Notre Dame and Miami mayenter the 2010 Sun Bowl withidentical 7-5 records, but bothteams took very di f ferentroads to end up in El Paso,Texas this New Year’s Eve.A month ago, many Ir ishfans were fully expecting theirteam to be home for the holi-days this year. Some fans evenquest ioned i f Ir ish coachBrian Kelly was the right manfor the job after questionablecoaching decisions led to a 28-27 loss to Tulsa the week aftersuffering an embarrassing 35-17 loss to Navy. The Ir ishbounced back though, andbeat then-No. 15 Utah, Armyand USC in succession fortheir f irst undefeatedNovember since 2005.“It’s definitely been a greatfeel ing, the upswing that’sbeen going on in the month ofNovember,” senior runningback Robert Hughes said in apress conference Sunday.“Coach always talks about fin-ishing strong in the month ofNovember, and I think we’vedef ini te ly made str idestowards that.”Kelly said that the mountingwins created a “cumulativeeffect” of belief among theIrish team.“Quite frankly, they havesome confidence,” he said.“When you go to USC, beatUSC at their place — you’vegot to fly all the way acrossthe country, you’ve got to pre-pare for it, you’ve got to over-come adversity. They’ve gotsome confidence. I’m not say-ing they’ve got a walk aboutthem, that air of invincibility,but they have some conf i -dence.”The wins against the Utes,Black Knights and Trojanswere also freshman quarter-back Tommy Rees’ first threegames as Notre Dame’s start-ing quarterback. During thatstretch, Rees threw for 492yards, six touchdowns andfour interceptions. Kelly saidthe extra bowl pract iceswould be very important toRees’ development.“It’s not a pressure packedsituation,” Kelly said. “Youdon’t have 72 hours to get agame plan in. It’s a combina-tion of film study recognition,as well as getting reps withthe first group. This is anotherspring ball under his belt as astarter and that’s very valu-able for him.”The Hurricanes enter the

game with question marks atthe quarterback posi t ion.Junior Jacory Harris enteredthe season as a Heismanhopeful, but has struggled thisseason, throw-ing for 1,646yards, 14t o u c h d o w n sand 11 inter-c e p t i o n s .Harris suffereda concussionduring Miami’sOct. 30 loss toVirginia, andjust returnedlast weekend.While theH u r r i c a n e s ’of fense hass t r u g g l e d ,ranking 58th inthe nat ion inscoring, thedefense hasallowed just 19.7 points pergame, good enough for 21st inthe NCAA.

“Defensively they play fast,”Kelly said. “I think they’re twoin pass efficiency in defense, atop-20 defense. It’s what youthought about Miami. This is

still a very, verytalented foot-ball team. Theyhave as muchtalent as USCdoes ondefense.”Miami wi l lhead to El Pasowith uncertain-ty on the side-l ine, as wel l .The universityf ired coachRandy Shannonon Nov. 27after four sea-sons at thehelm. ESPNanalyst JonGruden was

rumored to be close to signinga contract with Miami, butthose whispers seem to have

quieted down. Offensive linecoach Jeff Stoutland will serveas inter im coach unt i l theHurricanes f ind Shannon’sreplacement.Irish players easily relatedto the pressures of a coachingchange, as they themselveswere going through one just ayear ago.“It’s definitely a tough time,especially when you lose thehead of your program,”Hughes said. “You go throughthese stages where you’re try-ing to find who’s the next guyin line, who I take commandsfrom.”Even though the Irish andHurricanes haven’t faced eachother since 1990 — beforemany current players wereeven born — both Hughes andsenior nose guard IanWill iams talked about howexcited they were to jumpstartthe rivalry. Notre Dame leadsthe overal l ser ies 15-7-1,including its famous win in

1988 that propelled the Irishto their 11th national champi-onship.For Williams, the Sun Bowlwill be his first action sincetearing his MCL during NotreDame’s loss to Navy Oct. 23.But he said on Sunday he is“100 percent.”“I’ll be glad to be back andthe team’s very excited to con-tinue this rivalry with ‘TheU,’” he said.Williams added that he hada little personal motivationwhen lining up against theHurricanes. When he wasbeing recruited, the Floridanative attended Miami for ajunior day, but the Hurricanesdid not offer a scholarship.The 6-foot-2, 305-poundWilliams said they told him hewas “too small.”“They’ll find out Dec. 31,”Williams said.

