this week in college football history... #4 Notre Dame 31, #1 Miami, 30

DerekJohnson

DerekJohnson

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Oct. 15, 1988
No. 4 Notre Dame def. No. 1 Miami (Fla.), 31-30
South Bend, Ind.

No. 4 Notre Dame and top-ranked and defending national champion Miami (Fla.) headed into the game with perfect records in 1988 under Hall of Fame coaches Lou Holtz (William & Mary, North Carolina State, Arkansas, Minnesota, Notre Dame, South Carolina) and Jimmy Johnson (Oklahoma State, Miami (Fla.)). The game was closely contested, with the teams trading scores and the lead. A Miami touchdown with 45 seconds remaining put the Hurricanes down by one, and Johnson opted to go for the win with a two-point conversion. However, the two-point pass was knocked down, giving Notre Dame a one-point victory and snapping Miami’s 37-regular season game win streak. The Hurricanes went 11-1 on the season, earning a 23-3 Orange Bowl victory over No. 6 Nebraska and HOF coach Tom Osborne. The Fighting Irish won the national title with a 12-0 mark and a 34-21 win against West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl.
 
Oct. 15, 1988
No. 4 Notre Dame def. No. 1 Miami (Fla.), 31-30
South Bend, Ind.

No. 4 Notre Dame and top-ranked and defending national champion Miami (Fla.) headed into the game with perfect records in 1988 under Hall of Fame coaches Lou Holtz (William & Mary, North Carolina State, Arkansas, Minnesota, Notre Dame, South Carolina) and Jimmy Johnson (Oklahoma State, Miami (Fla.)). The game was closely contested, with the teams trading scores and the lead. A Miami touchdown with 45 seconds remaining put the Hurricanes down by one, and Johnson opted to go for the win with a two-point conversion. However, the two-point pass was knocked down, giving Notre Dame a one-point victory and snapping Miami’s 37-regular season game win streak. The Hurricanes went 11-1 on the season, earning a 23-3 Orange Bowl victory over No. 6 Nebraska and HOF coach Tom Osborne. The Fighting Irish won the national title with a 12-0 mark and a 34-21 win against West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl.
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Miami was the better team and would have beaten them in a re-match. Playoff exists back then, and the Canes run with one one in 88. Then again, they may not have won it in 91, so it's a wash. I also think there is no team in the country, including Washington, who would have beaten them at the end of the 1990 season. What they did to a pretty good Tejas team in the Cotton, while spotting them 220+ yards, yes 220+, in personal foul penalties, is fucking legendary and should be illegal.

In that 88 game, Notre Dame got a huge fucking break on a blown fumble call with Miami about to score. Even an official admitted.
http://articles.latimes.com/1988-10-18/sports/sp-4651_1_notre-dame

One of the worst calls I can remember, but fuck, who cares? One of the things I always liked about Jimmy. The guy knew how to move on. Miami destroyed Notre Dame in humiliating fashion at home during the rest of that series.

It's funny. Johnson is one of those guys like Richard Nixon or Jimmy Carter. People fucking HATED him when he was doing his thing, but over time he has become revered in his profession and his public image bears almost no connection to the way he was perceived as the Miami coach. That fucker was a FUCKING GENIUS when it came to finding talent in the raw. The list of legendary Miami players who were not on anyone's radar is too long to list, but includes Russell Maryland, Cortez Kennedy and Steve Walsh. Nobody wanted them, but Jimmy could see it. Guy is terribly underrated on that score.
 
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Miami after the 1990 Cotton Bowl:
DzZH8.gif

 
I liked how on 30 for 30 they talked about that call and Jimmy showed that play to his team. Instead of crying about it like Sark would do he simply said "This is why you don't let games come down to officiating".
 
Miami after the 1990 Cotton Bowl:
DzZH8.gif
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I'm slow. explain.
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1991 Cotton Bowl Classic
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1991 Mobil Cotton Bowl Classic
Bowl Game
Texas Longhorns Miami Hurricanes
(10–1) (9–2)
3 46
Head coach:
David McWilliams Head coach:
Dennis Erickson
AP Coaches
3 3
AP Coaches
4 4
1 2 3 4 Total
Texas 0 3 0 0 3
Miami 12 7 14 13 46
Date January 1, 1991
Season 1990
Stadium Cotton Bowl
Location Dallas, Texas
MVP Craig Erickson, QB, Miami (FL)
Russell Maryland, DT, Miami (FL)
Referee Jimmy Harper (Southeastern Conference)
Attendance 73,521
United States TV coverage
Network CBS
Announcers: Jim Nantz (play-by-play), Tim Brant, Andrea Joyce (host), Mike Francesa (host)
Cotton Bowl Classic
< 1990 1992 >
The 1991 Mobil Cotton Bowl Classic was a post-season college football game played on January 1, 1991. It pitted the #3 Texas Longhorns, champions of the SWC conference, against the independent #5 Miami Hurricanes. A highly-anticipated matchup, however, soon turned into a blowout as Miami crushed Texas, 46–3. The game was filled with record numbers of penalties, as Miami was flagged 16 times for 202 yards, compared to 68 total penalty yards for Texas. Miami's 43-point margin of victory also set record, as did Craig Erickson's four touchdown passes.
The Miami Hurricanes opened the season as defending national champions. However, they endured a shocking road loss to Brigham Young, 28–21. The Hurricanes would win their next 4 games, before another loss to Notre Dame (29-20) knocked them out of contention for the national championship. The Hurricanes ended with a 9-2 record to receive an invitation to the Cotton Bowl Classic.
The Texas Longhorns had a 5-6 record in their previous season, and had not made a bowl game since 1987. They began the season ranked #23. After a 29-22 loss to Colorado dropped them out of the rankings, the Longhorns would go on to the famed "Shock the Nation" tour, winning their next 9 games - including wins against #4 Oklahoma (14–13) and #3 Houston (45–24) - to capture the SWC Championship and a pregame #3 ranking.
The win was a continuation of Miami's rise to dominance. After finishing the season #3, they would go on to be named AP National Champions the following year. Meanwhile, Texas would not reach another bowl game under David McWilliams.
Scoring summary[edit]

