Conference championship and ACC shenanigans reroute Notre Dame to Sun Bowl
In a convoluted twist of fate, Tommy Rees helped derail a possible Jan. 1 reunion of LSU coach Brian Kelly and the team he presided over for 12 seasons, Notre Dame.
Not that the potential ReliaQuest Bowl matchup between Kelly’s Tigers and the second rendition of coach Marcus Freeman’s Irish was ever a done deal but it was trending that way.
That is until former Irish offensive coordinator Rees and Alabama upended No. 1 Georgia Saturday in the SEC Championship Game, it tripped the domino that prevented Notre Dame or an ACC team from landing in the ReliaQuest Bowl opposite an SEC opponent and subbed in a Big Ten team alternative instead.
And then the bowl path got even more twisted for the 16th-ranked Irish (9-3), rerouting from an expected fallback Pop-Tarts Bowl bid and ultimately landing in Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl, Dec. 29 against No. 19 Oregon State (8-4).
Because of the unexpectedly protracted selection process, Irish head coach Marcus Freeman's expected Sunday media availability was deferred.
It’ll be the third-ever football meeting ever between Notre Dame and the Beavers, with none of them coming during the regular season. And it's the first time the Sun Bowl has hosted a pair of ranked teams since 2008. Kickoff is 2 p.m. EST on CBS.
Oregon State dismantled Notre Dame 41-9 in the Fiesta Bowl at the end of the 2000 season under coach Bob Davie. Four years later the Beavers took down the Irish, 38-21, in the Insight Bowl following head coach Tyrone Willingham’s firing at the end of the regular season. Interim coach Kent Baer, ND’s defensive coordinator under Willingham, guided the Irish during bowl season.
Oregon State will have an interim coach in this matchup with Jonathan Smith having accepted the head coaching job at Michigan State. Wide receivers coach Kefense Hynson has been elevated into the interim role.
OSU named a successor to Smith, defensive coordinator Trent Bray, on Nov. 28, but Bray said Hynson will stay in the interim role for the bowl game as Bray continues to focus on recruiting and putting together a coaching staff. Hynson will also call offensive plays in the bowl game.
The Pop-Tarts Bowl was reportedly supposed to get the first pick from the ACC/ND pool outside of the New Year’s Six to match up with the second pick among Big 12 teams not involved in the New Year’s Six. If that’s the case, they would have bypassed both No. 15. Louisville (10-3) and the Irish to take 18th-ranked NC State (9-3), which lost to both, to pair against No. 25 Kansas State (8-4).
The ACC held a late-afternoon conference call with several bowls, according to the Brett McMurphy of the Action Network, to place most of its teams, beyond Orange Bowl-bound champions, No. 5 Florida State (13-0). "The ACC's top 3 picks - Pop-Tarts, Gator & Holiday - could not select the Irish, sources said," McMurphy tweeted.
The ACC sent 11 of its 14 teams to bowls.
And the final three came down to picking names out of a hat for the Duke's Mayo, Sun and Pinstripe Bowls, longtime Sun Bowl Association executive director Bernie Olivas told Inside ND Sports on Sunday night.
North Carolina will take on West Virginia in the Duke's Mayo Bowl, while the Pinstripe Bowl drew Miami to oppose Rutgers from the Big Ten.
Olivas was euphoric even hours after the announcement.
"I still don't know all the details about why there were delays and how we ended up in a draw for Notre Dame," he said. "All I can tell you is that we're thrilled it happened. The whole city of El Paso is."
It will be Notre Dame’s second trip to the Sun Bowl and Oregon State’s third. The Irish thumped Miami, 33-17, in winter-like conditions at the end of the 2010 season, Kelly’s first as Irish head coach.
“It was kind of a shocker when we finally got the call, Olivas told El Paso TV station KTSM earlier. "We sat there and waited for almost two hours for a phone call that was supposed to happen at 1:15 [Mountain time], and it never happened. I just got a text saying, ‘We’re being delayed. We’re being delayed. We’re being delayed.’
"So we just sat there and waited … until they finally said, ‘We’re ready. So-and-so is gone. These are the teams available from the pool.’ And when they said, ‘Notre Dame,’ I know I gasped. I think our football committee gasped, and I’m sure the other two bowls [Duke's Mayo and Pinstripe] gasped as well, not knowing how they got into the pool."
The three bowls then agreed on how the remaining ACC teams — North Carolina and Miami and ND, which is part of the ACC bowl pool — would be selected. By drawing names from a hat.
"The Pinstripe Bowl actually had to think about it a lot, because Notre Dame is going to play [next] season at Yankee Stadium [against Army]," Olivas said. "So, they might not have wanted a repeat team. But after discussion, he said, yes, he wanted to be part of that pool. And then there was a drawing. So, here we are.”
Oregon State starting quarterback DJ Uiagalelei, a transfer from Clemson who has faced the Irish twice, has re-entered the transfer portal and won’t play a third time against ND. Oregon State’s top backup is freshman Aidan Chiles, jumped into the portal himself on Monday, perhaps eventually following Smith to Michigan State.
That leaves third-stringer Ben Gulbranson at the top of the depth chart for the Sun Bowl game with Notre Dame. He threw just one pass — and completed it — in game action in 2023. However, the 6-3, 215-pound redshirt sophomore has plenty of experience.
He played in 10 games and started eight due to injuries in 2022, and the Newberry Park, Calif., product went 7-1 as a starter last season. He completed 121 of 194 pass attempts for 1,455 yards and nine TDs with five interceptions. He also rushed for 52 net yards and five scores.
According to our Rivals Oregon State site, beaversedge.com. Oregon State will also be without, notably, running back Damien Martinez (away from team), right tackle Taliese Fuaga (NFL Draft prep) and receiver Anthony Gould (NFL Draft prep).
Martinez this season rushed for 1,185 yards and nine TDs this season with a 6.0-yards-per-carry average.
The Beavers lost games to Washington State, Arizona and conference champ Washington by a combined eight points, before Oregon overwhelmed them on the road, 31-7 in OSU's regular-season finale on Nov. 24.
Oregon State heads into bowl season solid on both sides of the ball, 32nd in total offense and 35th in total defense. The Irish are 29th and eighth, respectively.
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