Special year has brought national recognition back to Miami Hurricanes

One of the defenders tipped the ball, it caromed off of Langham’s facemask and he caught it for a 27-yard gain and a first down. Four plays later Michael Badgley kicked the game-winning field goal to defeat Georgia Tech.

Miami continued to win close games needing late stops the following two weeks to defeat Syracuse and North Carolina. That set Miami up at 7-0 with the two biggest games the Hurricanes would host in ten years.

First up with perennial conference rival Virginia Tech. In front of the first of two nationally televised Saturday night primetime games on ABC, Miami defeated the Hokies 28-10. That set up an even bigger showdown with then number three Notre Dame a week later.

The Fighting Irish bring eyeballs to any big game. ESPN brought Gameday to South Florida to match up with the primetime audience they had a week later. The game was all Miami virtually from the kickoff.

The game was over shortly before halftime. Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly chose to take out starting quarterback Brandon Wimbush and replace him with Ian Book.

Book is a better passer and with the Irish already down 20-0, Kelly seemed to think that a comeback was more likely through the air. Trajan Bandy ended that with a 65-yard interception return shortly before halftime to extend the lead to 27-0.