January 2, 1984: Miami Shocks Nebraska In the Orange Bowl

Bernie Kosar, on an NBC screen capture

January 2, 1984, 40 years ago: The Orange Bowl is played, at the stadium of the same name in Miami. The usual date, New Year's Day, fell on a Sunday, so, not wanting to compete with the NFL for TV viewers, the game was pushed back a day.

Since winning back-to-back National Championships in 1970 and 1971, the University of Nebraska had won 6 Big Eight Conference Championships, 2 Orange Bowls, a Sugar Bowl and a Cotton Bowl. But they hadn't won another National Championship. They only lost 1 game in 1982, by 3 points, away to Penn State.

In 1983, head coach Tom Osborne's Cornhuskers put up one of the most stunning seasons in college football history in 1983. They were ranked Number 1 to open the season, and their 1st game was the Kickoff Classic at the Meadowlands, against Number 4 Penn State, the defending National Champions. The 'Huskers crushed Joe Paterno's Nittany Lions, 44-6.

What followed was the most devastating offensive display in the history of college football. With quarterback Turner Gill handing off to Heisman Trophy winner Mike Rozier, and Outland Trophy winner Dean Steinkuhler blocking for them, they beat Wyoming at home, 56-20. They went into the Metrodome and beat Minnesota 84-13. That is not a misprint: Eighty-four to thirteen. They beat UCLA at home, 42-10. They beat Syracuse at home, 63-7.

Their next game was a tough one: Away to Number 20 Oklahoma State. Nebraska won that one, 14-10. They won away to Missouri, 34-13; beat Colorado at home, 69-19; won away to Kansas State, 51-25; beat Iowa State at home, 72-29; beat Kansas at home, 67-13. They closed the regular season by beating arch-rival Oklahoma away, 28-21, clinching the Big Eight Conference Championship.

They outscored their opponents 634-186. In other words, in the 1983 regular season, the average score of a Nebraska football game was Cornhuskers 53, Opponents 10. Fifty-three to ten.

To be fair: Some of these opponents were better than others. Minnesota finished 1-10, and, in other games, gave up 69, 61, 58, 56 and 50. Kansas State finished 3-8, Colorado and Iowa State 4-7, Kansas 4-6-1. But Penn State finished 8-4-1, both Oklahoma and Oklahoma State 8-4, UCLA 7-4-1 and as Pac-10 Champions, Wyoming and Missouri 7-5. UCLA won the Rose Bowl, Penn State the Aloha Bowl, Oklahoma State the Bluebonnet Bowl. Missouri reached the Holiday Bowl.

As Big 8 Champions, they were locked into the Orange Bowl, at the Orange Bowl stadium in Miami. It was also the home stadium of the University of Miami. And that would be their opponents.

The Hurricanes were coached by Howard Schnellenberger, who, with his stocky build and his big mustache, looked more like an old big-city butcher than a football coach. But he was smart, and was recruited by Bear Bryant to play end, both offensively and defensively, at Kentucky.

After playing in the Canadian Football League, he became one of Bryant's assistants at Alabama, and recruited Joe Namath. He then served as an assistant to George Allen with the Los Angeles Rams, and to Don Shula with the Miami Dolphins, including the undefeated season of 1972-73.

In 1979, the University of Miami hired him as head coach. He coached them to a 9-3 season in 1980, 9-2 in 1981, and 7-4 in 1982. They were then an independent, so there was no conference title for them to win. But they won the 1981 Peach Bowl, would have gone to a bowl game for the 1981 season had they not been on probation, and were denied a bowl bid for 1982.

In 1983, they opened the season with a bad 28-3 loss away to Number 16 Florida. But they cruised from there: Beating Houston away, 29-7; Purdue at home, 35-0; Number 13 Notre Dame at home, 20-0; Duke away, 56-17; Louisville at home, 42-14; Mississippi State away, 31-7; Cincinnati away, 17-7; Number 12 West Virginia at home, 20-3; East Carolina at home, 12-7; and Florida State away, 17-16.

