CFP National Championship: Miami Hurricanes’s rich title history

The No. 10 Miami Hurricanes will have a date with destiny on Monday when squaring off with the No. 1 Indiana Hoosiers in the College Football Playoff National Championship. A victory would clinch the program’s sixth national title and if they were to pull it off, it’d be fitting for it to happen in their home venue of Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens.

It’s been nearly a quarter-century since the “U” has stood atop the sport and that seems insane considering how dominant the program was in the two decades prior. Heck, it’s been so long since the Hurricanes ruled the sport that the fabled 30 for 30 documentary “The U” first aired on ESPN just over 16 years ago. That means it’s as perfect of a time as ever to take a trip down memory lane and look back at Miami’s five national titles ahead of Monday’s title game.

1983

Howard Schnellenberger arrived to Miami in 1979, taking over a struggling program that university officials had considered dropping altogether just a few years prior. Combining the coaching tactics he learned under Bear Bryant and Don Shula with a recruiting blueprint of keeping South Florida’s best prospects home, he spent four years building the Hurricanes up before finally bursting through the glass ceiling in 1983.

Stumbling out the gate with a 28-3 loss to Florida to open the season, the ‘Canes proceeded to rattle off 10 straight victories to secure the program’s very first double-digit win season and a spot in the 1984 Orange Bowl against No. 1 Nebraska, who occupied the top spot in the polls all year long and carried a 22-game win streak into the matchup. The No. 5 Hurricanes jumped out to a 31-17 lead heading into the fourth quarter, only for the powerful Cornhuskers to storm back to pull to within one in the final minute. In one of the more consequential decisions in the history of the sport, Nebraska head coach Tom Osborne decided to go for two and the win instead of kicking the extra point for the tie (overtime wasn’t introduced until 1996). Turner Gill’s pass to Jeff Smith was broken up by Miami’s Kenny Calhoun, securing Miami its first Orange Bowl victory since 1946.

With No. 2 Texas losing in the Cotton Bowl and No. 4 Illinois getting crushed in the Rose Bowl, both AP voters and coaches vaulted the Hurricanes up to No. 1 following the upset to secure the program’s first national title. There is dispute over this as No. 3 Auburn got jumped by Miami despite facing a tougher schedule and finishing with an identical 11-1 mark (Auburn has since claimed a national title for 1983). Nevertheless, this massive Orange Bowl win proved to be the official arrival of the “U” on the national stage.

1987

Jimmy Johnson took over for a departing Schnellenberger in 1984 and continued the program’s trajectory as the most dominant force in the entire sport. With stars like Michael Irvin, Steve Walsh, Bennie Blades, and Daniel Stubbs leading the way, Miami bulldozed its way through the 1987 regular season for a perfect 11-0 mark, setting up a showdown with fellow unbeaten Oklahoma in the 1988 Orange Bowl. A 23-yard Irvin touchdown put them up 17-7 in the third quarter and they’d hang on for a 20-14 victory to claim their second national title in five years.

1989

Dennis Erickson took over for a departing Jimmy Johnson in 1989 and kept the train rolling for Miami. A mid-season loss at rival Florida State was the U’s only misstep that year as the Cortez Kennedy-led defense held opponents to 10 points or less eight different times. One of those instances was a 27-10 victory over No. 1 Notre Dame to close the regular season, vaulting them up to No. 2 in time for their showdown against No. 7 Alabama in the 1990 Sugar Bowl. They never trailed in an eventual 33-25 victory in the Superdome and with Notre Dame knocking off No. 1 Colorado in the Orange Bowl, the Hurricanes laid claim to their third national title of the decade.

1991

After stumbling twice the year prior, Erickson’s 1991 Miami team ripped right through its schedule in dominant fashion with its average margin of victory being 23.8 points per game. That ‘Canes capped their perfect 12-0 season with a 22-0 shutout of Nebraska in the 1992 Orange Bowl, putting national title No. 4 on the board for the program. Well at least according to AP voters, as the coaches voted 12-0 Washington as their national champ. This season also saw the emergence of quarterback Gino Torretta, who’d go on to win the Heisman Trophy the following year.

2001

The program was mired by scandals and NCAA sanctions in the mid-1990’s, forcing new head coach Butch Davis to clean up the mess for the rest of the decade. Davis proved to be arguably the best recruiter in Miami history and after a few solid nine-win seasons, the Hurricanes stormed back into the national scene with an 11-1 campaign in 2000. Some argued that they should’ve played for the BCS National Championship over a Florida State team that they defeated in the regular season. After downing rival Florida in the Sugar Bowl, Davis left Miami to accept the Cleveland Browns’ head coaching job, leaving behind a loaded roster for offensive coordinator Larry Coker, who had been elevated to head coach following his departure.

And that leads us to the vaunted 2001 Miami Hurricanes, who many still argue being the greatest team in college football history. Seriously, it’s mind boggling to scroll through the roster and see the absurd amount of talent that was on the field as that single team produced 38 future NFL Draft picks, two of whom would go on to become Pro Football Hall of Famers in Andre Johnson and Ed Reed. That team was so loaded that future NFL All-Pro’s like Frank Gore, Sean Taylor, Antrel Rolle, and Vince Wilfork were mere backups being rotated in.

Anyway, the ‘01 Hurricanes leveled opponents all season long with an average scoring margin of 32.9 points per game. That earned a spot in the 2002 Rose Bowl for the BCS National Championship against, you guessed it, No. 4 Nebraska, where they went up 34-0 at halftime and cruised to a 37-14 victory for their fifth and as of now, last national title. The legacy of that team still reverberates to this day. Take it away Billboard charting rap group No Good…