Irish to face off against long-time rival Miami after an undefeated November

Monday, September 19, 2005 o bserverTHE

Michigan State 44 , Notre Dame 41Thursday, December 9, 2010 o bserverTHE

IRISH INSIDERSun Bowl: Notre Dame vs. Miami

Contact Sam Werner atswerner@nd.edu

By SAM WERNERSports Writer

DAN JACOBS/The Observer

Senior running back Robert Hughes gains a few of his 69 yards during Notre Dame’s 20-16 victory over USC Nov. 27. The win sealedan invite to the Sun Bowl for the Irish. They will face Miami in El Paso, Tex., Dec. 31.

Rivalry revisited

“It’s definitely been agreat feeling, the

upswing that’s beengoing on in the monthof November. Coachalways talks about

finishing strong in themonth of November,and I think we’ve

definitely made stridestowards that.”

Robert Hughessenior running back

HEAD T The Observer � IRISH INSIDERpage 2 Thursday, December 9, 2010

Irish Offense vs. Hurricanes Defense

Brian Kellyhead coach

First season at Notre Dame

career record: 178-62-2

record at ND:7-5

against Miami: 0-0

Notre DameFighting Irish

Record: 7-5AP: NR Coaches: NR

Irish freshman quarterbackTommy Rees has managed tofind his way to three straightwins as Notre Dame’s startingquarterback, but his three inter-ceptions and one fumble againstUSC showed that he still has along way to go before becominga polished quarterback.The Hurricanes defense has

preyed on quarterbacks similar toRees all season, racking up gaudystats such as only 146.33 passingyards allowed per game, 16 inter-ceptions and 37 sacks.Facing such an aggressive andopportunistic defense will be a newexperience for Rees, who so far hasonly faced discouraged Utah, over-matched Army and USC in the rain.

In the first two of those scenarios,Rees thrived. Against the best ofthose defenses in USC, though, Reesstruggled mightily.Miami will likely bring out some ofthose same characteristics from thegreen quarterback, a l though heshould still have his moments.

EDGE: MIAMI

Notre Dame’s rushing attackhas only seemed to get strongeras the season has progressed,even wi th the loss o f seniorArmando Al len . SophomoreCierre Wood can outrun nearlyany defense, and often has, andsenior Robert Hughes showedhow punishing he can be in thefourth quarter against USC.

The duo should wear down aMiami defense that has given upmore than 170 rushing yards pergame this season. Especially with afreshman at quarterback, I r i shcoach Brian Kelly will look to hisground game to move the ball intough situations.If Notre Dame can find success inthat regard early on in the Sun Bowl,

it should be able to ride those gainsto a strong dose of momentum. Inbowl games, momentum tends todecide everything, and thus Woodand Hughes wi l l keep on steam-rolling through a Miami defense thatis ill-equipped to handle this versionof a one-two punch.

EDGE: NOTRE DAME

Brian Kelly has shown asurplus of moxie by keep-ing Notre Dame rolling thisseason despite sufferinginjury after injury to seem-ingly crucial players.When he had two weeksto prepare for Utah, Kellyand his moxie got the Irishmore ready for a game

than at any otherpoint this season.With a month toscheme for Miami,Kelly should have lit-t le problem findingthe cracks in theHurricanes.

EDGE: NOTRE DAME

With each PAT hemisses, David Rufferscares Notre Dame fansa bit more, but the factremains that the seniorkicker has never misseda field goal. In a bowlgame that could comedown to one possession,that is an extremely

valuable weapon to have.Freshman Bennett Jacksonhas also been a spark sincehe began returning kicks.Any field position advantagehe can give Notre Damecould shift the balance of thegame.

EDGE: NOTRE DAME

Sept. 4

Sept. 11

Sept. 18

Sept. 25

Oct. 2

Oct. 9

Oct. 16

Oct. 23

Oct. 30

Nov. 13

Nov. 20

Nov. 27

Purdue — W

Michigan — L

@ Michigan St. — L

Stanford — L

@ Boston College — W

Pittsburgh — W

Western Michigan — W

@ Navy — L

Tulsa — L

Utah — W

Army — W

@ USC — W

2010 Schedule

ND PASSING

Statistical LeadersND OFFENSEQB TOMMY REES

85-138, 905 yards, 10 TDRB CIERRE WOOD

107 rush, 564 yards, 2 TDWR MICHAEL FLOYD

73 rec., 916 yards, 10 TDWR DUVAL KAMARA

11 rec., 112 yards, 3 TDTE TYLER EIFERT

23 rec., 321 yards, 2 TD

MIAMI DEFENSELB COLIN McCARTHY

95 total, 8 TFL, 1 INTLB SEAN SPENCE

49 solo, 92 total, 16 TFLS RAY-RAY ARMSTRONG

66 total, 3.5 TFL, 3 INTDE ALLEN BAILEY

42 total, 11 TFL, 7 sackDE OLIVIER VERNON

32 total, 9 TFL, 6 sack

Head-to-HeadND OFFENSEScoring: 25.75 ppg (73rd)

