Notre Dame football to face Oregon State in Sun Bowl
After a long day of speculation, Notre Dame has a bowl destination and opponent. The Irish will face Oregon State in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl at 2 p.m. ET on Dec. 29 in El Paso, Texas.
The Sun Bowl will be televised on CBS.
Oregon State finished 8-4, but its team in the bowl game will look very different from how it looked in the regular season. Head coach Jonathan Smith took the same job at Michigan State, and he took much of his coaching staff with him. Defensive coordinator Trent Bray, one of the Beavers’ few remaining assistants, was promoted to the full-time head coaching position Nov. 28.
Beavers quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei, who transferred to Oregon State from Clemson, entered the transfer portal again shortly after Smith left.
Throughout the fall, Oregon State picked up top-25 wins over No. 10 Utah and No. 18 UCLA. The Beavers had a chance at the final Pac-12 Championship game before losing to Washington on Nov. 18 and Oregon on Nov. 24.
Notre Dame finished 9-3 and No. 15 in the Associated Press Top 25, two spots below where the it began the season. The Irish’s signature win was a 48-20 home victory over USC in Week 7, and eight of their nine wins were decided by 21 points or more.
However, the pivotal game on Notre Dame’s schedule was a 17-14 touchdown to Ohio State, who scored a game-winning touchdown on the final play when the Irish had 10 men on the field. Two poor performances on the road cost Notre Dame later in the season, resulting in a 33-20 loss to Louisville and a 31-23 loss to Clemson.
The story of the Fighting Irish this season was graduate quarterback Sam Hartman, who transferred from Wake Forest in January. Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman confirmed Monday that Hartman is expected to play his final game in blue and gold in late December.
“We’ll have to have a meeting to make sure it’s still there,” Freeman said. “But again, that’s what these conversations are for. Unless I hear otherwise through a conversation my plan is for Sam Hartman to be our quarterback for the bowl game.”
Notre Dame could have several opt-outs, but none have announced their intentions to skip the bowl game yet. Opt-outs could include star junior running back Audric Estimé and star junior left tackle Joe Alt, as well as several key pieces of the top-10-ranked Irish defense.