So here's how the bowl games stood: Number 1 Nebraska vs. Number 5 Miami in the Orange Bowl; Number 2 Texas vs. Number 7 Georgia in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas; Number 3 Auburn vs. Number 8 Michigan in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans; and Number 4 Illinois vs. unranked UCLA in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

But in the early afternoon, on CBS, Georgia beat Texas, 10-9. So that eliminated the Longhorns. In the late afternoon, on ABC, UCLA crushed Illinois, 45-9. (Students at Caltech, responding to a recent prank by MIT students at the Harvard-Yale game, hacked the Rose Bowl scoreboard, so that it read "CALTECH 38 MIT 9.") So that eliminated the Fighting Illini.

In those days, the Orange Bowl and the Sugar Bowl were usually held at the same time, the former on NBC, the latter on ABC. Auburn's hope was that they would beat Michigan solidly, and that Miami would pull the tremendous upset against Nebraska. Miami's hope was that they would pull the upset, and then Michigan would upset Auburn.

What followed was one of the lamest games in New Year's Day bowl history -- and one of the most stunning football games ever played at any level.

Nebraska were favored by 10 1/2 points. Most fans expected Miami to put up a fight, but Nebraska to win solidly. And yet, Miami stopped their opening drive, and blocked a field goal attempt. Miami quarterback Bernie Kosar threw a touchdown pass to Glenn Dennison. Miami held Nebraska again, and Jeff Davis kicked a field goal. Miami intercepted Gill, and Kosar threw another touchdown pass to Dennison.

At the end of the 1st quarter, it was Miami 17, Nebraska 0. The nation -- or, at least, its football fans -- were stunned. Meanwhile, in the Superdome, Michigan quarterback Steve Smith ran for a touchdown, and put the Wolverines up 7-0 on Auburn.

Despite having a potent wishbone attack led by the next season's Heisman winner, running back Vincent "Bo" Jackson, Auburn couldn't score in the 2nd quarter, either. It was still 7-0 at the half, and it was looking like Miami had a shot at the National Championship: They were Number 5, they were beating Number 1, Number 2 and Number 4 had already lost, and Number 3 were losing.

Nebraska got back on track, intercepted Kosar, and drove into Miami territory. With a 3rd & 5 on the Hurricane 19, Gill took the snap, and ran to his right. So did fullback Mark Schellen, who appeared to have the ball. So did tight end Monte Engebritson. It looked like a power sweep.

Except Gill didn't give the ball to Schellen. He just set it on the ground. Officially, it was a fumble. But none of the Miami players saw it. Steinkuhler, by design, did, picked it up, and ran for a touchdown. Had it been a pass, he would have been an ineligible receiver. But, under the rules of the time, when the ball was fumbled, all offensive players were permitted to pick it up and run it forward. It was a trick play known as the fumblerooski, and would be outlawed in 1992.

For the moment, though, it was 'Canes 17, 'Huskers 7. Gill led another drive, ending with a quarterback sneak. At halftime, it was Miami 17, Nebraska 14. The upset was still on, but the sense that Nebraska had shaken off the shock of Miami's initial attack, and was ready to run their momentum straight down the Hurricanes' throats, was now strong.

It got stronger when Miami fumbled early in the 3rd quarter, and Nebraska tied it 17-17 on a Scott Livingston field goal. But the fact that they got only a field goal, not a touchdown, would matter later on. Meanwhile, in New Orleans, Al Del Greco kicked a 31-yard field goal to close Auburn to within 7-3 of Michigan.

Miami got its act together, and Kosar engineered 2 more touchdown drives, capped by runs by Alonzo Highsmith and Albert Bentley. At the end of the 3rd quarter, it was 31-17 Miami. And Rozier, after running for 147 yards, had to leave the game with an injured ankle.

Midway through the 4th quarter at the Sugar Bowl, Del Greco kicked a 32-yard field goal, to close Auburn to within 7-6 of Michigan. They still had a chance.

So did Nebraska. With 7 minutes left, Gill got them to the 1-yard line, and Jeff Smith ran it over for a touchdown. That made it 31-23. Osborne could have gone for a 2-point conversion here, and made a big difference. Instead, he went for the 1-point kick, and it was 31-24 Miami.

With 58 seconds left in the Sugar Bowl, Del Greco attempted a 19-yard field goal. It was good, and Auburn beat Michigan, 9-7. The Tigers had done what they absolutely had to do: Win. But they did it by just 2 points, and without having scored a touchdown. Would it be enough to convince poll voters, in case Miami hung on to beat Nebraska?

