Irish domination
Rees, Floyd help lead Notre Dame past Miami
EL PASO, Texas – A far-from-perfect first season as Notre Dame coach could not have ended much better for Brian Kelly and his Fighting Irish.
Freshman Tommy Rees passed for 201 yards and two touchdowns to Michael Floyd as Notre Dame beat Miami 33-17 in the Sun Bowl on Friday, making Kelly the first Fighting Irish coach to win a bowl game during his first season.
The Irish started 1-3 under Kelly and consecutive October losses to Navy and Tulsa left them in precarious position to even be bowl eligible. But Notre Dame finished with four straight victories against Utah, Army, Southern California and Miami that should buoy hopes for the future of the once-prestigious program.
“Clearly, we are gaining a lot of confidence,” Kelly said. “We’ve beaten some good football teams late in the year as we’ve come together and found our identity. It’s going to taste a whole lot better in the offseason talking about a win.”
Notre Dame (8-5) reached the end zone on three of its first four possessions. Rees tossed touchdown passes of 3 and 34 yards to Floyd, and Cierre Wood broke free on a 34-yard scoring run before David Ruffer added field goals from 40, 50 and 19 yards.
“It’s not hard when you’re throwing the ball to Mike,” Rees said. “He’s such a great player. I knew that if I threw it anywhere near him he was going to make the catch.”
The Hurricanes trailed 30-3 going into the fourth quarter, completing a season in which their coach was fired with an ugly loss.
Rees hardly looked like a freshman, completing 15 of 29 attempts without an interception.
Floyd had a big day, too, with six catches for 109 yards.
Miami scored twice in the fourth quarter when Stephen Morris threw a 6-yard TD pass to Leonard Hankerson and a 42-yard scoring play to Tommy Streeter, but it was too late by then. The Hurricanes also had 10 penalties for 106 yards.
The Canes trailed 27-0 late in the first half and the player with the most catches from a Hurricanes quarterback was Irish safety Harrison Smith, who intercepted three passes. Robert Blanton also had an interception during Miami’s turnover binge.
“It was a total defensive effort,” Smith said. “When you knock the receivers off and mess up the timing with the quarterback, it really makes it easier for the safeties.”
Jacory Harris started at quarterback for the Canes after Morris sprained an ankle in practice this week. Harris couldn’t get anything going, completing just 4 of 7 with three interceptions. Morris took over in the second quarter and finished 22 of 33 for 282 yards passing with two touchdowns.