Coker Region: #1 2002 Rose Bowl vs. Nebraska
Miami Madness Bracket
Coker Region Winner:
#1 2002 Rose Bowl vs. Nebraska
Path to the Final:
Defeated #16 2017 vs. Georgia Tech; defeated #8 2002 vs. Florida State; defeated #4 2001 vs. Washington; defeated #3 1992 vs. Florida State; defeated #2 2001 Sugar Bowl vs. Florida
Joe Zagacki and Don Bailey, Jr., have shared the Miami Hurricanes’ radio booth together for the past 263 consecutive games – a remarkable stretch that spans the past 18 years.
Oddly enough, the last game they did not occupy the same rafter-level view also serves as one of the greatest days in Hurricanes Football history: January 3, 2002.
Bailey was a sideline reporter for WQAM then, while Zagacki was in his 13th year as color analyst in the booth joined by Marc Vandermeer – now the voice of the Houston Texans.
The next year, Zagacki would become play-by-play voice and Bailey would take on the role of analyst.
“My original thought, looking out from the booth, was, ‘wow. This is the Rose Bowl,’ Zagacki said. “This is the game you watch on NBC on New Year’s Day listening to Curt Gowdy. The setting, to me, was surreal. That’s one of the first things I remember.”
Bailey remembers the depth of both talent and leadership as being two key factors in the Hurricanes’ favor.
“I think the biggest thing that I felt at that time, having seen every Miami national championship prior to that, was that if this was not the greatest, it would be one of the greatest football teams ever assembled by the University of Miami, “Bailey said. “The true depth of talent – I think that’s the thing that people still don’t truly grasp. There was leadership at every position. They were all working together and realized how important this opportunity was.
“They smelled it down the home stretch. They wasted no time.”
Zagacki was equally as confident in the Hurricanes.
“I remember the week leading into the game doing a television hit in Los Angeles for the local FOX affiliate – they had a beautiful set that was set up outside the Rose Bowl,” Zagacki said. “One of the analysts for FOX picked Nebraska to win, and I looked at him and laughed.
“I said, ‘Miami is going to beat Nebraska up and send them back to their mamas crying.’ I don’t know if I was ever as confident of winning a championship game as I was with that one.”
The Hurricanes wasted little time in opening the game’s scoring – a 49-yard touchdown pass from Ken Dorsey to Andre Johnson with 7:15 left in the first quarter.
“They put a corner up on Johnson to try to jam him,” Zagacki recalled. “I think [Johnson] punched him right in the chest and ran down the sideline wide open. I was leaping out of my seat, because you could see it unfold. It was such a beautiful view,
Clinton Portis added a 39-yard rushing touchdown, the Hurricanes got a pick-six from James Lewis and Dorsey added touchdown passes to Shockey and a second one to Johnson to carry a 34-0 lead into halftime.
“Miami had them beat with execution, had them beat with style of play and had them beat with overall talent,” Zagacki said. “It was also a carryover from the year before. Their momentum had been building up.”
To say Bailey knew what was in store early on that night would be an understatement.
“It took me about two plays to realize that offensively, our speed and skill was going to overwhelm Nebraska’s defense. Immediately I realized that, even moreso than other times during the season,” Bailey said. “The defense came out and I realized on that side of the football, that [a national title] was going to happen. It was so impressive that you are going to physically dominate, in really, the biggest game of the year.”
A field goal from Todd Sievers ended an inevitably futile comeback effort from the Cornhuskers, pushing Miami ahead, 37-14, with 10 minutes remaining.
“They had already played their close games,” Zagacki said. “Miami barely beat Virginia Tech and they barely beat Boston College. Along the way, you have close games. But sometimes, the easiest game is the championship game.”
18 years later, that chilly night in Los Angeles and the preceding week at the Rose Bowl still evoke the same level of excitement. The duo and their families woke up at 4 a.m. to attend the Rose Bowl Parade together leading into the game.
“For a guy who played at Miami, beating Florida, beating Florida State, beating Notre Dame…they always hold a special significance,” Bailey said. “It was as great a bowl experience as I ever could have imagined. From the parade to the hotel to being where we were and the stadium…it was just overall, as impressive of a performance and impressive of an experience as I’ve ever had. I’ve never had a better experience.”
Zagacki agreed with his counterpart.
“To think about the University of Miami at the Rose Bowl was still, to me, one of the greatest things,” Zagacki said. ‘The Granddaddy of Them All.’ How in the world would Miami end up in the Rose Bowl? But there we were, playing for a national championship.”