Total: 378.25 ypg (63rd)

Rushing: 120.83 ypg (96th)

Passing: 257.42 ypg (29th)

Turnovers against: 24 (84th)

Fumbles lost: 8 (30th)

Interceptions: 16 (104th)

Sacks Allowed: 20 (43rd)

T.O.P. for: 27:10 (113th)

MIAMIDEFENSEScoring: 19.67 ppg (21st)

Total: 317.17 ypg (16th)

Rushing: 170.83 ypg (81st)

Passing: 146.33 ypg (2nd)

Turnovers for: 28 (16th)

Fumbles rec.: 12 (26rd)

Interceptions: 16 (21st)

Sacks: 37 (6th)

T.O.P. against: 31:34 (97th)

Bob DiacoDef. Coordinator

Charley MolnarOff. Coordinator

ND RUSHING

NDSPECIALTEAMS

NDOFFENSIVE

COACHING

Well, it’s Christmas season, whichmeans every Notre Dame student iswalking along snowy South Quad hum-ming, “All I want for Christmas is U.”Yes, it’s all about The U.Unfortunately, Notre Dame andMiami are not exactly at the same levelthey were back in the 80s, when The Uactually meant something. Nonetheless,the Sun Bowl could not have asked for amore fitting match-up for New Year’sEve. Brian Kelly and his hopeful riseagainst coachless and likely punchlessMiami? I’ll take Kelly and his three-game winning streak.Now, back to Mariah Carey.

FINAL SCORE: Notre Dame 27, Miami 17

Like USC, Miami has plenty of talentedathletes — then again, so does "PinkyFingers," the walk-on-laden flag footballteam my squad of scrubs plays against intonight's co-rec champinship. (My pick, bythe way: Woody's in an upset. Not really.We forfeit.)I expect this game to go much like theone against the Trojans, where the Irishoffense struggles to sustain drives but thedefense hangs in there and gives an incon-sistent Miami offense trouble. If NotreDame can avoid giving up big plays andcan run the ball as they did against USC, Ithink they'll pull this one off to close 2010on a high note.

FINAL SCORE: Notre Dame 16, Miami 10

No Lou Holtz. No Jimmy Johnson. NoNational Championship hopes on the line.But that doesn’t mean that Notre Dame’sSun Bowl game against Miami won’t beheated, and won’t be exciting. Eventhough it’s been nearly two decades sincethese two teams last clashed, a tradition ofdislike bordering on hatred is still present.I have a set of rules when picking bowl

games. One is ‘never pick a team whofired their coach at the end of the year,’which Miami did when the showed RandyShannon the door. Another recently hasbeen ‘never pick Notre Dame to win abowl game,’ but this is a new era and anew Notre Dame team.

FINAL SCORE: Notre Dame 23, Miami 17

DouglasFarmer

Sports Editor

Matt Gamber

Sports Writer

Eric Prister

AssociateSports Editor

HEAD TO HEADThe Observer � IRISH INSIDERThursday, December 9, 2010 page 3

Hurricanes Offense vs. Irish Defense

Jeff Stoutlandinterim head coach

First season atMiami

career record0-0:

