The 1990 Miami Hurricanes football team represented the University of Miami during the 1990 NCAA Division I-A football season . It was the Hurricanes' 65th season of football. The Hurricanes were led by second-year head coach Dennis Erickson and played their home games at the Orange Bowl . Coming off the school's third national championship in six years in 1989, Miami came in to the 1990 season favored by most experts to repeat as national champions. However, a season opening loss to BYU and a later defeat by Notre Dame dashed those chances and the Canes finished the season 10–2 overall. They were invited to the Cotton Bowl where they defeated Texas , 46–3.
Date Time Opponent Rank Site TV Result Attendance September 8 7:30 pm at No. 16 BYU No. 1 ESPN L 21–2866,235
September 15 3:30 pm at California No. 10 ABC W 52–2447,000
September 29 8:00 pm Iowa No. 10 PPV W 48–2170,420
October 6 2:00 pm No. 2 Florida State No. 9 Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL (rivalry ) CBS W 31–2280,396
October 13 4:00 pm Kansas No. 3 Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL Raycom W 34–054,211
October 20 3:30 pm at No. 6 Notre Dame No. 2 CBS L 20–2959,075
October 27 1:00 pm at Texas Tech No. 8 Raycom W 45–1050,028
November 3 4:00 pm Pittsburgh No. 8 Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL W 45–050,412
November 17 4:00 pm Boston College No. 3 Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL W 42–1250,942
November 24 7:30 pm Syracuse No. 2 Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL ESPN W 33–766,196
December 1 4:00 pm at San Diego State No. 3 ESPN W 30–2834,201
1:30 pm vs. No. 3 Texas No. 4 CBS W 46–377,425
1990 Miami Hurricanes football team roster
Players
Coaches
Offense
Defense
Special teams
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
Injured
Redshirt
Roster
Ranking movementsLegend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking ( ) = First-place votes Week Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Final AP 1 (24) 1 (27) 10 9 10 9 3 (6) 2 (15) 8 8 5 3 2 (3) 3 (2) 4 3 (1) Coaches 1 (25) 1 10 8 9 8 4 (4) 2 (7) 9 8 4 3 2 (3) 2 (3) 4 (2) 3 (2)
#1 Miami (FL) at #16 BYU
1
2 3 4 Total
Hurricanes
7
7 7 0
21
• Cougars
0
17 11 0
28
Scoring summary Q1 MIA McGuire 7-yard run (Huerta kick) MIA 7–0
Q2 BYU Bellini 14-yard pass from Detmer (Kaufman kick) Tied 7–7
BYU Kaufman 32-yard field goal BYU 10–7
MIA McGuire 7-yard run (Huerta kick) MIA 14–10
BYU Boyce 2-yard pass from Detmer (Kaufman kick) BYU 17–14
Q3 MIA Conley 5-yard run (Huerta kick) MIA 21–17
BYU Kaufman 29-yard field goal MIA 21–20
BYU Salido 7-yard pass from Detmer (Detmer to Boyce pass) BYU 28–21
#10 Miami (FL) at California
1
2 3 4 Total
• Hurricanes
10
21 0 21
52
Golden Bears
14
7 0 3
24
Scoring summary Q1 MIA Huerta 22 yard field goal MIA 3–0
Q1 CAL White 99 yard kickoff return (Keen kick) CAL 7–3
Q1 MIA Carroll 20 yard pass from Erickson (Huerta kick) MIA 10–7
Q1 CAL White 1 yard run (Keen kick) CAL 14–10
Q2 MIA Bethel 7 yard pass from Erickson (Huerta kick) MIA 17–14
Q2 CAL Treggs 13 yard pass from Pawlawski (Keen kick) CAL 21–17
Q2 MIA Erickson 1 yard run (Huerta kick) MIA 24–21
Q2 MIA Hill 4 yard pass from Erickson (Huerta kick) MIA 31–21
Q4 CAL Keen 25 yard field goal MIA 31–24
Q4 MIA McGuire 1 yard run (Huerta kick) MIA 38–24
Q4 MIA Conley 7 yard pass from Erickson (Huerta kick) MIA 45–24
Q4 MIA Spencer 38 yard run (Huerta kick) MIA 52–24
[ 1]
Iowa at #10 Miami
1
2 3 4 Total
Hawkeyes
0
14 7 0
21
• Hurricanes
14
10 7 17
48
Scoring summary 1 4:14 UM McGuire 1-yard run (Huerta kick) MIA 7–0
1 UM Wesley Carroll 73-yard pass from Craig Erickson (Huerta kick) MIA 14–0
2 13:42 IOWA Nick Bell 3-yard run (Skillett kick) MIA 14–7
2 UM Darryl Spencer 40-yard pass from Craig Erickson (Huerta kick) MIA 21–7
2 IOWA Nick Bell 53-yard pass from Matt Rodgers (Skillett kick) MIA 21–14
