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Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Notre Dame rolls past Miami Hurricanes in Sun Bowl - MiamiHerald.com

EL PASO -- This wasn't a rivalry renewed.

It was a maddening mismatch.

All the Miami Hurricanes can do now is hope that new football coach Al Golden, famous for resurrecting Temple University, can weave his magic in Coral Gables.

In the first game between Notre Dame and Miami in 20 years, the Irish made the Hurricanes look helpless, cruising to four first-half interceptions and a 33-17 victory in the Hyundai Sun Bowl.

The Canes (7-6) have lost three games to end the season and four of their past five bowl games, their last postseason victory coming against Nevada in Larry Coker's final game as coach in 2006.

The Irish (8-5) ended their season with their fourth consecutive victory, as a bundled up pro-Notre Dame crowd of 54,021 -- the largest in Sun Bowl history -- watched approvingly.

Star receiver Michael Floyd scored two touchdowns in a 100-plus-yard performance, and senior safety Harrison Smith had three interceptions, two off starter Jacory Harris and the other off Stephen Morris.

UM has thrown 27 interceptions this season, the most in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

Hurricanes fans might have seen it coming, as the sun rose over a Sun Bowl Stadium field covered with snow and ice from a rare snowfall in the desert Thursday night. By kickoff, thanks to furious work, the artificial turf was green again -- but it was 34 degrees.

UM faltered from the start. The Canes missed tackles, racked up penalties, threw to the wrong team and couldn't make many plays -- poor execution overall.

Notre Dame had a 27-3 lead by halftime. By then, it was all but over, and the rivalry had become the rout. The Hurricanes finally scored with 10:36 remaining on a 6-yard pass from Morris to Leonard Hankerson.

UM got its second touchdown on a 42-yard pass from Morris to Tommy Streeter with 4:01 remaining.


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