Will They Change Name to Robbie Bowl?

Most significant about tonight’s meeting between Notre Dame and Florida State is that it is the last of 62 Orange Bowl games that will be played in the Orange Bowl. To become part of college football’s bowl alliance, Orange Bowl officials agreed to move their game starting next year to Miami’s more modern and pristine Joe Robbie Stadium.

“I really feel a strong part of college football history,” said Notre Dame Coach Lou Holtz, as if the Irish did not already own a sizable chunk of it.

As for the action on the field between the Seminoles and Irish, it might be entertaining, or even intriguing, but it is not likely to be historic. It certainly is not expected to be as memorable as their 1993 regular-season game at South Bend, Ind., when they were ranked No. 1 and No. 2, respectively.

So be it. Neither team appears to miss the pressure that will accompany Nebraska and Florida when they play for the national championship Tuesday night in the Fiesta Bowl. The No. 6 Irish and No. 8 Seminoles, both 9-2, have been relegated to the alliance’s consolation round, both basing their motivation on the hope that a victory might vault them to a finish among the top five.

For teams with their winning traditions, that is rather thin as a motivational tool. Both teams have been relaxed in practices here, perhaps too relaxed. Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden said his team seems to have lost its hunger.

So have its fans, who did not buy all the tickets available to them. Notre Dame’s did. That could have something to do with the weather in Tallahassee as opposed to South Bend. If so, the luck was not with the Irish because it has rained almost every day here for the last week.

Or the reason could be deeper. “We don’t have that ecumenical thing that Notre Dame does,” Bowden said. “I guess Baptists don’t turn out like Catholics do.”

Holtz has talked a better game, claiming that a victory would be “the happiest day in my coaching career because of everything that has happened . . . the neck operation, playing the toughest schedule, the way we started off (3-2) and to end up in the top five.”

But he betrayed his lack of urgency by giving his players a day off Friday to go fishing on a boat called Reward. Of 44 who made the trip, only four caught fish.

Oddsmakers do not expect the Irish to have much more success ashore, favoring Florida State for a double-digit victory.

That could be because the Seminoles have not lost in their last 13 bowl games, including victories in each of the last 10 years. More probable, it is because the Irish are without half of their starting backfield. Tailback Randy Kinder, who gained 809 yards this season, is out because of an alcohol-related suspension, while quarterback Ron Powlus broke his arm in the next-to-last regular-season game.

Kinder is easier to replace because of the availability of freshman Autry Denson, who gained 695 yards in 10 games after starting the season in the defensive backfield. In for Powlus, however, is junior Tom Krug, who threw only 21 passes, none in the first nine games, and completed 13.

Holtz is clearly uncomfortable with Krug, a laid-back surfer-type from Los Gatos, Calif. The coach prefers his quarterbacks more wired. There was a photo in a Miami newspaper last week of Holtz choking Krug. It was a joke, but it spoke 10,000 words about their relationship.

The Irish could face even more problems on the other side of the ball against a Seminole offense that broke several impressive team records this season, including those for points (532), yards per game (551.5), passing yards per game (328.7), rushing touchdowns (35), total touchdowns (72) and rushing yards per attempt (5.8).

Quarterback Danny Kanell broke 1993 Heisman Trophy winner Charlie Ward’s season record for touchdown passes with 32, and both of Kanell’s starting wide receivers, Andre Cooper and E.G. Green, gained more than 1,000 yards in receptions.

After Notre Dame won the big game in South Bend in 1993, 31-24, Florida State answered a year later at Orlando with a 23-16 victory when each of its tailbacks, Warrick Dunn and Rock Preston, gained more than 160 yards. Both are back, with Dunn gaining a team-record 1,242 yards.

The Irish appear undermanned, but not intimidated. In their last seven bowl games, they have a 5-2 record against teams with a combined record of 74-4-1.