Vinnie Testaverde helped create the Miami Hurricanes swagger with Heisman Trophy
When Vinnie Testaverde took over at quarterback from Bernie Kosar for the 1985 football season, the Miami Hurricanes were two years removed from their first National Championship. Testaverde’s Heisman Trophy would help create the U’s swagger.
Entering Jimmy Johnson’s second season, the Miami Hurricanes were coming off of an 1984 8-5 season. Kosar set the school record that still stands today with 3,642 passing yards in a season. Brad Kaaya got within 110 yards of the record in 2016. In his first season as Miami’s quarterback, Vinnie Testaverde finished fifth in 1985 Heisman Trophy voting.
Testaverde took over a deep and talented offense that became the beginning of the core of the swagger era of Miami football during the 1980s. Testaverde shined and helped Michael Irvin set a Freshman receiving record with 840 yards. That stood until 2016 when current Hurricane Ahmmon Richards broke the record.
The Hurricanes opened the season with a loss to Florida just like the 1983 National Championship team did. Miami bounced back and a midseason win over Oklahoma set the stage for the rest of the 1980s. It was the Sooners only loss in a National Championship season.
Miami finished the 1985 season 10-2 after a blowout loss in the Sugar Bowl to Tennessee. That set the stage for Testaverde’s 1986 Heisman Trophy season.
The loss to Florida in the opening game of 1985 was Miami’s only regular-season loss until 1988. The Hurricanes opened the 1986 regular season with wins at South Carolina and number 13 Florida.
The win avenged losses to the Gators in two of the previous three seasons. Both of those games were at the Orange Bowl. Miami added a win over Texas Tech in the home opener before number one Oklahoma came to the Orange Bowl to face number two Miami. That might be the game that invented the Miami swagger.
With much of the hype surrounding Sooners linebacker Brian Bosworth, the Hurricanes proved they had their own swagger too. Even the opening coin toss was legendary. Add to the hype that the game was in the Orange Bowl where both teams had combined to win two of the previous three National Championships.
Testaverde made his statement by completing 21 of 28 passes for 261 yards and four touchdowns. Two of those touchdowns went to Irvin.
Miami finished the 1986 regular season 11-0. They outscored teams by an average of 35.8 to 12.5. Their offense was third in the nation in scoring and their defense fourth.
Testaverde finished the season with 2,557 yards passing, 26 touchdowns and nine interceptions with a 63.4 percent completion percentage. He had Irvin, Brett Perriman and utilizing his running backs in the passing game.
The Miami Hurricanes would end the season with a puzzling 14-7 loss to Penn State in the Fiesta Bowl. In two Bowl games, Testaverde was only able to lead the offense to 14 points combined. He threw five interceptions in the loss to the Nittany Lions.
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Although he was the only starting quarterback between 1983-91 to not win a National Championship, Testaverde helped create the Miami mystique. The Hurricanes never lost a regular season game with him under center.