record at Army:0-0

against ND: 0-0

MiamiHurricanesRecord: 7-5

AP: NR Coaches: NR

Sept. 2

Sept. 11

Sept. 23

Oct. 2

Oct. 9

Oct. 16

Oct. 23

Oct. 30

Nov. 6

Nov. 13

Nov. 20

Nov. 27

Florida A&M — W

@ Ohio State — L

@ Pittsburgh — W

@ Clemson — W

Florida State — L

@ Duke — W

North Carolina — W

@ Virginia — L

Maryland — W

@ Georgia Tech — W

Virginia Tech — L

South Florida — L

2010 Schedule

Statistical LeadersMIAMI OFFENSEQB JACORY HARRIS

132-245, 1,646 yds, 14 TD

RB DAMIEN BERRY

166 rush, 841 yards, 5 TD

RB LAMAR MILLER

94 rush, 639 yards, 5 TD

WR LEONARD HANKERSON

57 rec., 958 yards, 12 TD

WR TRAVIS BENJAMIN

38 rec., 691 yards, 3 TD

ND DEFENSEMLB MANTI TE’O

65 solo, 127 total, 9.5 TFL

MLB CARLO CALABRESE

26 solo, 59 total, 2.5 sack

LB DARIUS FLEMING

46 total, 10 TFL, 6 sack

CB GARY GRAY

59 total, 5 TFL, 1 INT

S HARRISON SMITH

50 solo, 86 total, 4 INT

Head-to-HeadMIAMI OFFENSEScoring: 27.08 ppg (58th)

Total: 422.58 ypg (31st)

Rushing: 190.42 ypg (26th)

Passing: 232.17 (49th)

Turnovers against: 32 (117th)

Fumbles lost: 9 (52nd)

Interceptions: 23 (119th)

Sacks Allowed: 16 (26th)

T.O.P. for: 28:26 (97th)

ND DEFENSEScoring: 20.5 ppg (29th)

Total: 353.17 ypg (47th)

Rushing: 146.75 ypg (55th)

Passing: 206.42 ypg (42nd)

Turnovers for: 21 (57th)

Fumbles rec.: 7 (86th)

Interceptions: 14 (34th)

Sacks: 26 (47th)

T.O.P. against: 32:50 (113th)

Mark WhippleOff. Coordinator

John LovettDef. Coordinator

Hurricanes quarterback JacoryHarris throws nearly one interceptionper 10 completions. At that rate, NotreDame can hope for at least one pickagainst Miami, if not two or three.After just one, Harris will likelybecome more tentative with his throws,limiting the effects of the Miami aerialattack.If he manages to stay aggressive,

receiver Leonard Hankerson shouldprovide a serious threat to NotreDame’s secondary. Hankerson hasscored 12 touchdowns this season, andtallied nearly 1,000 yards. The Irish donot have one defensive back who canmatch up with the threat on his own, soit will need a group effort to slowHankerson if Harris finds a groove toget him the ball.

Fortunately for Notre Dame, sen-ior safety Harrison Smith hasdeveloped some ball-hawk tenden-cies this year, and if he can findone of Harris’ passes, theHurricane quarterback shouldbegin to sieze up the rest of theday.

EDGE: NOTRE DAME

After a sloppy start, Notre Dame hasgrown stronger and stronger againstthe run this season. The contrastbetween the Navy and Army gamesalone displays the Irish defense’s devel-opment.Now with both sophomore linebackerCarlo Calabrese and senior defensivetackle Ian Williams back in action, thedefense should become even more

stingy against the ground attack.Williams’ absence since late Octobercreated the opportunity for juniorsSean Cwynar and Hafis Williams todevelop quickly. With Williams nowback in the lineup, Notre Dame has theluxury of some serious depth across thedefensive line.Trying to break through that line willprove difficult for a Miami offense that

has no standout running back.Damien Berry and Lamar Millermay each have five touchdowns,but neither has established himselfas a go-to back, and theHurricanes will feel the need for ago-to back against a hungry Irishdefense.

EDGE: NOTRE DAME

Punter Matt Bosher isone of the best in thecountry at his craft,averaging more than 44yards per punt, and hiscoverage gives up lessthan seven yards perreturn.Notre Dame has strug-gled in the punt return

game all season, so theHurricanes should evencount on their punts to be aweapon in a way, forcingNotre Dame back into itsown territory before itsoffense even gets on thefield.

EDGE: MIAMI

MIAM

I PASSING

MIAMI SPECIAL TEAM

S

MIAM

I RUSHING

A month ago, not many people thoughtthe Irish would be bowling this holidayseason. But a red-hot month ofNovember gave Notre Dame a world ofconfidence against Miami. The trick forthe Irish will be allowing the winninghabits they've developed over the pastthree games to continue after a month-long layoff. This may not be the classicNotre Dame-Miami rivalry your fathertold you about, but it should provide anice springboard for the resumption ofthe series in 2012. For the Irish, a winhere would also have them as one of thehottest teams in the country headinginto 2011.

FINAL SCORE: Notre Dame 30, Miami 21

Notre Dame already watched one balldrop this year, through Ronald Johnson’shands before the Irish defeated USC forthe first time in nine years.When they watch the ball drop on NewYear’s Eve, it will be after a fourth straightwin, their first against Miami in 21 years.Senior kicker David Ruffer, who is per-fect on the season and tonight will findout whether he is the winner of the 2010Lou Groza award, has not had a chanceto shine lately, as Notre Dame has beencontent to score via touchdown. Butagainst the tough Hurricanes defense,Ruffer will be a major part of a NotreDame victory.

FINAL SCORE: Notre Dame 30, Miami 27

Sam Werner

Sports Writer

Laura Myers

Sports Writer

Hurricanes interimhead coach JeffStoutland must leadMiami through a tumul-tous period following thefiring of Randy Shannon.Many players maycheck out amid thecoaching transition, andStoutland will have a

tough time simply being com-petive in the Sun Bowl, letalone embarassing NotreDame. Thus, much of hisoffensive creativity will likelybe very limited, leaving BobDiaco and the Irish to do asthey wish.

EDGE: NOTRE DAMEMIAMI OFFENSIVE

COACHING

It was all about looking for-ward the last time the Irishplayed in a bowl game, in Hawaiion Christmas Eve 2008. NotreDame’s 49-21 dismantling ofHawaii ended a nine-game bowllosing streakand was sup-posed to jump-start a success-ful 2009 seasonunder CharlieWeis.So, when theNotre Dame-Miamimatchup wasfinalizedSunday, myfirst instinctwas to lookforward, toview the Sun Bowl as a previewof the three-game seriesbetween the Irish andHurricanes that is set to begin in2012 at Soldier Field in Chicago.I thought we’d see the NewYear’s Eve bowl as a chance toenter 2011 with some seriousmomentum, especially consider-ing Notre Dame’s three straightbig wins.It seems I underestimatedwhat a game between the Irishand Hurricanes still means, 20years after they last met.After all, I was 18 months oldthe last time these two teamsplayed. Until a Wikipedia searchSunday, I couldn’t remember thescores of those fierce showdownsin 1988, 1989 and 1990. Untilfinding Youtube highlightsMonday, I had seen more of LouHoltz in an ESPN studio than ona college football sideline, and Ihad watched more clips ofRocket Ismail in street clothes atpep rallies than in an Irish uni-form, igniting Notre DameStadium the way he did best.I can’t fully understand theNotre Dame-Miami rivalry thatwas characterized by genuinelybad blood that boiled over in a1988 pregame brawl and epito-mized by Lou Holtz’s legendaryrequest to “save JimmyJohnson’s ass for me.” These bit-ter showdowns are what a previ-ous generation of Irish fans livedfor, and what our current gener-ation longs for.By looking back, especially atthe way the Irish beat theHurricanes in 1988 and 1990, Isomewhat surprisingly feelencouraged with where theNotre Dame program is headed.Of course, this isn’t the 1988 or1990 team, for Notre Dame orfor Miami — both are 7-5, theformer with losses to Navy andTulsa, the latter without a headcoach.But, to me, the arrow is point-ing up for the Irish. What betterway for Notre Dame to finish theseason than with a win over ahistoric rival the Irish haven’tplayed in two decades, during

which Irish championships havegone from an expectation to apipe dream.This may be a stretch, but forall the differences between thoseNotre Dame teams and this one,I couldn’t help but see dashes ofsimilarities, glimmers of hopethat indicate Brian Kelly justmight be putting the fight backin the Fighting Irish.While the 1988 national cham-pionship team was perfect inrecord, it wasn’t perfect for 60minutes every game. Against theHurricanes that year, the Irishgave up 21 second quarterpoints after taking a 7-0 lead.Notre Dame took a 31-21 leadinto the fourth quarter of thatgame but gave up a fourth-and-goal touchdown with 45 secondsto play that pulled Miami withinan extra point of tying or a two-point conversion of winning.Perhaps it’s just me, but tohear the praise of those NotreDame teams and the criticism oftheir contemporaries, I’d havethought the Irish never surren-dered a lead or gave up a fourth-down conversion with a game onthe line.True, the Irish stepped upwhen they had to, breaking upthat two-point conversion andfinishing the victory on their wayto a national championship.But consider the tone afterNotre Dame’s recent victory overUSC, when the Irish nearly gaveaway their chance to beat theTrojans before rallying late andcreating a key turnover in thefinal minute.While the level of competitionand the level of importance ofthe games I mention arenowhere near comparable, mypoint is, maybe we forget whatmade the Holtz era at NotreDame special. It wasn’t that theIrish blew out every opponent,big or small, ranked orunranked, without ever havingto overcome adversity. Rather, itwas that the Irish did overcomethat adversity, that they madeplays in the biggest situations,that they closed out games theway championship teams do.When I looked back at the oldtape, I thought I’d come awaydisappointed about the kind ofbig games I’d never see as aNotre Dame student. Instead, Isaw hope that maybe we’re see-ing the beginning of somethingspecial here.Unlike a Hawaii Bowl victory,beating Miami — even if it’s notpretty — on New Year’s Evemight just provide the kind oflook forward for which Irish fanslong.

