Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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36 OCT. 31, 2016 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED ing a 7‑6 mark in his final season and a Sun Bowl loss to the Irish — things got worse under Golden, a former Temple coach who was woefully un‑ qualified for the challenges of Miami. After a 36‑9 loss to Louisville in his third season — the Hurricanes had a self‑imposed bowl ban his first two years — Golden failed to make much‑needed staff changes. It was then that Ferman knew that the coach would not last at Miami. "He just made an enormous amount of mistakes and couldn't overcome them," Ferman said of Golden, now the tight ends coach for the Detroit Lions. "They just kept snowballing on him and he didn't do a good enough job of re‑ cruiting. Didn't do a good enough job of evaluation. "He let a lot of great players from South Florida get away to other schools and it all added up to a real struggle." Miami fired Golden on Oct. 25 last season and hired Richt — a former Hurricanes quarterback — on Dec. 4. The 56‑year‑old Richt has since re‑ energized the fan base, strengthen‑ ing bonds with former Miami stars, changed the team's uniforms back to a retro look and kick‑started local recruiting with popular camps. "Fan support right now today is as good as it has ever been," Ferman said. "They're drawing better than they have in years, there's a lot of ex‑ citement around the program, people love Mark Richt, so that aspect of it is great." While Notre Dame has a week off, Miami will play perhaps its most im‑ portant game of the season, a Thurs‑ day night contest Oct. 20 at Atlantic Coast Conference rival Virginia Tech, a battle between Coastal Division teams. "By the time they get to South Bend, their season's going to be de‑ fined one way or the other," Ferman said. Re‑igniting the rivalry with Notre Dame is something Hurricanes fans are certainly looking forward to, even with the Irish having a subpar season. "The disappointing thing is that Notre Dame is having a tough sea‑ son," Ferman said. "You would've hoped that it would be a really big game in college football." ✦ GAME PREVIEW: MIAMI Senior cornerback Corn Elder, who had 21 tackles and an interception through five contests, is a former four-star recruit and a cornerstone of Miami's defense. PHOTO COURTESY MIAMI ATHLETICS 2016 MIAMI SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Sept. 3 Florida A&M W, 70-3 Sept. 10 Florida Atlantic W, 38-10 Sept. 17 at Appalachian State W, 45-10 Oct. 1 at Georgia Tech W, 35-21 Oct. 8 Florida State L, 20-19 Oct. 15 North Carolina L, 20-13 Oct. 20 at Virginia Tech (ESPN) 7 p.m. Oct. 29 at Notre Dame (NBC) 3:30 p.m. Nov. 5 Pittsburgh TBA Nov. 12 at Virginia TBA Nov. 19 at North Carolina State TBA Nov. 26 Duke TBA 2016 NOTRE DAME SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Sept. 4 at Texas L, 50-47 (2OT) Sept. 10 Nevada W, 39-10 Sept. 17 Michigan State L, 36-28 Sept. 24 Duke L, 38-35 Oct. 1 vs. Syracuse* W, 50-33 Oct. 8 at North Carolina State L, 10-3 Oct. 15 Stanford L, 17-10 Oct. 29 Miami (NBC) 3:30 p.m. Nov. 5 vs. Navy^ (CBS) 11:30 a.m. Nov. 12 vs. Army# (NBC) 3:30 p.m. Nov. 19 Virginia Tech (NBC) 3:30 p.m. Nov. 26 at USC TBA * at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.; ^ at EverBank Field in Jacksonville, Fla.; # at Alamodome in San Antonio