Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/878660
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com OCT. 2, 2017 41 University of Minnesota) had a better league record in the 12-team confer- ence than the RedHawks. In 2014, Martin inherited a team that went 0-12 the previous season and began the rebuild with 2-10 and 3-9 records in 2014-15, and last sea- son's 0-6 start made him 5-25. When including the year before his arrival, Miami (Ohio) was 5-37 at the time — and then reeled off six consecu- tive victories to top the five wins ac- cumulated the previous three and a half years. The dramatic turnaround has mo- tivated Miami (Ohio), which enters this season with a veteran lineup that returned 16 starters on offense and defense. Last year, the RedHawks made NCAA football history when they became the first team to start 0-6 and then finish the regular season 6-6. That enabled them to receive their first bowl bid sine 2010, where they lost a 17-16 heartbreaker to Missis- sippi State in the St. Petersburg Bowl after the Bulldogs blocked a 34-yard field goal attempt with five seconds left to preserve the win (they also blocked an extra point). A 1-2 start this season included an opening game defeat to Mar- shall (31-26) and a second straight close loss to in-state rival Cincinnati (21-17). Martin was a huge Notre Dame fan growing up and remains so to this day — he attended former Fighting Irish head coach Ara Parseghian's funeral this summer — and the per- sonable 49-year-old has dreamed of coaching the Irish. To eventually build a candidacy for himself in about five years, he needs do well enough at Miami to land a Power Five job. The ensuing step is to excel at a Power Five school for a few seasons to give himself a chance to put his name in the running. THE ARA ANGLE Top coaches are often noted for producing "coaching trees," but no school in college football annals has been more renowned for produc- ing elite coaches than Miami (Ohio), which is why it has the "Cradle of Coaches" moniker. The tree includes NFL, AFL and Super Bowl champion coaches such as Paul Brown, Sid Gillman, Weeb Ewbank, Sean Payton and John Har- baugh, collegiate national champions or Hall of Famers such as Earl Blaik, Paul Dietzel, Woody Hayes, Ara Par- seghian, Jim Tressel and Bo Schem- bechler, and scores of other highly successful figures in the coaching ranks. Most pertinent for the Notre Dame game is Parseghian, a RedHawk alumnus who was the school's fresh- man coach under Hayes in 1950 and then from 1951-55 guided Miami to a 39-6-1 record, including a No. 15 finish in his final season, the school's first final placement in the Associ- ated Press poll. Two of Parseghian's assistants at Notre Dame who remained with him all 11 seasons (plus in previous years) also were Miami (Ohio) graduates: defensive backs coach Paul Shoults, who played in the same backfield as Parseghian, and offensive backs coach Tom Pagna, who starred for him at halfback for the RedHawks. Parseghian, who died this Aug. 2 at age 94, led the Irish from 1964-74, winning two consensus national titles and sharing a third. His affili- ation with both schools will be a pri- mary topic throughout the week. ✦ GAME PREVIEW: MIAMI (OHIO) Miami (Ohio) was deemed the "Cradle of Coaches" because of its penchant for producing elite coaches such as Ara Parseghian. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS Predictions Corey Bodden: Notre Dame 45, Miami (Ohio) 10 The RedHawks haven't been able to consistently run the ball so far, and that is unlikely to change. Notre Dame forces quarterback Gus Ragland to beat them with his arm. Bryan Driskell: Notre Dame 44, Miami (Ohio) 17 Miami has a veteran football team, but it lacks the big-time talent on either side of the ball to hang with Notre Dame for four quarters. David McKinney: Notre Dame 56, Miami (Ohio) 14 This one shouldn't be close, and it won't be. Notre Dame's vicious running attack will roll. Lou Somogyi: Notre Dame 49, Miami (Ohio) 17 How about a third 49-point effort this year? Could be like the Boston College game, competitive at least one half, especially if the Irish come out uninspired.