Notre Dame Football: Revisiting the 1992 Sugar Bowl
By Brad Weiss
On Tuesday, it was announced that the Notre Dame football program would play a home-and-home series against the University of Florida in 2031 and 2032. While that is a long way away, so is the last, and only time these two programs hooked up, way back in the 1992 Sugar Bowl.
In a game referred to as the “Cheerios Bowl,” the Notre Dame football team took on a Florida squad ranked in the top-10 and was not given much of a chance to win. Florida went into that game ranked in the top-5 by both the AP and Coaches, with the Irish only at No. 18 overall, but anything can happen on a football field.
Notre Dame football goes into the game as the underdog
The Irish were 6.5 point underdogs heading into the 1992 Sugar Bowl, which would be played inside the Louisiana Superdome. It was the 58th Sugar Bowl and pitted an Irish team that was assumed to be the weaker team, but the problem was, they had a monster at the running back position in Jerome Bettis.
Florida had a Heisman Trophy candidate in Shane Matthews at quarterback, and he got the party started early, connecting with Willie Jackson for a 15-yard score. Two field goal drives gave Florida an early 13-0 lead, and it looked like the favorite would in fact have some easy sledding against this Notre Dame football team.
However, quarterback Rick Mirer led the Irish on a touchdown drive of their own, cutting the lead to six, and after another Florida field goal, the teams went into the locker room with the score at 16-7.
In the third quarter, it was all Irish, scoring ten unanswered thanks to a field goal, and a Mirer to star tight end Irv Smith touchdown. Up 17-16, Notre Dame saw their lead slip away thanks to two Florida field goals, but down 22-17, Bettis took over, scoring three touchdowns in the fourth quarter to give the Irish an upset win over the Gators, as he took home MVP honors.
With the win, the Irish moved up to No. 13 in the country, with the Gators falling to No. 8
Next. 2021 NFL Draft: Trio of Notre Dame football players land in the AFC West. dark
Who knows where these two programs will be when they link up in ten years, but one thing is for sure, they are two proud institutions that are always competitive. They may link up before then in a bowl game, adding more fuel to what should be an excellent series next decade.