Miami Hurricanes HC Mark Richt’s teams excel in bowl games
Miami Hurricanes Head Coach Mark Richt enters his second bowl game as the Head Coach at his alma mater 10-5 all-time in the postseason. He led the U to its first bowl win in ten seasons last year.
Just like he did at Georgia, Richt has led the Miami Hurricanes to a major bowl game in his second season. He led the Bulldogs to the then BCS Sugar Bowl game after the 2002 season. Georgia finished 13-1 that season and won the SEC Championship with a 30-3 victory over Arkansas.
The victory in the conference title game was the difference between his second season in Athens and his second in Coral Gables. Richt has led his teams to a bowl game in all of his 17 seasons as a Head Coach.
Georgia played in the Sugar Bowl three of Richt’s first seven seasons. Oft-criticized for not being able to win the big game this is the first major bowl game for a Richt led team since 2007. Georgia did play in five “New Year’s Day” bowl games under Richt.
Those included the Gator, Outback and Capital One bowls. Those three games are a notch below the games formerly known as BCS games and now called the New Year’s Six.
Richt’s teams have won three of the last four bowl games he has coached in. His lone loss was in the Gator Bowl to Nebraska following the 2013 season. The only other losses Richt has had in a bowl game were the Music City Bowl following the 2001 season, the Sugar Bowl following 2005, the Liberty in 2010 and the Outback in 2011.
Richt was 2-1 in his three Sugar Bowl trips. The first one had to be particularly sweet for the former Florida State Offensive Coordinator. Richt’s Bulldogs defeated the Seminoles 26-13 on January 1, 2002.
Three seasons later Richt and the Bulldogs were back in the Sugar Bowl. Because of Hurricane Katrina, the game was moved to the Georgia Dome. It gave the Bulldogs a defacto home game.
The teams accounted for over 1,000 yards of total offense in a 38-35 West Virginia victory. Georgia’s leading rusher in the game was current Miami Hurricanes Offensive Coordinator Thomas Brown. He ran for 78 yards on nine carries with a touchdown and added two receptions for 22 yards.
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Richt’s final trip to the Sugar Bowl was two seasons later against Hawaii. Facing an upstart Hawaii Rainbow Warriors team Georgia came out motivated.
They won the game convincingly 41-10. The game was arguably not even that close. Georgia led 38-3 after three quarters.
Brown had 19 carries for 73 yards and a touchdown in the victory. That was a loaded Georgia offense. It featured Matthew Stafford and former Denver Broncos running back Knowshon Moreno.
Eleven of the 15 Bowl Games that Richt had coached in have been against ranked opponents. He was 8-2 at Georgia versus ranked teams and Miami defeated number 14 West Virginia 31-14 in last season’s Russell Athletic Bowl.
This is Richt’s second appearance against Wisconsin in a bowl game. Number eight Georgia defeated number 16 Wisconsin 24-21 in the Outback Bowl on New Year’s Day 2005. Brown ran for 111 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries and added four receptions for 44 yards.
Next: Remembering Dick Enberg's Orange Bowl and Miami Hurricanes Connections
Current ESPN Gameday analyst David Pollock was the MVP for Georgia. Pollock recorded four tackles, three sacks and a fumble recovery. That was Barry’s Alvarez’s second season to last as the Badgers Head Coach. He retired following the 2006 season.