Far superior speed is one reason Miami has blown away Notre Dame by a combined score of 133-20 in their last four games.
But now Notre Dame has the fleet Ricky Watters, Mark Green and others carrying the ball. Miami coach Jimmy Johnson, for one, has noticed.
”The difference in this (Notre Dame) team is not only are they extremely talented, they`ve got great speed,” said Johnson, whose top-ranked Hurricanes meet No. 4 Notre Dame at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in Notre Dame Stadium.
”From what we have read, compare Notre Dame`s times to the times we have here at Miami. Almost per man you`ll find them faster at Notre Dame than what you have at the University of Miami, and I think that`s probably a shock to a lot of people.”
– Ever heard of Russell Maryland? Apparently no one else had, either. The hefty sophomore from Whitney Young High School received no other scholarship offers but has emerged as a star defensive tackle at Miami.
”We took a chance on him,” Johnson said. ”He was a little heavy coming out of high school. He has lost 50 pounds since he`s been here. He`s down to 270 or under now. Here you`ve got a player that wasn`t even recruited that ends up being one of the stars for you on your defensive line.”
– Johnson isn`t the least bit worried about facing a hostile Notre Dame Stadium crowd. ”I think they had about 105,800 at Ann Arbor (against Michigan) and they were screaming at the top of their lungs, and our guys handled it fairly well,” Johnson said. ”I don`t see the crowd as being a factor other than getting more adrenalin in our veins.”
– Former Irish All-America linebacker Bob Golic expects Notre Dame to win Saturday. ”Of course they`re going to beat Miami,” said Golic, now with the Cleveland Browns. ”I`ve got to live with a couple of Miami guys (quarterback Bernie Kosar and center Gregg Rakoczy) here, so obviously there will be some ribbing going on in the course of the week.”
Golic had unusual praise for Irish linebacking star Michael Stonebreaker: ”That`s a great name. I like the name Golic, but Stonebreaker`s cool.”
– Notre Dame fans like to point to Miami`s 58-7 whipping of the Irish in 1985 as evidence of running up the score, but the Hurricanes may have been extracting a little revenge for some lopsided losses to Notre Dame. The Irish beat Miami 44-0 in 1973 and 48-10 in 1977 during an 11-0 streak against the Hurricanes.
– If you`re thinking about catching a glimpse of Illinois` workout Friday afternoon in Wisconsin`s Camp Randall Stadium, forget it.
The Illini won`t be there.
Coach John Mackovic`s philosophy is to keep his players` routine as normal as possible on the day before a road game. Before Illinois went to Ohio State on Sept. 30, the Illini worked out in Memorial Stadium, ate an early dinner and didn`t board the plane for Columbus until early evening.
The Illini responded with a 31-12 victory, their first win in Ohio Stadium since 1967. So, Mackovic sees no reason to change the schedule for Saturday`s 11:15 a.m. televised game at Wisconsin. The players won`t see the Badgers` playing field until pregame warmups.
”I`m not interested in spending too much time in a hotel,” Mackovic said. ”I prefer to keep our operations and routines similar to any other day. The players go to class in the morning, and in the afternoon we have meetings, work out, eat, travel, then get up Saturday morning and play the game.”
The Illini players might prefer more time to relax, but nobody`s complaining. They`re especially happy because Illinois (3-2, 2-0) goes to winless Wisconsin with a three-game winning streak and a share of the Big 10 lead.
”If it were up to me, we could leave earlier, but I understand where the coach is coming from,” said defensive tackle Mel Agee.
”It`s not my choice, but it`s no problem,” offensive guard Joe Skubisz said. ”I enjoy coming into a stadium early and getting a feel for the stadium. But it`s worked out.”
For the second week in a row, Illinois, which posted its first shutout in more than two years with a 20-0 victory over Purdue last week, will be favored. The Illini have picked up confidence as they`ve picked up victories. After their miserable opening-game performance in a 44-7 loss to Washington State, every game since has been a little bit better than the last.
”We didn`t expect to take a step back,” Mackovic said. ”A lot of people wanted to know how would we play, how would we handle everything. We said from the beginning we expected our team to come and play, and they did. Obviously there are times when we`re going to have some lulls, but, hopefully, we`ll be able to control those and keep moving forward.”
