carr has a chance to be the difference maker against Miami, as the Hurricanes pass defense has hardly impressed to date.

For as good as Miami is overall, it struggles in a big way defending the pass. While it has only allowed 251.9 passing yards against per game, it gives up just over 7.6 yards per pass attempt this year.

If that seems high, it's because it is, ranking 84th nationally.

It's also worth noting that aside a mid-September win at Wake Forest, Miami hasn't exactly faced a murderers' row of opponents.

Examining Notre Dame's Passing Attack

While it has been far from perfect, Notre Dame's passing game has put up impressive numbers to date.

I'm not huge on looking at total yards on a season basis, because different games call for different game plans, but instead, how good are you on average when you try a certain thing?

When passing the ball this year, Notre Dame is averaging 8.3 yards per attempt. Like Miami, Notre Dame hasn't played the toughest of schedules, but it has clearly had success throwing the ball.

That will be a must on Saturday night as it has been what has kept a couple opponents close with Miami so far this season.

Florida State averaged 10.2 yards per attempt when it lost in double-overtime at Miami on October 17.

This past Saturday night, North Carolina took Miami to the wire, averaging 10.0 yards each time it passed, throwing for four scores in a 38-35 loss.

For the record, Florida State and North Carolina are 7- 9 combined this season.

If they can take Miami to the wire, shouldn't Notre Dame be able to have similar success, but have more talent in other places as well?

Nick Shepkowski's Quick Thoughts

For years we've seen Notre Dame set its tone offensively by running the ball and throwing to tight ends. That got it decently far, but the downfield passing game has needed to grow.

Statistically, it has.

However, has it developed a deeper rotation than it had just a few short weeks ago, when a group of purely gassed wide receivers were unable to be subbed out late in both halves at BYU?

Notre Dame has the offensive line to protect Carr. Now can the receivers step up in a way that exploits what has been a struggling Miami secondary?

The answer to that question will very likely hold the answer to whether or not Notre Dame knocks off No. 1 Miami on Saturday night.