The Orange Bowl also came down to the last minute. Davis missed a field goal that would have iced it for the 'Canes. Gill drove the 'Huskers down, and Smith broke off a 24-yard run, scoring with 48 seconds left. It was Miami 31, Nebraska 30.

Going for one, and a 31-31 tie, presuming Nebraska's defense could hold Miami for the last 48 seconds, would have left Nebraska at 12-0-1, and almost certainly gained them the National Championship. Going for two, and a 32-31 win, would not only guarantee the 13-0 Cornhuskers the National Championship, but perhaps certify them as the greatest college football team of all time, especially since they could, in this scenario, add to their resume, "Their last test was their greatest, and they passed it." But fail on the conversion, and there would be no title, and the poll voters would have to choose between Miami and Auburn.

There was a principle at hand: If you can't gain 3 yards on 1 play to win 1 game, you don't deserve to win the National Championship.

There was also a memory to contend with: That of the 1966 "Game of the Century" between Notre Dame and Michigan State. As Notre Dame head coach, Ara Parseghian went for a tie, knowing it wouldn't cost him the National Championship, whereas a loss would have. But, in the ensuing 17 years, the words had been spoken many times: "Parseghian had no guts."

Osborne was not going to be accused of having no guts. He knew that, for all Parseghian had achieved, that 10-10 tie was the thing for which he was most remembered. "We were trying to win the game," Osborne said at the time. "I don't think you go for a tie in that case. You try to win the game. We wanted an undefeated season and a clear-cut National Championship."

Clear-cut. Because Americans hate ties. Long ago, though the identity of the coach who first said it depends on who's telling the story, a coach lost a game on a 1-yard run attempt rather than kick a tying field goal, and explained to the reporters, "A tie is like kissing your sister."

It's not like in European soccer, where a win is worth 3 points to your team in the league standings (or "table"), and a tie (or "draw") is worth 1 point. A tie that gave Nebraska the 1983 National Championship would have satisfied very few people -- outside the State of Nebraska, anyway. Americans hate ties, to the point that the NHL no longer has them. Sure, with a tie, Nebraska would still have been National Champions. But any pretense to "Greatest Team Ever" status would have been gone.

The ball was placed on Miami's 3-yard line. Once again, Gill rolled to his right, and looked for Smith. But Smith was double-covered, and Miami's Kenny Calhoun knocked the pass away. It was still Miami 31, Nebraska 30. Nebraska kicked off, and Miami ran out the clock, and won the game.

When the Associated Press and United Press International released their polls the next day, they both awarded Miami the National Championship. The AP (the sportswriters) gave 11-1 Miami 47 1/2 1st-place votes, 11-1 Auburn 7, and 12-1 Nebraska 4 1/2. UPI (the coaches) gave Miami 30, Nebraska 6, and Auburn 4.

Auburn won a major bowl game. They won the Sugar Bowl, the 2nd-best thing an SEC team could do in those pre-Playoff days, behind winning the National Championship. And they were ranked Number 3, and the teams ranked Number 1 and Number 2 had both lost. But their performance in that game was so weak, both polls put them behind Miami, and UPI also put them behind a defeated Nebraska.

This would begin a run for Miami of 12 seasons in which they were, effectively, in 6 National Championship Games, winning 4 of them (in the seasons of 1983, 1987, 1989 and 1991). They would win another in 2001, and come very close in 2000 and 2002.

Schnellenberger wouldn't be there for any more of it. After 1 more season, he left Coral Gables to become head coach at the University of Louisville, in the city where he grew up. He built them into a powerhouse, winning a Fiesta Bowl over Alabama, and later returned to the Miami area as head coach at Florida Atlantic University.

The '84 Orange Bowl would haunt Nebraska. They lost the Orange Bowl to Miami again in 1988 (thus blowing a shot at the title and letting Miami win it), and lost it to Florida State in 1994 (again blowing the title to a team from Florida).

Finally, on January 1, 1995, they again went to the Orange Bowl, again played Miami, and beat them 24-17, to win the 1994 National Championship, finally getting the monkey off Osborne's back. They would win the National Championship again in 1995, and share the 1997 title with Michigan, the last "split poll" title. That 1995 team is considered by some to be what the 1983 team should have been: The greatest team in college football history.