Roles Reversed as Irish Take On Miami

An unbeaten, top-ranked team trying to keep its winning streak alive while looking to change an unwanted image. A chance to stay in contention for the national championship. And, of course, the obligatory big-game T-shirts.

The roles and the home of the T-shirt concession have changed -- but not the story line -- from last season, when Notre Dame turned then top-ranked Miami’s macho, pre-game challenge into a heart-pounding, 31-30 victory in South Bend, Ind.

The victory lifted the underdog Fighting Irish from fourth to first in the national rankings, a spot they have occupied since. But that lofty position, as well as a school-record, 23-game winning streak, could be in jeopardy Saturday night when No. 1 Notre Dame (11-0) meets seventh-ranked Miami (9-1) in the Orange Bowl.

“To play a game like this is what college football is all about,” said first-year Miami Coach Dennis Erickson, whose team is expected to accept a bid to the Sugar Bowl shortly before Saturday night’s game. “Obviously, you put more emphasis on it because everybody has been shooting for this game for the past year.”

The Hurricanes have been pointing toward this rematch since last season, when a rumble they started in the tunnel at Notre Dame Stadium enabled the Fighting Irish to live up to their nickname. The pre-game brawl might have been the turning point of the season for both teams.

While Notre Dame went on to win the national championship, Miami knew only how close it had come. The memories from that game, especially the controversial fumble call against Miami fullback Cleveland Gary at the Notre Dame 1-yard line, have remained in the Hurricanes’ collective psyche.

“It was a tough thing to swallow,” said quarterback Craig Erickson, who was Steve Walsh’s backup last season. “It leaves a bad taste in your mouth.”

But nothing like the taste Notre Dame took into last year’s game. In the four previous meetings between the two schools during the 1980s, Miami had outscored the Fighting Irish, 139-22, including a 58-7 blowout in Gerry Faust’s last game and a 24-0 shutout in Lou Holtz’s first season.

The rivalry Holtz called “one-sided until last year” will be not be one for the ages, or even the 1990s. The current contract runs out after next year’s game in South Bend, and Notre Dame’s trip to the Orange Bowl could be its last during the regular season for a while. (The Irish are expected to play here against No. 2 Colorado for the national championship Jan. 1).

“I don’t know what kind of rivalry it’s been,” said Holtz. “They had beaten us pretty decisively.”

The perception of the two programs has also changed in the past few months. The departure of Jimmy Johnson and Dennis Erickson’s arrival played a part in cleaning up Miami’s outlaw image, as did a recent university policy to monitor its athletes’ class attendance by paying other students to spy on them.

Meanwhile, several off-field incidents involving high-profile members of the Notre Dame team and another pre-game brawl, this time against USC in October and believed to be precipitated by the Fighting Irish, have drawn criticism and embarrassed Holtz.

Asked whether he expected a repeat of last year’s pre-game performance, Holtz said, “The tunnel incident was a bad thing to happen. But when I look back at it, it was more a matter of logistics. It will not happen again.”

Said Dennis Erickson, “We will try to focus on the football and not all the peripheral things.”

On the periphery of Saturday night’s game are the T-shirts circulating around town and on Miami’s Coral Gables campus. Last year in South Bend, they read, “The Catholics vs. The Convicts.” This year, they say, “The Luck Stops Here.”

The Irish haven’t had to be lucky this year, mainly because they have been so overwhelming. They have already beaten Virginia, Michigan, Southern Cal, Pittsburgh and Penn State. The Hurricanes have lost to the only top 10 team they played, 24-10 at Florida State Oct. 28.

But consider something else: The Hurricanes haven’t lost at the Orange Bowl since the season opener in 1985. That’s 31 straight. What also concerns Holtz -- what doesn’t? -- is that Miami’s defense has sacked opposing quarterbacks 49 times and has given up only 61.8 yards rushing a game, the best in the nation.

“We’ve got to be able to control the football and shorten the game,” said Holtz, whose team rushed for 425 yards last week against Penn State, the most ever allowed by a Nittany Lion defense. “And I’m not sure if we can run against them.”

One thing hasn’t changed about Miami. The Hurricanes might not run as well as they have in past seasons, but they still do well at running off at the mouth. Defensive tackle Russell Maryland said that one aspect of the Hurricanes’ game plan, woofing at the opposition, was very much intact.

“If you can’t take it, I guess you better go somewhere else,” said Maryland, “because these guys (Miami) will give it to you.”

Notre Dame seems undaunted. A 23-game winning streak and a national championship can do that for a team. In fact, when someone suggested to Ricky Watters that the Hurricanes think the Irish were lucky last year against them, Watters laughed.

“They write a lot of checks they can’t cash,” he said.

Saturday night, Miami won’t be merely concerned with cashing in. The Hurricanes will be trying to bounce Notre Dame right out of the Orange Bowl, and from the ranks of the unbeaten.