Sweet Success

Notre Dame put together a dominating performance en route to a 33-17 victory over the Miami Hurricanes in the 77th annual Sun Bowl. It is Notre Dame's 2nd straight bowl victory after decades of defeat, and its first under head coach Brian Kelly.

The IRISH jumped all over the Hurricanes early, scoring touchdowns on three of its first four possessions, including the opening drive. Tommy Rees found Michael Floyd for a 3-yard score and hooked up again for a 34-yard score, before a 34-yard scamper by Cierre Wood. David Ruffer tacked on field goals of 40 and 50 yards to put the Irish up 27-0 before the Hurricanes got on the scoreboard with a late 2nd quarter field goal.

The IRISH first half route was fueled by defense who tallied four interceptions, three by senior safety Harrison Smith and one by junior corner back Robert Blanton. Miami starting quarterback Jacory Harris went 4 of 7 for 37 yards and three INTs before being pulled in favor of back-up Stephen Morris, who went 22 of 33 for 282 yards, 2 TDS and an INT. Morris accumulated most of his stats late in the fourth quarter during mop-up duty on second and third teamers with the game far out of reach. Although, one would not have known that with the way Morris was constantly trash-talking and head bobbing.

For the Irish, Tommy Rees finished 15 of 29 for 201 yards and two TDs. While the stats do not jump off the paper, Rees was error free in leading the Irish to its fourth consecutive victory and a perfect record with true freshman Rees as starting QB.

Michael Floyd was most often the beneficiary of Tommy Rees' passes, as they hooked up for two touchdowns, with Floyd dropping two additional touchdowns. Nonetheless, Floyd finished off what will most likely be his Notre Dame career with six receptions for 109 yards and two TDs. That gave Floyd 28 TD receptions on his career, breaking the mark of 27 set by Jeff Smardijza.

On the ground, the balanced IRISH rushing attack racked up 196 yards. Cierre Wood had 12 carries for 81 yards and a TD while Robert Hughes had 27 carries for 81 yards. Theo Riddick totaled 32 yards on eight carries in the Wildcat formation that effectively challenged the Miami defense.

And now for the season finale:


HEISMAN BABY

MICHAEL FLOYD - 6 rec. for 109 yards - 2 TDs


ROCK SOLID

TOMMY REES - 15 of 29 for 201 yards - 2 TDs

CIERRE WOOD - 12 carries for 81 yards - TD

HARRISON SMITH - 3 INTs


GET HIM OUTTA THERE

NICK TAUSCH - 1/1 FG, but his kick-off attempt was about 25 yards shorter than Ruffer's average.


WAIT, WHAT

DAVID RUFFER - 3/4 FG, 3/3 XP - Ruffer snapped his consecutive field goal streak 20 when he missed a 36-yard field goal in the 3rd quarter. On the previous kick-off prior to the attempt, Ruffer came up limping, but stayed in the game. After his miss, Ruffer was replaced by Nick Tausch on kick-offs and field goal attempts.


-DH