2 UM Huerta field goal MIA 24–14
3 8:29 IOWA Sean Smith 35-yard pass from Matt Rodgers (Skillett kick) MIA 24–21
3 UM McGuire 6-yard run (Huerta kick) MIA 31–21
4 14:04 UM Wesley Carroll 16-yard pass from Craig Erickson (Huerta kick) MIA 38–21
4 UM Huerta 36-yard field goal MIA 41–21
4 UM Ryan McNeil 75-yard fumble return (Huerta kick) MIA 48–21
[ 2]
#2 Florida State at #9 Miami (FL)
1
2 3 4 Total
Seminoles
0
6 3 13
22
• Hurricanes
10
14 0 7
31
#2 Miami (FL) at #6 Notre Dame
1
2 3 4 Total
Hurricanes
10
7 0 3
20
• Fighting Irish
10
6 6 7
29
Scoring summary Q1 12:17 MIA McGuire 1-yard run (Huerta kick) MIA 7–0
6:51 ND Hentrich-25 yard field goal MIA 7–3
1:43 MIA Huerta 23-yard field goal MIA 10–3
ND Ismail 94-yard kickoff return (Hentrich kick) Tie 10–10
Q2 11:48 ND Hentrich-44 yard field goal ND 13–10
8:10 MIA Erickson-1 yard run (Huerta kick) MIA 17–13
4:16 ND Hentrich-34 yard field goal MIA 17–16
Q3 5:24 ND Hentrich-36 yard field goal ND 19–17
1:45 ND Hentrich 35-yard field goal ND 22–17
Q4 14:01 MIA Huerta 25-yard field goal ND 22–20
6:16 ND Culver 21-yard pass from Mirer (Hentrich kick) ND 29–20
Game information
MIA – Carroll 55-yard pass from Erickson (Huerta kick)
SDS – Trakas 25-yard field goal
SDS – R. Rowe 3-yard pass from McGwire (Trakas kick)
MIA – Huerta 44-yard field goal
MIA – McGuire 5-yard run (Huerta kick)
SDS – Trakas 43-yard field goal
MIA – Huerta 29-yard field goal
SDS – Wright 9-yard run (Trakas kick)
MIA – Hill 11-yard pass from Erickson (Huerta kick)
MIA – Huerta 22-yard field goal
SDS – Arey 13-yard pass from McGwire (pass good)
Top passers
MIA – Erickson 17/39, 264 Yds, 2 TD, INT
SDS – McGwire 32/53, 323 Yds, 2 TD, INT
Top rushers
MIA – McGuire 19/30, TD
SDS – Wright 22/112, TD
Top receivers
MIA – Hill 6/112, TD
SDS – R. Rowe 9/102, TD
[ 3]
Cotton Bowl Classic: #4 Miami (FL) Hurricanes vs. #3 Texas Longhorns
Quarter
1
2
3 4 Total
Miami (FL)
12
7
14 13 46
Texas
0
3
0 0 3
at Cotton Bowl • Dallas, Texas
Scoring summary
Quarter
Time
Drive
Team
Scoring information
Score
Plays
Yards
TOP
MIA
TEX
1
8:53
Miami (FL)
28-yard field goal by Huerta
3
0
1
5:26
Miami (FL)
50-yard field goal by Huerta
6
0
1
0:11
Miami (FL)
Carroll 12-yard touchdown reception from Erickson , 2-point pass failed
12
0
2
7:43
Texas
29-yard field goal by Pollak
12
3
2
4:17
Miami (FL)
Carroll 24-yard touchdown reception from Erickson, Huerta kick good
19
3
3
11:46
Miami (FL)
Interception returned 34 yards for touchdown by D. Smith , Huerta kick good
26
3
3
6:09
Miami (FL)
Hill 48-yard touchdown reception from Erickson, Huerta kick good
33
3
4
10:56
Miami (FL)
Bethel 4-yard touchdown reception from Erickson, Huerta kick no good (blocked)
39
3
4
9:23
Miami (FL)
Conley 26-yard touchdown run, Huerta kick good
46
3
"TOP" = time of possession . For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football .
46
3
Jack Harding University of Miami MVP Award
edit
^ Gainesville Sun. 1990 Sep 16. Retrieved 2018-Oct-06.
^ "Miami Takes Charge in Second Half Against Iowa, 48-21" . Los Angeles Times . September 30, 1990. Retrieved August 24, 2019 .
^ Gainesville Sun. 1990 Dec 02. Retrieved 2019-Nov-17.
^ Rhoden, William C. (January 2, 1991). "Ferocious Miami Cuts Texas Down to Size" . The New York Times . Retrieved December 30, 2018 .
^ "NO. 4 MIAMI 43 POINTS BETTER THAN NO. 3 TEXAS" . The Washington Post . January 2, 1991. Retrieved December 30, 2018 .
^ "Miami shows Texas what intimidation is" . The Baltimore Sun . January 2, 1991. Retrieved December 30, 2018 .
^ "NCAA College Football Awards - ESPN" . ESPN.com .
^ "Do You Know Which Team Has the Most College Football Championships?" . LiveAbout . Retrieved December 9, 2021 .
^ "History: Jack Harding MVP Award" . Hurricanes Sports Properties. Retrieved July 7, 2012 . [permanent dead link ]
^ "1991 NFL Draft" . pro-football-reference.com . Retrieved November 11, 2015 .