Richt Wants Hurricanes To Understand Rivalry With Notre Dame
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – It will be a rivalry renewed Saturday at 3:30pm when the Miami Hurricanes meet Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana.
The Fighting Irish lead the all-time series 17-7-1, which dates back to the first meeting between the teams in 1955.
In the 80's and 90's Miami-Notre Dame was one of the most compelling and intense matchups in college football. It was great theater. Then it all stopped.
Now Miami and Notre Dame will play Saturday and then next year in Miami on November 11th 2017 at Hard Rock stadium.
The Hurricanes go into this game searching for answers on offense. Miami has scored 19, 13 and 16 points in their last 3 games.
There has been no running game or pass protection and big plays have failed to finish in the end zone.
The Hurricanes are averaging just 80 rushing yards per game during their three game losing streak to Florida State, North Carolina, and Virginia Tech.
Medicine might come for Miami by facing a Notre Dame defense that is allowing 180 rushing yards per game this year.
Getting the UM running game going will start with the offensive line. Look for Hurricanes coach Mark Richt to emphasize the power game this week against what has been a passive Irish defense.
"We have to get better at running the ball," Richt said. "There are times we have backs get through the line of scrimmage, the linemen did their job into the perimeter, and now maybe we don't block one defender. It ends up capping off a tackle where we got an unblocked safety, we make him miss, he gets a little bit of us, we're breaking through a tackle, maybe spit for a touchdown, but a guy that should have been blocked wasn't blocked well enough or long enough and that thing could have spit big."
Establishing the run will be a big key and can help Miami get back on track this week. Another key will be getting the offensive line to play better and with more aggression.
Miami's offensive line played poorly at Virginia Tech while allowing eight sacks and not opening holes in the running game.
"The bottom line is, if you know your assignment and get your hat and hands on the right spot, and you run your feet on contact in the run game, good things are going to happen," Richt said.
The Notre Dame secondary has also been vulnerable this year playing as many as five freshmen in the defensive backfield.
Stacy Coley leads Miami in receiving with 29 receptions. Coley and the rest of the Miami receivers must win the 50-50 balls and create easy scoring chances for Miami.
Since starting ACC competition, the most points the offense has scored in a game is the 21 points they put up at Georgia Tech.
During the Hurricanes three game losing streak the offense has averaged just 16 points.
"I feel like we are real close," Coley said. "We just have to execute better when the ball is in our hands. We just have to make plays."
The Miami defense will be challenge by a Notre Dame offense that is averaging over 30 points per game and can score as well as any team in the country.
Quarterback Dashone Kizer can run and throw. He has 14 touchdown passes and has rushed for seven more.
6'5" wide receiver Equanamious St Brown is a matchup nightmare for Miami. St Brown leads Notre Dame with 31 catches and six touchdowns. He averages nearly 20 yards per catch.
While the Miami-Notre Dame rivalry is heated for many fans, the players weren't born when the titanic clashes took place. Even so, Richt said wants his team to understand the history of the series.
"We'll give them a little history," Richt said. "I think it's important to do that, for them to really understand. I'm not going to spend the whole week just harping on that, but I think it's important for them to know the history of the series and some of the great games that have been played by two teams that have a national brand. That's pretty impressive."