When Notre Dame and Miami meet on Saturday night inside Hard Rock Stadium, it will be the first or second taste of what used to be one of college football’s most-heated rivalries for many of the players on both sides.
The Fighting Irish versus the Hurricanes was a staple in college football from 1971-90, until the rivalry was halted when Miami joined the Big East.
It has been well documented over the years about how meaningful some of the matchups between the two programs were and their disdain for each other. From 1987-89, the winner of the game went on to win the national championship — with Miami claiming the crown in 1987 and 1989, and Notre Dame taking it in 1988.
Current Miami head coach Mark Richt was a quarterback for the Hurricanes from 1979-82. Richt and the Canes faced off against the Irish all four years and finished 1-3 in those bouts.
After a successful stint as the head coach at Georgia from 2001-15 that included nine 10-win seasons, Richt was hired by his alma mater to rebuild its legacy. In year two, he is well on his way to doing just that — leading the Hurricanes to an 8-0 record and the No. 7 spot in this week’s College Football Playoff rankings.
But the path to the playoff has a road block in an 8-1 Notre Dame squad that is ranked No. 3 in the country. The stakes couldn’t be higher because the loser on Saturday night will most likely be out of the picture while the other moves one step closer.
It will be the first time since 1990 that both teams will enter the matchup ranked. For those involved, it is fitting that a Notre Dame-Miami game has potential national title implications.
“We like it when we’re competing in games like this late in the year,” Richt said. “It’s what you hope for and what you work toward. Just so happens that this Saturday night is going to be very meaningful for both teams.
“One time I went there and got knocked out, and then another time I went there and got my heart broke. I think Blair Kiel was the quarterback and had a last-minute drive to set them in field goal range to beat us. We lost that one … had a chance to win it. I remember checking to a quarterback sneak on third or fourth down, and getting stuffed. They got a chance to go down and score.
“It’s a cool place to go to for sure. The tradition has been going there for obviously over 100 years.”
Richt certainly respects the challenge Notre Dame presents his team, especially in the trenches.
“Notre Dame is playing great, [it's a] super hot team beating people by big margins, one of the best defensive teams in the country, one of the best offensive teams in the country,” Richt said. “The offensive line is one of the best in America, I don’t think many people would argue that. The left guard, left tackle could be the first picks in the draft at their positions. … Very experienced; very, very talented.
“Over 300 yards a game rushing. This isn’t triple-option football, this is just line up and physically move people off the football, kick your tail [behind the] offensive line and great runners.”
And that Irish offensive line helps pave the way for junior quarterback Brandon Wimbush, junior running back Josh Adams and company to be effective.
“Josh Adams [is] ninth in the nation, 132 yards a game, has already got six 100-yard games, a couple of 200-yard games, already over 1,000 yards,” Richt noted. “Wimbush has 13 rushing touchdowns, almost 700 yards rushing. He’s throwing the ball as well, 1,200 yards. A true dual-threat guy and the number show that.
“The difference between him and a lot of running quarterbacks is just how fast he is. He can truly take it to the house when he breaks out. It’s something we have to hopefully keep from happening. Forty-one points a game as a group. … Very explosive offense, balanced offense.”
Though the Irish offensive running attack gets much of the attention, Richt sees a talented defensive unit as well.
“One of the better teams in the country when it comes to defense,” he stated. “It starts up front. Edge rushers are outstanding, [Jerry] Tillery at defensive tackle is very impressive. Their linebackers have played a bunch of games. [Te’von] Coney from Palm Beach Gardens, 74 tackles leads the team. [Nyles] Morgan is playing his 47th game, that’s hard to do and last year he had nine tackles, two sacks against us. [Drue] Tranquill a hybrid linebacker, safety type, very impressive, had nine tackles against us last year, we couldn’t block him very well at all.
“[Julian] Love and [Nick] Watkins, their corners, are outstanding. Watkins is playing in his 33rd game, Love has three picks. At safety, [Nick] Coleman has his 34th start. A very, very veteran group. They play very physical, they’re sure tacklers, don’t give up big plays and you’re going to have to earn it.
“We’ve not been good at long drives, have hit some shots here and there, made some big plays. Every so often we’ll have a drive that lasts more than six, seven, eight plays, but haven’t had a lot of that.”
Saturday's game between the two programs is just one of this weekend's seven top-25 matchups which will ultimately create a lot of shake up come next Tuesday's College Football Playoff rankings.
----
• Talk about it inside Rockne’s Roundtable
• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, Blue & Gold Illustrated.
• Follow us on Twitter: @BGINews, @BGI_LouSomogyi, @BGI_CoachD,
@BGI_DMcKinney and @BGI_CoreyBodden.
• Like us on Facebook.
