Miami and Notre Dame are hard in preparation for their matchup on December 31^st in the Sun Bowl renewing one of college football’s best rivalries.  There have been mixed emotions regarding the game among Hurricane fans, with some commenting that this is merely a game against two irrelevant programs living off past glory.  The fact that the game sold out relatively quickly is an indication that most people are excited about this matchup between two of college football’s historic programs.

Miami has a lot of things riding on this game contrary to what some may think about the game being irrelevant.  The Hurricanes have a new coach in Al Golden who has already spoken to the team about how important a win over Notre Dame is no matter what the record of the two teams are.  Players have said they are going to win this game for fired coach Randy Shannon to show their support for the things he did for them during his time as coach.  Then there is the national attention this game is going to bring because of the two teams involved in it, and it will have implications as to which program is headed up and which one is headed spiraling further downward.

What does a win in the Sun Bowl truly mean for the Hurricanes though?  If Miami goes out and has a dominating performance against the Irish many will say that Randy Shannon was the problem and his removal motivated the players to reach their full potential.  If the Hurricanes have a lackluster performance and lose the game then people will blame it on the coaches left behind by Randy Shannon.  The truth is this game is all on the players, you have a lame duck coaching staff with motivation being provided by the new head coach.  The Randy Shannon scapegoat will not be an excuse if these players do not come out and perform at a high level, but the truth is this is still a bowl game that has no bearing on the season for these players.  If there is a lackluster effort or motivation people should not be surprised even though many will agree it is always a big game when Miami and Notre Dame meet.

These players have not shown much pride in the “U” on the side of their helmet all season, so why should we all of a sudden expect them to care about it now?  If you can’t come out motivated against your arch rival Florida State at home in front of a sold out crowd and Sun Shark (whatever they call it these days) stadium, then how can you put that helmet on with any dignity?  Wearing that emblem goes beyond coaching, players should want to excel because they want to continue the winning tradition that attracted them to Miami in the first place.

If they come out flat against Notre Dame that just means this group of players was never championship material to begin with.  If the team plays horribly it may almost be a vindicating force for the fired Hurricanes coach because the players did not respond to the new coach’s speech about how important it is to beat Notre Dame, or the fact that competition is going to be open at all positions.  It is really difficult to gauge anything from a bowl game when dealing with young kids, but it’s Miami vs. Notre Dame, Catholics vs. Convicts it does not get any better than this.

This is huge for Al Golden in the sense that if the players do not respond to him he is going to have his work cut out for him until he can get players in the program who do not make excuses.  Also, Golden has not exactly been making a splash in recruiting as of yet coming in during a tough period trying to salvage this recruiting class.  If the Hurricanes come out and look like an energized team that exemplifies what the Hurricane football was known for on the field, then that could energize potential recruits because Miami may be headed back in the right direction.  Even though Golden is not coaching the game this is his team, and he has already started to instill his persona throughout.  If the Hurricanes lose Golden will not be blamed of course, but it may signal that changes need to be made at some positions going forward.

This game is big because it is a potential turning point for Miami football, if the cupboards are truly stocked with talent as most seem to think then this game should not even be close.  If Randy Shannon truly was a prohibitive force then that there should be nothing left holding these players back from unleashing the full weight of their talent on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.  Players like Adewale Ojomo and others who pointed the finger at Randy Shannon, will now have to produce and prove that their claims have some validity.  The Hurricanes should handle the Irish in the Sun Bowl, but we will see how this team responds to all that has gone on this season, and if they have the mental toughness to play to their full potential.

There have been many conversations about how the Miami Hurricanes will finish this year, and the lines are fairly well divided.  Hurricane fans are very optimistic about the potential this upcoming season will bring, but of course all the other naysayers seem to doubt what the has been assembled down in Coral Gables.

The Atlantic Coast Conference preseason picks were voted on by media members, and they picked the Hurricanes to finish second in the Coastal division.  The Media members of course picked Virginia Tech to win it’s fourth ACC title in only it’s seventh year as a member of the ACC.  I think these media members felt that they can’t go wrong by picking Virginia Tech, they always have a solid team and have a very good team returning led by Tyrod Taylor.  The Hokies have never been able to win the big game when it counted, the Hurricanes on the other hand have slowly been returning to form and media members are not ready to jump on the bandwagon yet.

When you break it down the Coastal is really a two horse race this year.  Miami and Virginia Tech are the only two teams with a “Viable” chance to win the Coastal Division.  Duke and Virginia we can go ahead and toss out of the race those teams are still behind the curve in talent and ability to make any ripples in the conference.  North Carolina was not that good last year, going 4 – 4 in the ACC, and 8 –   5 overall the Hurricanes had no business losing to the Tar Heels last year.  I think Miami gets it right this year, plus with all the shady business hanging over North Carolina’s football program right now they may be in for a long season.

Georgia Tech lost Demaryius Thomas and Jonathan Dwyer, so the only returning player from their big three is Josh Nesbitt.  He won’t have an explosive receiver like Thomas on the outside to make enough big plays to keep teams honest against the options.  Couple that with   losing the speed and power of a Jonathan Dwyer and  giving ACC defenses a third year to look at this offense, and they will have a hard time threatening for the Coastal Division title.

It has been well chronicled why Miami is going to have a good season, so we will talk about why the Hokies will finish in second place.  People will look at Miami’s loss to Virginia Tech last year and say there is no way they beat the Hokies this year.  You can’t blame it on the weather or anything like that, Miami just failed to show up for that game.

Pride will win out this year, and comparing the two quarterbacks Harris is a much better passer than Tyrod Taylor which will help provided the Hurricanes stick to the running game.  The Hokies defensive line won’t have the same success they had last year, they will still be able to pressure Harris somewhat.  Miami will play smarter this time, and have a game plan to account the pass rush.  Looking at the stats Taylor only threw for 98 yards on four completions, Virginia Tech ran the ball well, but that was really it.

Most of their points came off of Miami mistakes, if the Hurricanes limit the turnovers and run the ball with authority.  The defense will be more than sufficient to shut down Taylor, they just need to worry about stopping the running game.  Looking at it closely if Miami takes care of the ball I do not see where the Hokies are going to get enough points to beat them.

Miami should win the Coastal Division without much of a fight, if they get past Virginia Tech none of the other teams are really built to win right now.  Unless Paul Johnson comes up with replacements who are Dwyer and Thomas’ caliber they won’t’ have enough to win it either.  Miami should have been the team voted to win the Coastal, but let the Hurricanes play the underdog role where they have always been successful.