Miami had lost in the national championship game three times, before suffering its latest defeat against Indiana last season. What's more interesting — and weirdly underrated — is what Miami did the very next fall. Let's go to the tape.
1987 Miami Hurricanes
The 1986 Hurricanes might be the most talented team in school history that never won a ring. Testaverde won the Heisman and the roster was filled with names such as Michael Irvin, Alonzo Highsmith, Jerome Brown and Bennie Blades. They rolled into the Fiesta Bowl 11-0 and ranked No. 1. And then they played their worst game in two years as Testaverde threw five interceptions. Miami coughed it up seven times total and despite outgaining Penn State 445 to 162, the Canes lost 14-10.
After the season they lost Testaverde, Highsmith, and Brown to the top nine picks of the NFL draft. So naturally, it looked like Miami was headed for a rebuilding year.
Miami opened the season ranked No. 10, handed the offense to a sophomore named Steve Walsh, and went 12-0. They survived a two-point thriller against Florida State, where Bobby Bowden went for the win and watched the conversion die at the goal line, 26-25. They sweated out South Carolina 20-16 to finish the regular season unbeaten. And then they walked into the Orange Bowl and beat top-ranked Oklahoma 20-14 to win the national championship.
1993 Miami Hurricanes
The 1992 Hurricanes were defending champions riding a 29-game winning streak with another Heisman quarterback, Gino Torretta, under center. They were heavy favorites over Alabama, but then the Crimson Tide defense turned Torretta into a turnover machine (three picks, after he'd thrown four all season). Alabama also ran for 267 yards, and that was enough to win the game 34-13.
Moving into 1993, Miami had to replace Torretta with a Frank Costa and Ryan Collins quarterback rotation. The Canes opened 4-0, then ran into No. 1 Florida State and got handled 28-10. They bounced back with a 49-0 erasure of Syracuse, but then dropped a 17-14 road game at West Virginia. They finished 9-3, second in the Big East, and limped into the Fiesta Bowl, where Arizona shut them out 29-0.
2003 Miami Hurricanes
The 2002 Hurricanes were the defending champs, winners of 34 straight, double-digit favorites over Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl. They were also stacked to a comical degree. But after Ohio State got a new life late in the game, the Buckeyes won in double overtime 31-24.
The 2003 Canes were still loaded with Kellen Winslow II, Sean Taylor, Jonathan Vilma, Vince Wilfork, and a freshman named Devin Hester returning kicks. They beat Florida State on the road, then notched the program's 500th all-time win over West Virginia. For two months, they looked like a team headed straight back to the title game.
But a 31-7 beatdown at Virginia Tech ended Miami's 39-game regular-season winning streak. The very next week, Tennessee walked into the Orange Bowl and won an ugly 10-6 slugfest, snapping a 26-game home winning streak and ending the title dream for good. Miami regrouped, won the Big East, beat Florida State again 16-14 in the Orange Bowl, and finished 11-2 and fifth in the country.
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