FRIDAY
Notre Dame (7-5) versus Miami (7-5), 2 p.m. (CBS)
Line: Miami by 2 1/2.
Series Record: Notre Dame leads 15-7-1.
Last Meeting: Notre Dame 29-20 on Oct. 20, 1990, in South Bend, Ind.
WHAT’S AT STAKE
Bragging rights in one of college football’s storied but dormant rivalries. The series was huge in the 1980s, with at least one team ranked in the Top 10 in the five most recent meetings. The teams play in 2012 in Chicago, followed by a home-and-home series that goes to South Bend in 2016 and to Miami in 2017.
KEY MATCHUP
Notre Dame LB Manti Te’o against Miami RB Graig Cooper, who led the Hurricanes with 695 yards rushing and 1,417 all-purpose yards this season. Te’o was Notre Dame’s season leader with 127 tackles and started all 12 games. The Irish defenders had a three-game stretch where they didn’t give up an offensive TD.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Notre Dame: QB Tommy Rees. The freshman started the last three regular season games and led the Irish to victories over Utah, Army and USC. Rees took over when Dayne Crist had a season-ending injury against Tulsa and became the first Irish freshman to throw four TD passes in a game.
Miami: CB Brandon Harris, a standout cover specialist who had two interceptions and ranked third on the Hurricanes this season with 52 tackles. Harris led the way as Miami finished the regular season ranked second in the nation behind TCU in pass efficiency defense.
FACTS & FIGURES
Al Golden, hired Dec. 12 as Miami’s new coach, will attend the Sun Bowl but won’t be on the sidelines. Interim coach Jeff Stoutland, who took over after Randy Shannon was fired, will continue to direct the Hurricanes. … The Irish are making their 30th bowl appearance. The Sun Bowl marks the 12th different game. … The Canes have reached the postseason 24 times over the past 27 years but are trying to break a two-game bowl losing skid, winless since beating Nevada 21-20 in the MPC Computers Bowl in 2006. … Notre Dame, under coach Lou Holtz, beat the top-ranked Canes 31-30 on Oct. 15, 1988, snapping Miami’s 36-game regular season winning streak and went on to finish 12-0 and win the national title. The next year, Miami under Dennis Erickson ended Notre Dame’s school-record 23-game winning streak and won the national championship at 11-1. … Miami RB Mike James spent the week at his New Jersey home. Because of snow, he was unable to travel after his mother’s death in a car accident. Stoutland said James will play, regardless of when he arrives.
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