The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Notre Dame-Miami has big-game feel again
The premier rivalry of the late 1980s and early 1990s is back — for one season at least.
The Miami Hurricanes (8-0) host Notre Dame (8-1) on Nov. 11 in a primetime matchup that has major College Football Playoff implications.
That’s how the rivalry became one of college football’s top games to watch about a quarter-century ago.
The teams played four straight seasons —from 1987 to 1990 — with national championship hopes on the line. In each of those games, the teams were ranked in the top 10, and the winner eventually won three national titles.
The Hurricanes won it all in 1987 and 1989 after defeating the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame won its most famous game vs. Miami — famously dubbed “Catholics vs. Convicts” — in 1988, the year it won its last national championship in football.
Bad blood between the programs forced the cancellation of the rivalry in 1990 until it was renewed in 2012. The teams met in the 2010 Sun Bowl, and they last played in 2016, with ND winning, 30-27.
The game Nov. 11 will be the biggest in the series since 1990.
Here’s this week’s top games to watch:
Nov. 7
Akron at Miami (Ohio), 7:30 (ESPN2) Bowling Green at Buffalo, 7:30 (ESPNU)
Nov. 8
Kent State at Western Michigan, 7 (CBS Sports Network)
Toledo at Ohio, 7 (ESPN2)
Nov. 10
Washington at Stanford, 10:30 (FS1)
Nov. 11
Michigan State at Ohio
State, noon (WJW)
Florida State at Clemson, 3:30 (ESPN)
Georgia at Auburn, 3:30 (WOIO)
Iowa at Wisconsin, 3:30 (WEWS)
Michigan at Maryland, 3:30 (Big Ten Network)
West Virginia at Kansas State, 3:30 (ESPN2)
USC at Colorado, 4 (WJW)
Alabama at Mississippi State, 7 (ESPN)
Notre Dame at Miami (Fla.), 8 (WEWS)
TCU at Oklahoma, 8 (WJW)
Top 10
Barring a huge stretch of
upsets in November, it appears the Big Ten will be on the outside looking in when the final College Football Playoff pairings are announced in early December.
Ohio State’s 31-point loss at Iowa on Nov. 4, and Penn State’s 27-24 setback at Michigan State is deflating for the conference.
The Buckeyes and Nittany Lions — the Big Ten’s best CFP contenders a week ago — now each have two losses.
The Spartans and Michigan also each have two losses, which makes the Big Ten East a messy situation.
Meanwhile, Wisconsin is 9-0, and host Iowa and Michigan the next two weeks, then closes at Minnesota. The odds are in its favor to finish the regular season at 12-0.
The games vs. the Hawkeyes and Wolverines will boost Wisconsin’s strength of schedule, but it might not be enough, even if it finishes 13-0.
What the Badgers need is teams ahead of them to lose — namely Notre Dame (81), which debuted in the first CFP rankings at No. 3.
Here’s this week’s Top 10 with last week’s ranking in parenthesis: 1. GEORGIA 9-0 (1) » Beat South Carolina, 24-10 2. ALABAMA 9-0 (2) » Beat LSU, 24-10 3. NOTRE DAME 8-1 (3) » Beat Wake Forest, 48-27 4. OKLAHOMA 8-1 (4) » Beat Oklahoma State, 62-52 5. CLEMSON 8-1 (9) » Beat N.C. State, 38-31 6. MIAMI (FLA.) 8-0 (7) » Beat Virginia Tech, 28-10 7. TCU 8-1 (NR) » Beat TCU,
24-7 8. WISCONSIN 9-0 (8) » Beat Indiana, 45-17 9. WASHINGTON 8-1 (NR) » Beat Oregon, 38-3 10. MICHIGAN STATE 7-2 (NR) » Beat Penn State, 27-24 WATCH LIST » Ohio State, Auburn, USC, Penn State, Oklahoma State
Heisman watch
Baker Mayfield has emerged as the favorite for the Heisman Trophy frontrunner.
The big question is: Can he hold onto the lead?
Mayfield did his part in leading the Sooners past rival Oklahoma State, 6252, on Nov. 4. He completed 24 of 36 passes for 598 yards with five touchdown passes and two interceptions. That’s an average of a whopping 25 Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield is tackled by Oklahoma State linebacker Chad Whitener (45) and safety Tre Flowers (31) on Nov. 4. yards per completion.
For the season, Mayfield is completing 71.2 percent of his passes and has 3,226 yards, 28 TD passes and six interceptions.
Here’s this week’s Heisman
watch list: 1. BAKER MAYFIELD, QB, OKLAHOMA » Threw for 598 yards and five TD passes in win over Oklahoma State. 2. SAQUON BARKLEY, RB, PENN STATE » Had 96 total yards in loss to Michigan State 3. JOSH ADAMS, RB, NOTRE DAME » Rushed for 22 yards in win over Wake Forest; has 1,191 yards this season. 4. LAMAR JACKSON, QB, LOUISVILLE » Off last week; Has 32 total touchdowns this season. 5. RASHAAD PENNY, RB, SAN DIEGO STATE » Rushed for 234 yards and three TDs in win over San Jose State.
Podolski can be reached at MPodolski@News-Herald. com; on Twitter: @mpodo