The views expressed in thiscolumn are those of the authorand not necessarily those of TheObserver.

Contact Matt Gamber atmgamber@nd.edu

The Observer � IRISH INSIDERpage 4 Thursday, December 9, 2010

History may leadto looking forward

Matt Gamber

Sports Writer

COMMENTARY

Follow our LIVE blog from the

press box down in El Paso:ndsmcobserver.com/sports/irish-football/irish-insider-extra

The Sun Bowl will be thefirst game Notre Dame andMiami have played againsteach other in more than 20years. The games it follows,though, are still rememberedas some of the best in collegefootball history. “This matchup certainlybrings back the memories ofsome of the great games thatwere played,” Irish coachBrian Kelly said in a pressconference Monday.One of those great games,the 1988 contest in which No.4 Notre Dame defeated No. 1Miami, 31-30, was listed byUSA Today in 2007 as one ofthe best of the past 25 years. That game, dubbed“Catholics vs. Convicts,”thanks to a clever student-made T-shirt, began with afight in entrance of the NotreDame Stadium tunnel and arousing speech by then-coachLou Holtz, who told his team,“save Jimmy Johnson’s assfor me.” It contained a con-troversial fumble ruling, andit ended with Hurricanescoach Johnson attempting atwo-point conversion when hecould have tied it with anextra point at the end of thegame. Of course, the season ended

with Notre Dame on top, thewin over Miami a stepping-stone for the Irish to capturetheir last national champi-onship. It was Holtz’s quote thatKelly said he remembered themost. “That’s classic,” he said. “Istill think of that one and go,that’s probably one of thebest all time lines leading intoa football game that I canimagine.”Kelly’s other memorieswere less specific. “The great players in it. Iremember that,” he said.“The intense rivalry. Intense.It got downright ugly attimes.” And it did. Though NotreDame leads the series, whichbegan in 1955, by a mark of15-7-1, many of Miami’s winswere painful. In 1985, Miami defeatedNotre Dame 58-7, and wasaccused of running up thescore, possibly beginning thetension that lasted throughthe next six seasons. Through the latter half ofthe 1980s, Notre Dame andMiami were two of the topteams in college football. TheHurricanes won champi-onships in 1987 and ’89,while the Irish won it all in1988. The two often playedspoiler to one another. In 1987, the first time the

Irish faced the Hurricaneswith Lou Holtz as coach, No.2 Miami defeated No. 10Notre Dame 24-0. In 1989, the No. 7Hurricanes ended No. 1 NotreDame’s 23-game win streakwith a 27-10 victory, NotreDame’s only loss of the sea-son. The Irish ended that install-ment of the rivalry with a vic-tory, though, defeating No. 2Miami 29-20 on Oct. 20,1990. The Hurricanes won anational title the followingyear, and another in 2001. While the history adds alevel of interest that mayhave spurred the Sun Bowl tosell out in a record 21 hoursMonday, players said it was ofsecondary importance to thegame at hand. “I don’t think it’s going tomatter at all,” senior noseguard Ian Williams said at apress conference Sunday. Senior running back RobertHughes, who grew up cheer-ing for the Hurricanes,agreed. “It’s more for the fans withthe history and tradition,”Hughes said. “It’s pretty muchspecifically our task to go outthere and win. We’l l befocused on that.”

Sun Bowl evokes memories of 1980s

By LAURA MYERSSports Writer

Contact Laura Myers atlmyers2@nd.edu

AP

Amid their many heated meetings in the 1980s, Notre Dame and Miami brawled in the tunnel beforetheir 1988 match-up. No. 4 Notre Dame topped No. 1 Miami 31-30 on Oct. 15, 1988.