Mirer Runs, Passes Irish to 49-27 Win : Notre Dame: The quarterback rushes for three touchdowns and throws for another to lead the victory over Indiana.

Rick Mirer followed his worst week off the field with his best game on it.

The Notre Dame quarterback, who was hounded by reporters all week after his arrest at an off-campus party, ran for three touchdowns and passed for a fourth Saturday as the No. 7 Fighting Irish defeated Indiana, 49-27.

Charges of drunk and disorderly conduct were dropped Thursday, but doubts lingered about how the incident would affect Mirer in Notre Dame’s season opener.

“It had nothing to do with the game,” he said. “It had nothing to do with the day. It wasn’t on my mind.”

Mirer had a career-long, 58-yard touchdown pass play to Irv Smith, who carried three Indiana defenders into the end zone, and scored on runs of 46 yards, six yards one yard. He completed 11 of 17 passes for 209 yards, with one touchdown and one interception.

“I could just see this coming with Rick, his game today, his poise and polish,” Coach Lou Holtz said.

Linebacker Demetrius DuBose, who was arrested along with Mirer and faces a charge of underage possession of alcohol, scored Notre Dame’s first touchdown on a 49-yard interception return.

The highlight for Notre Dame came on the pass play to Smith, who dragged cornerback Harry Wardlow nearly 25 yards and pulled three defenders into the end zone to give Notre Dame a 42-20 lead with 3:08 left in the third quarter.

The victory was Notre Dame’s 14th in a row over a Big Ten team and 20th in the last 21 games against Indiana. The meeting was the schools’ first since 1958.

“They came up with key plays at the key times,” Indiana Coach Bill Mallory said. “We made costly mistakes, and you cannot do that and expect to beat a team like Notre Dame.”