One little fact escaped college football pundits before the 58th annual Sugar Bowl: Florida and Notre Dame were football teams going in opposite health directions. The Irish had a rash of serious injuries, particularly defensively, in their seventh game against Air Force.
Players such as Demetrius DuBose, Notre Dame’s leading tackler, and the rest of the linebacking corps – Pete Bercich, Anthony Peterson, Greg Davis – and tackle Bryant Young were, at various times, unavailable during Notre Dame’s crucial last three games, two of which it lost, creating cries the Irish didn’t deserve a spot in a major bowl game. The 18th-ranked Irish somehow blew a 31-7 second quarter lead in what became a 35-34 loss to Tennessee, were topped 35-13 by Penn State, and then squeezed out a 48-42 win at Hawaii to give Notre Dame a 9-3 record.
So not everybody thought Notre Dame deserved a match against third ranked, 10-1 Florida.
But the Irish would be all healed for the game in New Orleans. That would have to make a difference.
Conversely, Florida was largely injury-free until its last game, against Florida State. After that backyard battle, quarterback Shane Matthews needed arthroscopic surgery on a knee, and All-SEC linebacker Tim Paulk was lost because of a severe hamstring pull. Later, starting defensive end Harvey Thomas was hurt in a moped accident and lost for the Sugar Bowl.
This was a significant matchup for both Florida and the Sugar Bowl. It marked the first time coach Steve Spurrier took a Florida team to New Orleans – the old ball coach would eventually bring five Gator squads to the Sugar Bowl in just nine seasons. Other coaches had more, but none would have as many Sugar Bowl teams in so short a period of time.
Notre Dame coach Lou Holt, after defensive coordinator Gary Farnell resigned to take a similar job at the University of Texas, took direct command of that unit. He put in a four-man rush and seven-man cover scheme (called the “rope-a-dope” defense) to keep Matthews from connecting on the big play and tried to stir his team’s emotions, stoking the fire of the Irish by reminding them no one thought they belonged on this stage against a big-time opponent like Florida. And, the night before the game, he showed them the film Wake Up the Echoes, which chronicles the unsurpassed tradition of Notre Dame football.
If the Irish weren’t ready after that emotional bloodletting, they never would be.
Recap excerpted from the book “Sugar Bowl Classic: A History” by Marty Mulé, who covered the game and the organization for decades for the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
