1984 Orange Bowl National Championship

Golden Game for Hurricanes

Miami, Fla. 31
Nebraska 30

January 2, 1984
Orange Bowl Stadium

In arguably the greatest college football bowl game ever played, Miami won its first national championship, 31-30, after Nebraska missed a two-point conversion attempt in the 50th anniversary Orange Bowl Classic.

The Huskers had pulled within one with 48 seconds to play, but Miami strong safety Ken Calhoun stepped in front of a Turner Gill attempted two-point conversion pass to preserve the win. Coming into the game, the 11-0 top-ranked Huskers were the favorites, but they quickly found themselves on the short end of a 17-0 score after UM freshman quarterback Bernie Kosar, who passed for 300-yards threw two touchdowns to his tight end Glenn Dennison.

The first Husker points came on a second period Dean Steinkuhler's controversial 19-yard "fumblerooskie" play. Gill took the snap from center and dropped the ball on the ground, an intentional fumble. The offensive line went to the right except for Steinkuhler, who pulled to his left, picked up the ball and rambled around left end for the score. The Huskers added a 1-yard Gill run to close the gap to 17-14.

A Nebraska field goal tied it at 17 in the third, but Alonzo Highsmith and Albert Bentley scored touchdowns at the end of long Kosar-led drives. Nebraska responded at the close of the third with a Jeff Smith 1-yard run and, after UM missed a field goal in the fourth, Smith ran it in from the 24 with :48 on the clock. Then, the Nebraska comeback hopes were dashed when the conversion pass was batted away.

Category:

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• hurricanes
• nebraska
• cornhuskers
• orange
• bowl
• national
• championship
• bernie
• kosar
• fumblerooski
• turner
• gill
• tom
• osborne
• howard
• schnellenberger
• stadium
• college
• football
• bcs
• alonzo
• highsmith
• irving
• fryar
• classic
• 50th
• anniversary

[joeu5431]

I can't wait 4 the neb.-Tex. Game prove that the huskers r the new texas GO HUSKERS

[jdk61583]

the funny thing is that byu won the national championship that year