Sun Bowl: Power Ranking Every Matchup in the Classic Notre Dame-Miami Rivalry
A rivalry will be renewed on Friday at 2 PM EST as Notre Dame and Miami face off in the Sun Bowl.
Surprising enough, it's been 20 years since the last time the two teams have played. Yet despite that, the two teams are ready to meet up and are hungry for a win to end their season.
Both storied teams have been fighting for several years to get back to the top of the college football world and they still have work to do. They have been maintaining difficult out of conference schedules, with Miami facing Ohio State and Notre Dame's independent schedule including Michigan State and Stanford.
As for the match up between these two teams, who will win? The following is a breakdown of who will win by match ups.
Quarterbacks
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The quarterback position on both teams is, at best, troubling. The season started off with Jacory Harris and Dayne Crist, then moved to freshmen Stephen Morris and Tommy Rees as the season ended.
Who will start the bowl games?
Harris and Crist struggled much of the season, though under Rees, Notre Dame won their final three games. I'm leaning towards Rees starting, but you never know what could happen.
Miami, however, is in trouble, as earlier today Morris injured his ankle in practice and may not be able to go. Neither quarterback has been chosen to start the game yet.
If I had to choose, I'd give the edge to Notre Dame, presuming Rees starts. I don't know if I would trust either side's quarterbacks on the big stage though.
Running Backs
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Again, injuries have played a role in Notre Dame's offensive situation. Armando Allen is out for the year and Cierre Wood has done the best he can, but is not a dominant running back.
Miami, meanwhile, has been splitting time of late between senior Damien Berry and freshman Lamar Miller.
The Miami running backs are the ones putting up 100 yard individual performances, so I'm giving them the edge.
Receiving
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Here's a much more competitive match up.
For Miami, the main target is senior Leonard Hankerson, who has 66 catches for 1085 yards and 12 touchdowns. Notre Dame's main target is junior Michael Floyd, who has 73 catches for 916 yards and 10 touchdowns, which includes a couple double-digit reception games.
As for other targets, sophomore Theo Riddick missed half the year for Notre Dame due to injury (see a pattern?) and will be back in force against the Hurricanes.
Miami has juniors Travis Benjamin and LaRon Byrd to use should Hankerson be covered by the Fighting Irish defense.
Having Riddick as a number two option is better than Miami's selections, I believe, so Notre Dame gets the nod. Either way, expect both Floyd and Hankerson to have breakout games that will make you wonder why you haven't heard much of them until now.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Offensive Line
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It's tough to say which offensive line is better.
The man to watch for Miami is freshman offensive tackle Seantrel Henderson, who has been great so far for a tough Miami O-Line.
Zack Martin, tackle on Notre Dame's O-Line, has played well, though there are three first-year starters on that line.
Both are improving, but on this one I have to give the edge to the Hurricanes.
Defensive Line
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This is another tough one to compare.
Miami has the bigger names on their line, namely likely first-rounder Allen Bailey, whose seven sacks lead both teams. On the other hand, Notre Dame has allowed nearly 300 fewer rushing yards this season despite playing Denard Robinson early in the year.
A lot of that is thanks to a tight D-Line, who continued to play well despite losing their big name, nose tackle Ian Williams. The difference maker? Notre Dame has said this is the toughest defensive line they've faced all year and they faced Boston College's line and Purdue's Ryan Kerrigan.
Advantage goes to Miami, though not by as much as you may think.
Linebackers
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In a match up of big name versus big name, we have Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o against Miami linebacker Sean Spence. Spence is one of the leading tacklers in the ACC and Te'o will be returning from a broken nose.
Colin McCarthy is also a tough opponent, leading the team in tackles.
Miami seems to have an advantage here too.
Defensive Backs
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This one's a lot more obvious. Miami's pass defense is second in the country and have made 16 interceptions while allowing seven passing touchdowns.
Notre Dame is 14 and nine, which is still good,
Advantage to Miami, but expect both secondaries to be making plays.
Special Teams
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Here's one that we can give to Notre Dame.
Kicker David Ruffer has made every field goal this season for the Fighting Irish, while Hurricanes kicker Matt Bosher is 12 of 16.
Miami, however, is averaging 44 yards on punts while Notre Dame is near the bottom with 38 yards per.
Notre Dame also has about 1100 total in kick and punt return yards, compared to under 900 for Miami.
Notre Dame wins two out of three here, so they have the advantage.
Coaching
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Miami fired coach Randy Shannon and will have offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland as interim coach.
Notre Dame still has their head coach, Brian Kelly.
A team that just lost its head coach will naturally be at a disadvantage in any situation.
Intangibles
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It almost seems pointless to look at the intangibles because both teams are fighting for the same thing.
They are looking to gain back some of respect that they've lost over the past several years now that they're no longer elite football powers. A strong showing in this game can make it easier to recruit stars and both teams will want to avoid a disappointing bowl loss.
As a footnote, Notre Dame's schedule was incredibly tough this year, with Purdue the only sub-.500 team they faced.
Conclusion
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On paper, Miami looks like the better team.
Once you factor in the coaching situation and the turmoil on both sides, the match up is suddenly a lot closer.
If I had to pick the difference maker, it would be the Miami defense. As such, they will likely be the ones to pull it out on what will be a low-scoring game compared to what we've seen so far in bowls.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
