Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1513077
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM JANUARY 2024 9 UNDER THE DOME The pride in the voice of Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl executive director Bernie Olivas is evident when he discusses his game this bowl season between No. 16 Notre Dame and No. 19 Oregon State Dec. 29, especially with the way this matchup came about. Not the slightest bit on Olivas' radar of participants, Notre Dame unexpectedly slipped into his candidate pool. After a blind draw Dec. 3 that pitted the 90-year- old Sun Bowl against suitors from the Pinstripe and the Duke's Mayo Bowls, the Irish were heading to El Paso, Texas, for only the second time ever. A 33-17 win over Miami in 2010 was the only other visit for Notre Dame to a Sun Bowl game that has been in operation since 1935 and trails only the Masters golf tournament for consecutive years broadcast by CBS. An El Paso native and a UTEP graduate, Olivas holds deep feelings for this game and his part of the country. In fact, he's worked on the Sun Bowl committee since 2001. Blue & Gold Illustrated recently caught up with Olivas and asked him about his pride level with this top-20 matchup, and what visitors can expect when they arrive in this beautiful Southwestern hub city. BGI: How pleased are you to unexpectedly end up with Notre Dame as a participant? Olivas: "We had no idea that Notre Dame was going to be available until it was actually announced to us that they were part of our pool of teams. Notre Dame was having such a great year that we thought they would go away before they got to our pool, but we're very proud to have Notre Dame here in El Paso." BGI: How do you feel about the game matchup between two well-known pro- grams? Olivas: "To get two teams ranked in the top 20, it's a great opportunity for our city and for our people to watch two of the best teams in the country. We can nor- mally get one ranked team, but to get a 9-3 and an 8-4 matchup in the Sun Bowl, especially where we fall in the pecking order, is just a great catch for us and for our city." BGI: What do you hope to both get and give from this event? Olivas: "We have a three-fold purpose for the Sun Bowl. And that's to give our city a high-quality event, give El Paso some positive national recognition, and third, for the economic impact the event brings to our city. And having these two proud programs here accomplishes all of those." BGI: What can visitors expect when they arrive in El Paso? Olivas: "It is a very unique part of the country. We have some tremendous sites to see here. We are built around the southern tip of the Rocky Moun- tains. And despite what people often hear, it is one of the safest cities in the country with a population of over 500,000." BGI: What is your level of pride for this matchup? Olivas: "This is our 90th game. El Paso is the second-oldest bowl in the country. So, it's one of the premier events that El Paso has and it has been for 90 years." — Todd D. Burlage Five Questions With … TONY THE TIGER SUN BOWL EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR BERNIE OLIVAS Clear The Bench, Prep For 2024 By Todd D. Burlage None of this is meant as a knock on the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl, or the quality of the venue, the El Paso, Texas, area, or the interest and entertainment this game has provided for the last 90 years. But let's face it, when even Sun Bowl executive director Bernie Olivas admitted in an interview that he thought Notre Dame was out of his league to be considered as a prospective candidate for this game, it becomes clear that this is a third-tier bowl and the Irish coaches should treat it as such. Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said bowl prep would bring him "almost another spring season." And spring seasons are meant to establish a depth chart and a rotational hierarchy for the fall in the same way this bowl season should be used to prep for 2024. Through transfers, opt-outs and players departing for the NFL, the Notre Dame roster will look drastically different in the Sun Bowl than it did at any other time this season. So, what a perfect chance to use basically the entire month of December to start looking ahead to 2024. Nobody is saying tank the game. Expect this matchup between No. 16 Notre Dame and No. 19 Oregon State to provide an entertaining and com- petitive game. But what I am saying is that focusing more on 2024 through player evaluations during this bowl season and focusing less on the final score of the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl is a gr-r-r-eat idea! For Several Reasons, Winning The Game Matters By Jack Soble What's the difference between the Sun Bowl and the Pop- Tarts Bowl? How about the Sun Bowl and the ReliaQuest Bowl? Is there any beyond the perception that "Those bowls are 'better'"? Why are they better? A New Year's Six bowl game has been off the table since Notre Dame's loss to Clemson, and — although nobody wants to think about it — Florida State's exclusion from the College Football Playoff means Notre Dame could have missed out on the New Year's Six even if the Irish went 10-2. After the NY6, to be completely honest, the bowls are all the same. Notre Dame was fortunate to draw a top-20 team in Oregon State, even if it's a shell of the Beavers team that earned that ranking. Regarding Todd's valid point about playing guys who matter for 2024, Notre Dame will have to do that whether it wants to or not. Eleven players have entered the transfer portal so far and several others have opted out, too, with more likely to follow, meaning Notre Dame's higher-recruited youngsters will go against OSU's lesser-ranked ones. Freeman's calling card as Notre Dame's head coach has been how well he's recruited. Winning the Sun Bowl would provide optimism for his first full re- cruiting class with the Irish (2023) and his ability to coach those young players. Finally, getting to 10 wins matters. More importantly, a one-win improvement over the 2022 season matters. If it wins this game, Notre Dame enters the off- season feeling better about its team and coaching staff than it would if it loses. Point ✦ Counterpoint: WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT FOR NOTRE DAME TO ACCOMPLISH IN THE SUN BOWL? Olivas (far left), a native of El Paso, Texas, has worked on the Sun Bowl committee since 2001. PHOTO COURTESY SUN BOWL For head coach Marcus Freeman, reaching the 10-win mark matters. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER