National Championships
The University of Miami has captured 21 national team championships and numerous individual national titles.
Football (5 Championships)
1983, 1987, 1989, 1991, 2001
The Miracle in Miami – The 1983 National Championship
Less than a decade removed from a period of uncertainty in which there was open talk of dropping the football program, the University of Miami Hurricanes stunned the college football world by defeating the top-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers, 31-30, in the 1984 Orange Bowl Classic on January 1, 1984.
The victory was monumental — for UM football and for college football in general. It was monumental not only because the Cornhuskers were widely considered to be among the most powerful teams in college football history, but it also heralded the dawn of a new dynasty in the sport from a program that had been all but dead just a few short years earlier. That victory — combined with losses by second-ranked Texas in the Cotton Bowl and Illinois in the Rose Bowl — vaulted the Hurricanes into the top spot in the final national rankings.
This was the first national title team without a single player making an All-America first team voted by AP, UPI, the Football Writers Association or the College Football Coaches Association.
One of the keys was a melting pot offensive line — a Canadian (center Ian Sinclair), a Cuban-American (guard Juan Comendeiro), an African-American (guard Alvin Ward), an Italian-American (tackle Paul Bertucelli) and an Irish-American (tackle Dave Heffernan).
Miami was only the second national title team to gain more passing yards than rushing yards.
“It’s a tribute to a lot of gutty players and a real team effort,” head coach Howard Schnellenberger said. “We’ve got a lot of overachievers on our team — or else there has been a poor job of selection done by the All-American selectors.”
Dominance From Start to Finish – The 1987 National Championship
The Hurricanes were supposed to be rebuilding. Reloading was more accurate. This Miami team was supposed be the lull before the storm of 1988 and 1989. After all, the Hurricanes had lost five starters on offense from a team that had come within a whisper of a national title in 1985 and a 1986 squad that was considered among the best ever, only to lose its title shot in the Fiesta Bowl.
But this team was more offensively balanced than the previous season’s juggernaut and, with nine starters returning to an underrated defense, the Hurricanes were a more well-rounded team altogether. Ranked 10th in the preseason Associated Press rankings, this team quickly showed it would be better than advertised.
Miami ripped rival Florida in the season opener, then embarrassed Arkansas on the Razorbacks’ home field. The season’s third game was a classic. Being dominated by fourth-ranked Florida State, 19-3, late in the third quarter, Miami launched one of its greatest comebacks. The Hurricanes scored three lightning-quick touchdowns: a 49-yard bomb from Steve Walsh to Melvin Bratton, a 26-yarder from Walsh to Michael Irvin (plus a two-point conversion to tie it at 19), then a 73-yard strike from Walsh to Irvin for the lead with 2:22 remaining. Miami would have to stop an FSU two-pointer to hold for a 26-25 victory.
There seemed to be no stopping these Hurricanes after that. Miami rolled through the remainder of the regular season, ripping 10th-ranked Notre Dame (24-0) and surviving a scare from eighth-ranked South Carolina (20-16) to set up a matchup with top-ranked Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl Classic on New Year’s Day.
The Hurricanes bottled up OU’s wishbone attack, holding the Sooners to just 179 yards on the ground (OU came in averaging 428.8). Elation for Miami was frustration for OU — the Sooners
only three losses over the last three seasons had come to the Hurricanes.
“We played our way to this championship. We have the best record versus anybody in the country . . . We beat Oklahoma three in a row, Florida State and Notre Dame three in a row, Florida a couple . . . What is sweetest is that we did it as a team. We lost starters and had other guys come in and played magnificently.”
– Jimmy Johnson, head coach
Two Ericksons and a Tenacious ‘D’ – The 1989 National Championship
By the time head coach Dennis Erickson arrived in Coral Gables to take over the UM football program prior to the 1989 season, Miami football had established itself as the “Team of the ‘80s”. With a new coaching staff in place, Miami switched to a one-back offense, but the Hurricanes remained in their trademark 4-3 defense and had the talent on both sides of the ball to maintain their level of excellence. Twelve starters returned, but the loss of quarterback Steve Walsh, running back Cleveland Gary, linebacker Randy Shannon and cornerback Bubba McDowell would be felt. Nonetheless, the Hurricanes reloaded and ran off six victories to start the season.
Quarterback Craig Erickson was lost for three games in the middle of the season — including a 24-10 loss at Florida State — before returning and leading the Hurricanes on an impressive stretch run.
Miami’s defense didn’t allow a touchdown for one 10-quarter stretch during the regular season, held six opponents without a touchdown and allowed just 9.3 points per game. Miami rebounded from the FSU loss to whip their remaining opponents by an average margin of 18 points, including a 27-10 trouncing of defending national champion and top-ranked Notre Dame (27-10), ending the Irish’s 23-game win streak (the seventh season in a row in which UM had defeated a No. 1-ranked team). That victory clinched a Sugar Bowl berth against seventh-ranked Alabama. Miami dispatched Alabama by a deceptively close 33-25 score in New Orleans and moved into the top spot of the rankings when Notre Dame knocked off top-ranked Colorado in the Orange Bowl, giving the Hurricanes their third national title in seven seasons.