Once, they led the nation in lore.
When you talk about Notre Dame, you talk about legends. You talk about the Four Horsemen and the Gipper and Touchdown Jesus. You talk about Knute and Rudy and Ara.
Once, they led the nation in nasty.
When you talk about Miami, you talk about swagger. Jerome Brown and Warren Sapp and Ray Lewis. It’s about Jimmie and Butch and Bennie Blades.
Saturday, two teams who want what they used to have try to get a bit of it against each other. And while the season has drained much of the momentum from both – Miami has only four wins, Notre Dame has only two – there are still reasons to watch
For one thing, there is the much hyped quarterback battle between Notre Dame’s DeShone Kizer (possibly the overall No. 1 draft pick) and Miami’s Brad Kaaya (a high draft pick himself). For another, there has always been friction between the Irish and Hurricanes, all the way back to the days of “Catholics vs. Convicts.”
This isn’t the Notre Dame-Miami game you grew up on. Notre Dame has been rated in the top 10 only once since 2005. Miami has not finished in the top 10 since the same season.
In that game, back in 1988, both teams came in undefeated. Notre Dame won a 31-30 game when Miami’s two-point conversation was knocked down. Notre Dame finished that season No. 1 and Miami was No. 2.
The Hurricanes started off this season well, rising as high as 10th in the country, but has lost three games in a row, giving up 800 yards through the air. The Irish, on the other hand, have beaten only Nevada and Syracuse.
Game time is 3:30 p.m. in South Bend.
