The Associated Press
Miami and Nebraska have played 10 times in football, with each team winning five games. The last five meetings have been in bowl games, and four decided national championships. Here’s what happened:
1984 Orange Bowl — Miami 31, Nebraska 30. No. 1 Nebraska showed up as a 10 ½-point favorite. No. 5 Miami was in its first bowl in 33 years. Freshman QB Bernie Kosar got the Hurricanes out to a quick 17-0 lead. The Cornhuskers rallied to tie it, fell behind again by two touchdowns and then pulled to 31-30 with 48 seconds left. Nebraska coach Tom Osborne, in a career-defining decision, went for the 2-point conversion and the win. Miami’s Ken Calhoun batted away Turner Gill’s pass for Jeff Smith, and the Hurricanes won the first of their five national titles.
1989 Orange Bowl — Miami 23, Nebraska 3. The No. 2 Hurricanes overwhelmed No. 6 Nebraska, but Notre Dame beat West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl earlier in the day and ended up as national champion by virtue of its one-point, regular-season win over Miami. Steve Walsh threw two touchdown passes, and the Hurricanes’ limited Nebraska to 80 yards rushing.
1992 Orange Bowl — Miami 22, Nebraska 0. Gino Torretta led the top-ranked Hurricanes to scores on their first three possessions, and they won their fourth AP national title in nine years. Washington was the coaches’ choice. No. 11 Nebraska clearly was overmatched, going to the Orange Bowl only because it was the Big Eight champion. The Huskers were shut out for the first time in 221 games.
1995 Orange Bowl — Nebraska 24, Miami 17. Osborne won the first of his three national titles in four years after Cory Schlesinger’s touchdown runs of 15 and 14 yards let the No. 1 Huskers overcome a 17-9 fourth-quarter deficit against the No. 3 Hurricanes. QB Tommie Frazier started after having not played in more than three months because of blood clots. Brook Berringer took over after Nebraska fell behind 10-0 early, but Frazier returned in the fourth quarter to lead the tying and winning drives.
2002 Rose Bowl — Miami 37, Nebraska 14. The top-ranked Hurricanes opened a 34-point lead in the first half against a No. 4 Nebraska team that, according to most observers, didn’t deserve to be in the BCS title game coming off a 62-36 loss to Colorado. Ken Dorsey shredded the Huskers’ secondary, and Miami held an offense led by Heisman Trophy winner Eric Crouch to 259 yards. Miami won its fifth national title, and third at the expense of the Huskers.
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