2010 Sun Bowl: What Does a Victory Mean for Miami Football?
Miami and Notre Dame are hard in preparation for their matchup on December 31st in the Sun Bowl renewing one of college football’s best rivalries. There have been mixed emotions regarding the game among Hurricane fans, with some commenting that this is merely a game against two irrelevant programs living off past glory. The fact that the game sold out relatively quickly is an indication that most people are excited about this matchup between two of college football’s historic programs.
Miami has a lot of things riding on this game contrary to what some may think about the game being irrelevant. The Hurricanes have a new coach in Al Golden who has already spoken to the team about how important a win over Notre Dame is no matter what the record of the two teams are.
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Players have said they are going to win this game for fired coach Randy Shannon to show their support for the things he did for them during his time as coach. Then there is the national attention this game is going to bring because of the two teams involved in it, and it will have implications as to which program is headed up and which one is headed spiraling further downward.
What does a win in the Sun Bowl truly mean for the Hurricanes though? If Miami goes out and has a dominating performance against the Irish, many will say that Randy Shannon was the problem, and his removal motivated the players to reach their full potential. If the Hurricanes have a lackluster performance and lose the game then people will blame it on the coaches left behind by Randy Shannon. The truth is this game is all on the players, you have a lame duck coaching staff with motivation being provided by the new head coach.
The Randy Shannon scapegoat will not be an excuse if these players do not come out and perform at a high level, but the truth is this is still a bowl game that has no bearing on the season for these players. If there is a lackluster effort or motivation people should not be surprised even though many will agree it is always a big game when Miami and Notre Dame meet.
These players have not shown much pride in the “U” on the side of their helmet all season, so why should we all of a sudden expect them to care about it now? If you can’t come out motivated against your arch rival Florida State at home in front of a sold out crowd and Sun Shark (whatever they call it these days) stadium, then how can you put that helmet on with any dignity? Wearing that emblem goes beyond coaching, players should want to excel because they want to continue the winning tradition that attracted them to Miami in the first place.
If they come out flat against Notre Dame that just means this group of players was never championship material to begin with. If the team plays horribly it may almost be a vindicating force for the fired Hurricanes coach because the players did not respond to the new coach’s speech about how important it is to beat Notre Dame, or the fact that competition is going to be open at all positions. It is really difficult to gauge anything from a bowl game when dealing with young kids, but it’s Miami vs. Notre Dame, Catholics vs. Convicts it does not get any better than this.
This is huge for Al Golden in the sense that if the players do not respond to him he is going to have his work cut out for him until he can get players in the program who do not make excuses. Also, Golden has not exactly been making a splash in recruiting as of yet coming in during a tough period trying to salvage this recruiting class.
If the Hurricanes come out and look like an energized team that exemplifies what the Hurricane football was known for on the field, then that could energize potential recruits because Miami may be headed back in the right direction. Even though Golden is not coaching the game this is his team, and he has already started to instill his persona throughout. If the Hurricanes lose Golden will not be blamed of course, but it may signal that changes need to be made at some positions going forward.
This game is big because it is a potential turning point for Miami football, if the cupboards are truly stocked with talent as most seem to think, then this game should not even be close. If Randy Shannon truly was a prohibitive force then there should be nothing left holding these players back from unleashing the full weight of their talent on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
Players like Adewale Ojomo and others who pointed the finger at Randy Shannon, will now have to produce and prove that their claims have some validity. The Hurricanes should handle the Irish in the Sun Bowl, but we will see how this team responds to all that has gone on this season, and if they have the mental toughness to play to their full potential.
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