We're now three days away from Notre Dame's impressive Sun Bowl win over Miami, and I'm still feeling stoked on it. The 33-17 Irish victory was more dominating than the score makes it seem, as Notre Dame flat out crushed the Hurricanes. The game saw Golden Dome leads of 27-0 and 30-3, and Miami made it look better with a couple of TDs late.
Michael Floyd earned player of the game honors, grabbing 6 balls for 109 yards with 2 impressive TDs. I refuse to say that this was his final game in the gold hat, as some are suggesting. It's not going to happen. Another year at Notre Dame will do a lot for his NFL status, especially with the rumors of a looming work stoppage. Tommy Rees further proved to me that he's earned the 2011 starting role, going 15/29/201 with 2 TDs (Floyd's) and zero interceptions (again). He's not flashy, but he keeps his nose to the grind stone and does a great job leading the team. Meanwhile, the running game went nuts. Robert Hughes and Cierre Wood each ran for 81 yards, keeping the 'Canes guessing as we approached the line of scrimage.
The only thing that outshined the offense was the defense. We all now know the name of Harrison Smith after his three first half interceptions, the swarming defenders chased Miami's starting QB away, and we held that Hurricane running game to just a mesely 3.4 yards per carry. It was almost too good to be true. Keep in mind that Manti Te'o was injured in the second half, but he looks okay according to reports.
So, all that is well and good. Brian Kelly finished his first season at Notre Dame 8-5. He ripped off four straight wins to end the season. He beat USC. He had a pretty successful season, in my opinion, even if it wasn't the 9-3 plus BCS bowl game season that I predicted. I think all of us around Irish Nation should be proud. Better to start off slowly and solidly and get better than to go nuts right off the bat and fade away like Charlie. However, what does a win against a down Miami team prove?
Miami finished 7-5 after losing to the Irish. They lost to Va Tech, USF, Virginia, Florida State, and OSU, and didn't beat a single ranked squad (or play one, for that matter). Their "big win" was probably a 26-20 win over an 8-4 Maryland squad. Miami is a team in slight disaray. Their coach has been fired, their QB situation is iffy, and they just aren't a solid team. So, does our Sun Bowl win mean anything?
Well, I think when you take the Catholics versus Convicts battle into it's proper context, it means a whole lot. The context that we need is the context of the whole season. After starting 1-3 and then getting tagged for consecutive losses to Navy and Tulsa in the middle part of the season, things looked grim. Our QB was knocked out for the season. Our NFL ready TE was knocked out for the season. Our star RB was knocked out for the season. There was a student death. There was an accusation of sexual assault. Yeah, like I said, things looked grim. Then, with a true freshman QB, a studly wide out stepping up big, and a handful of second stringers playing above their known abilities, the Irish ripped off a huge finish to the year. Wins over Utah, Army, and USC turned everything around for us, and then we blew through Miami at the Sun Bowl like we were playing a high school squad (I almost said Servite, but I figured it's too soon after that wet and wild HDC loss). That turnaround is significant. That finish to the season proves that this squad is on the right path. 2011 is looking up based on our finish to 2010.
So the next time that a Notre Dame hater comes up to you and suggests that the Irish win over Miami was meaningless, be proud in the fact that you are an Irish apologist, and shut them right up. Who do they like anyway? USC? Yeah, shutting them up shouldn't be too hard.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
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