First Quarter
8:53 UM - Carlos Huerta 28-yd field goal; Drive: 8 plays, 4 yards
5:26 UM - Huerta 50-yd field goal; Drive: 5 plays, 16 yards
0:11 UM - Wesley Carroll 12-yd pass from Craig Erickson (Erickson pass failed); Drive: 2 plays, 9 yards
Second Quarter
7:43 UT - Michael Pollak 29-yd field goal; Drive: 9 plays, 46 yards
4:17 UM - Carroll 24-yd pass from Erickson (Huerta kick); Drive: 2 plays, 21 yards
Third Quarter
11:46 UM - Darrin Smith 34-yd interception return (Huerta kick)
6:09 UM - Randal Hill 48-yd pass from Erickson (Huerta kick); Drive: 3 plays, 63 yards
Fourth Quarter
10:56 UM - Randy Bethel 4-yd pass from Erickson (Huerta kick blocked); Drive: 12 plays, 77 yards
9:23 UM - Leonard Conley 26-yd run (Huerta kick); Drive: 3 plays, 26 yards
External links[edit]

1991 Cotton Bowl Recap: Texas 3, Miami 46
ESPN 30 for 30: The U at IMDB has quite a bit of content about this game from the Miami players' perspective.
 
The 88 ND/Miami game had IMO the greatest pre-game speech ever. If you're a fan of CFB you should watch this:

Rocket's description gave me chills.

edit: god I wish we would do something like that pregame fight against Oregon. These guys have never been punched in the mouth.
 
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Bill... Miami players committed more personal fouls in that game than a Dennis Erickson OSU team. Afterward, the NCAA rewrote the rule book on personal fouls and taunting. Watch the 30 for 30 "The U" for detailed explanation (it's on you tube, type the u 30 for 30 into google search) I can't link it here for some reason. Also,it's HUGELY ENTERTAINING. I watched it in Iraq with a Florida fan and to his chagrin I told him that Miami was now one of my favorite teams. It's 90 minutes of pure awesomeness. If you don't feel like watching the whole thing, just watch the intro.
 
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The 88 ND/Miami game had IMO the greatest pre-game speech ever. If you're a fan of CFB you should watch this:

Rocket's description gave me chills.

edit: god I wish we would do something like that pregame fight against Oregon. These guys have never been punched in the mouth.
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it was a helluva rivalry. those two programs, down to the respective boards of trustees, hated one another with a fucking passion. and you know why? i'll tell ya why. because most of you fucks are too young to remember, but I'm not, that there was a time in the history of this sport when Notre fucking Dame was unfuckingtouchable. their reputation and history was beyond anyone's ability to besmirch. they thought they were somehow beyond getting their asses kicked, and, whether you liked or hated Miami, you had to respect that they didn't give two fucks about their history or anything else anyone thought. same attitude that enabled them to bitch slap some of Oklahoma's greatest teams during that same era. Miami feared no one then, period.

back to the rivalry, in 1987, with Heisman Timmy Brown and Rick Waters, who I always maintained was a Cane player at heart (with his big fucking mouth), went into the orange bowl and were humiliated 24-0. I don't think ND was able to cross the miami 40 yd. line all fucking day. Miami had beaten ND before in 1981 and 1983, but in 1985, they sent Gerry Foust out in humiliating style 50 something to whatever. Coming in the next meeting in 87, they were all talk about revenge and shit and got their asses handed to them again, with Holtz babbling all the way. by the time they met in 1988 in South Bend, the fucking hate was nuclear.

bottom line is that I don't know what Rocket is talking about when he says they figuratively punched the bully in the mouth. the games at South Bend were epic, and they needed help to win one of them, and they got their asses busted in Miami.

it was a fun rivalry. you could tell a lot about a person based on who they liked in those games.

Notre Dame punked out in preference for another military academy game or something.

I'm glad they've picked it back up again, though of course it's not at all the same as it was.
 
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Bill... Miami players committed more personal fouls in that game than a Dennis Erickson OSU team. Afterward, the NCAA rewrote the rule book on personal fouls and taunting. Watch the 30 for 30 "The U" for detailed explanation (it's on you tube, type the u 30 for 30 into google search) I can't link it here for some reason. Also,it's HUGELY ENTERTAINING. I watched it in Iraq with a Florida fan and to his chagrin I told him that Miami was now one of my favorite teams. It's 90 minutes of pure awesomeness. If you don't feel like watching the whole thing, just watch the intro.
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Yeah, I remember seeing parts of the game, and Jim Nantz (or some announcer) calling Miami an embarrassment. Even though I was a kid it seemed beyond stupid to get that many penalties ( not that it mattered in that particular game).

That 30 for 30 was good too.
 
Growing up I didn't like Miami, however that 30 for 30 changed my mindset on them.

I think now if a Miami were to come out I'd probably like them. Although Oregon this decade is the closest thing to Miami with the flashy ways, non "classy" fans, coming out of nowhere, everyone waiting for them to fall off but never did.

Only difference is Miami won a couple of national titles with one loss while out west it's kind of hard to do.
 
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