Preview: Notre Dame Fighting Irish V Miami Hurricanes - the Sun Bowl

In spite of losing WR Theo Riddick (39 receptions, 406 YDs, 2 TD) for much of the season, who will be active and the X-Factor against the Hurricanes, the sublime WR Michael Floyd (73 receptions, 916 yards, 10 TD) more than made up for the hole in the receiving corp. Floyd, in fact, is third on Notre Dame’s all-time list in receptions with 165 after 11 catches against USC. The Rees and Floyd connection will be tested against an unrelenting Miami secondary. Notre Dame’s passing attack is no pushover being ranked 29th in the country averaging 257.4 yards a game.

Injured star TE Kyle Rudolph (28 receptions, 328 yards, 3 TD) is also sorely missed for his blocking and receiving skills in the spread offense.

Miami Offense

The Hurricane offense is helmed at the moment by QB Jacory Harris (1,765 yards, 118.28%, 14 TD, 12 INT). He replaced a fledgling Freshman QB Stephen Morris (958 yards, 117.47%, 5 TD, 8 INT) in the third quarter in the final game of the season against South Florida. Harris is shaky and inconsistent as he has 13 touchdowns and 5 INTs in his five wins and one TD and seven INTs in four losses. The team has the 49th ranked passing attack in the nation.

 WR Leonard Hankerson (66 receptions, 1,085 yards, 12 TD) leads the Hurricane receiving corp.  Look for Travis Benjamin (40 receptions, 699 yards, 3 TD) and his speed to be a factor against the Irish as well.

The Miami rushing attack is led by RB Damien Berry (865 yards, 4.8 yards per carry, 5 TD) and the dangerous RB Lamar Miller (633 yards, 6.1 yards per carry, 6 TD)
The team is averaging 29.1 points of offense per game this season.

Notre Dame Defense

Led by LB Manti T’eo the Irish have held opponents to 233.3 yards per game during their current three game unbeaten streak and 20 points in total after letting up 393.1 yards per game beforehand. Notre has racked up 26 sacks on the season.

The team looks forward to the return of NT Ian Williams after missing three games with an injury. He will be important in stopping the effective Miami run.

Notre Dame has an effective pass defense as well ranked 52nd in the nation with 14 interceptions.
 
Miami Defense

The Hurricanes let up 19.7 points a game. Its passing defense is an impressive 2nd in the nation with 16 interceptions. The team is not as strong against the run ranked 81st in the nation. It’s a very tough and athletic squad up front notching 37 sacks. Its 8th In the country in that department. 

Prediction:

Miami has the edge in both rushing and passing. It also has an unreliable QB and a lame duck coach in Jeff Stoutland who will coach the Hurricanes only for this one game. The Fighting Irish defense has proved its mettle against stronger teams than Miami and the addition of WR Theo Rididck will open up the Irish passing game and rushing game against a notoriously bad rushing defense for Miami. I see the Fighting Irish pulling off a very narrow victory here.

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Nster.com