Will a new hero emerge?: No. 16 Notre Dame, No. 19 Oregon State get their day in the Sun

Here's what to understand about the 90th Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl: Friday's game between No. 16 Notre Dame and No. 19 Oregon State features two rosters full of players who want to be in El Paso.

Those who didn't are gone by now, preparing for the draft or a new school in the transfer portal. The Beavers and Fighting Irish probably wouldn't have top 20 rankings if the players they are starting on Friday had been starting all year, they are loaded with backups at the most key positions.

Notre Dame and Oregon State are starting their future nine months early, and to the players who charge out of the locker rooms for the noon kickoff, this game is their stage.

For both teams this is a chance to finish the year in the top 15. For Notre Dame it's a chance for 10 wins. For Oregon State it's a chance to go out a winner in what could be one of the last Pac-12 games ever played.

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That will all be decided by a number of players getting their first opportunity on a big stage. The Sun Bowl is their launch point.

"Grasp this opportunity," Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said. "There are guys this is going to be their first time starting for Notre Dame. There's also guys this is their last time playing for Notre Dame.

"Every single person who is going to have an opportunity, has a different opportunity in front of them, but grasp yours. If you're a first-time starter like Charles Jagusah our left tackle, go show you can be the future left tackle of this program, that's why you're out there. We have a strong belief in him."

There is the theme of this year's Sun Bowl.

"There's two ways you can look at that," said Oregon State interim coach Kefense Hynson. "You can mourn the loss of the guys who are not playing, or you can really dive into the guys who are playing. We choose to dive into the guys who are playing.

"Every year guys show up in bowl games the world doesn't know yet. This is an opportunity to do that. ...

"We're going to have guys start for the first time in this game and they are going to do a good job. I'm excited to see which guy does that, gets the opportunity and runs with it and makes a name for himself. Just`because the world doesn't know who you are, that's not your fault. You need the opportunity and the stage. You got one here."

For both teams that will begin at quarterback and also at running back, where they are throwing out backups or third-teamers.

Oregon State is starting Ben Gulbranson at quarterback, a third stringer who has taken three snaps this year but one season ago was the MVP of the Las Vegas Bowl.

Notre Dame is going with sophomore Steve Angeli, a former four-star recruit starting his first game with the Fighting Irish.

Either Gulbranson or Angeli could be MVP of this game when it's over.

"You talk to a lot of coaches and they are playing with their quote-unquote third-string quarterback, there would be some anxiety," Hynson said. "Our guy has started a bunch for us, won a bunch of games for us, he's played in big games for us and been successful in big games for us.

"From a coaching standpoint we have a lot of confidence in him and more importantly, our players have a lot of confidence in him. That matters more than anything, for the guys you go play with to believe in you. We have that with him."

Freeman's advice to Angeli is to keep it simple.

"Do the things that have put yourself in this position," Freeman said. "You've got to be Steve Angeli. Don't be (regular starter) Sam Hartman (who has opted out), don't be anyone else, be Steve Angeli. Take care of the football. One play, one life, I've said that plenty of times before."

The quarterbacks will be handing off to tailbacks who have been second or third team all season. In fact, Notre Dame has four starters — three interior lineman and a tight end — who started in their season-ender against Stanford last month.

On the flip side, most of the new Notre Dame starters have practiced with each other as backups all season.

"There's chemistry in terms of knowing each other," Freeman said. "There are different guys working with each other and it's different when you're with the 1s than with the 2s or on scout team. You still have to build that chemistry. You have to make sure you have a game plan you can execute."

Both defenses are missing key players, but on the whole, not as many as the offenses across from them. Notre Dame's veteran defense that has been excellent all season against Oregon State's retooled offense looks like a particularly poor matchup for the Beavers.

"We're going to do what we do well and that has to be good enough," Hynson said. "There's no magic pill we can take, we don't have any ringers coming in between now and kickoff. We have confidence in what we have.

"Part of this whole portal/opt-out deal, you have to have clarity ultimately on who you have playing in the game, then as coaches it's my job to put our guys in the best situation possible."

The oddsmakers say that's not supposed to go well for the Beavers, who are a 6-point underdog against the Beavers, but Hynson says he doesn't care.

"I'm not into the underdog thing," he said. "It's really cliché, anyone anywhere can claim that. There has to be something inside of you that knows you have the confidence to step on the field you should have an opportunity to win a game.

"I'm not into throwing the underdog card out there to motivate. If you're not motivated to play this game against this team on this stage, I probably can't help you. Our guys have confidence, we've played a lot of good teams, Notre Dame is another one."

Neither team will field much of the personnel that punched their ticket to the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl, so the opportunity is there for a new hero to emerge Friday.

Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Notre Dame football, Oregon State get their day in Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl