El Paso, Texas ? A far-from-perfect first season as Notre Dame coach could not have ended much better for Brian Kelly and his Fighting Irish.

Freshman Tommy Rees passed for 201 yards and two touchdowns to Michael Floyd as Notre Dame beat Miami, 33-17, in the Sun Bowl on Friday, making Kelly the first Fighting Irish coach to win a bowl game during his first season.

The Irish started 1-3 under Kelly, and consecutive October losses to Navy and Tulsa left them in precarious position even to get bowl-eligible. But Notre Dame finished with four straight victories against Utah, Army, Southern California and Miami that should buoy hopes for the future of the program.

“Clearly, we are gaining a lot of confidence,” Kelly said. “We’ve beaten some good football teams late in the year as we’ve come together and found our identity. It’s going to taste a whole lot better in the offseason talking about a win.”

After a 20-year break, it was all Irish in the latest installment of a storied rivalry that became known during the 1980s as Catholics versus Convicts.

Notre Dame (8-5) reached the end zone on three of its first four possessions. Rees tossed TD passes of three and 34 yards to Floyd, and Cierre Wood broke free on a 34-yard scoring run before David Ruffer added field goals from 40, 50 and 19 yards.

“It’s not hard when you’re throwing the ball to Mike,” Rees said. “He’s such a great player. I knew that if I threw it anywhere near him he was going to make the catch.”

There were tough moments for the Irish on the field and off this season. The week before the Tulsa loss at home, the team’s student videographer was killed in an accident at practice.

Against Tulsa, Notre Dame lost quarterback Dayne Crist to a season-ending injury. Rees’ interception in the end zone in the final seconds sealed the 28-27 defeat in South Bend, Ind.

Notre Dame, however, recovered down the stretch, then handled Miami (7-6) easily.

“There were some obstacles along the way but I think what showed with four wins to close the season was the progress we made,” Ruffer said. “We kind of got a late jump with Coach Kelly coming in, but this last month or two months, we’ve made tremendous gains.”

Notre Dame’s 30th bowl appearance was a New Year’s Eve fiesta in El Paso, a predominantly Roman Catholic city on the Mexican border that embraced the Irish with huge cheers from the first glimpse of a golden helmet coming from the locker rooms.

“El Paso treated Notre Dame so very well,” Kelly said.

The Hurricanes trailed 30-3 going into the fourth quarter, completing a season in which their coach was fired with an ugly loss.

Rees hardly looked like a freshman, completing 15 of 29 attempts without an interception.