History Lesson: Miami Hurricanes vs. Nebraska Cornhuskers

Heading into Lincoln, Nebraska for the first time since 1976, The Miami Hurricanes take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Saturday Night at primetime. Once again, I bring to you the famous, rich history between Miami and Nebraska. Miami is 5-5 all time against Nebraska, which remarkably, four of the meetings have been for the National Championships in 1984, 1992,1995, and in 2002. You know very well about those dates of history if you are a Miami Fan.

Here is the list of all the games:

Date:

11/30/1951   – W Miami 19 / Nebraska 7 –  Location: Miami, FL

10/17/1963 –  L Miami 16/ Nebraska 20 – Location: Lincoln, NE

12/15/1962 – L   Miami 34/Nebraska 36 – Location: New York, NY – Gotham Bowl

10/4/1975 – L  Miami 16/ Nebraska 31 – Location: Lincoln, NE

10/2/1976 –  L  Miami 9/Nebraska 17 – Location: Lincoln, NE

The more famous meetings

1/2/1984 – W Miami 31/Nebraska 30 – Location: Miami, FL – Orange Bowl (Miami’s first National Championship

1/2/1989 – W  Miami 23/ Nebraska 3 – Location: Miami, FL – Orange Bowl

1/1/1992 – W Miami 22/ Nebraska 0 – Location: Miami, FL – Orange Bowl  (Miami’s fourth National Championship)

1/1/1995 – L Miami 17/ Nebraska 24 – Location: Miami, FL – Orange Bowl

1/3/2002 -W  Miami 37/Nebraska 14 – Pasadena, CA – Rose Bowl (Miami’s fifth National Championship)

The Top Moments

1984 Orange Bowl 

Miami battles against one of the so called “Best teams of all time” at the time led by running back Mike Rozier (Heisman Trophy winner) and the prolific starting QB Turner Gill. Bernie Kosar and Alonso Highsmith led the Hurricanes offense to long drives and touchdowns throughout the game. With the score 31-17 in Miami’s favor in the fourth quarter, the Cornhuskers make a comeback deep into the game. Nebraska scores with 48 seconds to cut the Miami lead down to 31-30. Tom Osbourne then makes a highly questionable decision, and goes for two and the win. Turner Gill rolls out and evades Miami defenders but his pass falls incomplete to the intended Wide Receiver. Miami wins their FIRST National Championship in program history.

Check out this recap:

1992 Orange Bowl

Nebraska’s triple option offense did not stand a chance against a fast, tenacious Miami defense.The Canes were led by Heisman trophy winner Gino Torretta, wide receiver Kevin Williams and full back Kevin Jones. A defense that had familiar faces such as Michael Barrow, Hurlie Brown and Jessie Armstead, led the Canes to a dominating performance against the Huskers. Miami won their fourth national title that night, and it’ll always be a great memory to all Canes fans.

Check out the highlights thanks to canefreak2001

2002 Rose Bowl 

Notably known as the best team of all time, the Miami Hurricanes took on the Nebraska Cornhuskers in Pasadena, California on the Granddaddy of them all: the Rose Bowl. With intense motivation for being ousted to play for the national championship previous year, the Canes showed early that they’ll be no doubt of who was going to win that game. Ken Dorsey and Andre Johnson won the games most valuable player en route to their 31-14 win and giving the program it’s fifth national championship.

Just to list the type of talent the Canes had all around take a look at the notable names on the roster who have had great careers in the NFL is a prime reason Miami is known as “NFL U”.

QB – Ken Dorsey

FB – Najeh Davenport

RB – Clinton Portis

RB – Willis McGahee

RB – Frank Gore

WR – Kevin Beard

WR – Andre Johnson

TE – Jeremy Shockey

TE – Kellen Winslow Jr.

LT – Brian McKinnie

C – Bret Romberg

RT – Joaquin Gonzalez

DT – William Joseph

DT – Vince Wilfork

DE – Jerome McDougle

OLB – DJ Williams

MLB – Jonathan Vilma

FS – Ed Reed

FS – Sean Taylor

SS – Maurice Sikes

CB – Antrel Rolle

CB – Phillip Buchanon

Another highlight video courtesy of canefreak2001

A New Chapter

The Miami-Nebraska rivalry doesn’t have the same implications that it once had, but it’s still a very important game for both programs trying to establish national relevancy once again. I don’t think this game can live up to the hype of the games of the past, but both these schools will be looking to write a new chapter in this storied franchise.

You can find the game this Saturday on ESPN 2 8:00 p.m ET. Duke Johnson and Denzel Perryman lead the Canes against the potent Nebraska playmakers such as, defensive end Randy Gregory, running back Amer Abdullah, and quarterback Tommy Armstorng Jr.

Also, Miami will be wearing the same color scheme the wore for the 2001 national championship game: Classic white helmet, white jersey, green pants, and black cleats and black socks.