1990 Sugar Bowl

1990 USF&G Sugar Bowl
Miami Hurricanes Alabama Crimson Tide
(10–1) (10–1)
33 25
Head coach: 
Dennis Erickson		 Head coach: 
Bill Curry
AP Coaches
2 2
AP Coaches
7 7
1 2 3 4 Total
Miami 7 13 6 7 33
Alabama 0 17 0 8 25
Date January 1, 1990
Season 1989
Stadium Louisiana Superdome
Location New Orleans, Louisiana
MVP Craig Erickson
Halftime show Million Dollar Band
Attendance 77,452
United States TV coverage
Network ABC
Announcers: Al Michaels, Frank Gifford and Dan Dierdorf
Sugar Bowl
 < 1989  1991 > 

The 1990 USF&G Sugar Bowl, part of the 1989 season, took place on January 1, 1990, at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The competing teams were the Alabama Crimson Tide, representing the Southeastern Conference (SEC), and the Miami Hurricanes, competing as a football independent. Miami was victorious in by a final score of 33–25.

Teams

Alabama

The 1989 Alabama squad finished the regular season with an 10–1 record, as conference co-champions. Following their loss against Auburn in the first ever Iron Bowl played at Jordan–Hare Stadium, university officials announced they accepted an invitation to play in the Sugar Bowl.[1] The appearance marked the eleventh for Alabama in the Sugar Bowl and their 42nd overall bowl game appearance.

Miami

The 1989 Miami squad finished the regular season with an 10–1. Following their victory over Notre Dame, university officials announced they accepted an invitation to play in the Sugar Bowl.[2] The appearance marked the second for Miami in the Sugar Bowl, and their sixteenth overall bowl game appearance.

Game summary

Miami opened the scoring with a Stephen McGuire, 3-yard touchdown run to take an early 7–0 lead.[3] In the second quarter, Alabama tied the game on a 4-yard Gary Hollingsworth touchdown pass to Marco Battle.[3] On the next drive the Hurricanes retook the lead after Craig Erickson threw an eighteen-yard touchdown strike to Wesley Carroll. After the Carlos Huerta extra point was blocked by Thomas Rayam Miami led 13–7.[3] The Tide cut the lead to 13–10 midway through the quarter on a 45-yard Philip Doyle field goal.[3] The teams then traded touchdowns to end the quarter with Miami scoring on a three-yard Alex Johnson run and the Crimson Tide scoring on a four-yard touchdown pass from Gary Hollingsworth to Lamonde Russell to make the halftime score 20–17.[3]

In the third quarter, the Hurricanes extended their lead on an eleven-yard Erickson touchdown pass to Rob Chudzinski and after a second missed extra point the score was 26–17 entering the final period.[3] In the fourth, Miami scored again on a twelve-yard Randy Bethal touchdown reception from Erickson and Alabama scored the final points of the game after Prince Wimbley had a nine-yard touchdown reception from Gary Hollingsworth to make the final score 33–25.[3]

With their victory, both the Associated Press and Coaches' Polls awarded the Hurricanes the national championship in ranking them #1 in their final rankings.[4]

Scoring summary
Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score
Plays Yards TOP Miami Alabama
1 4:55 9 66 Miami Stephen McGuire 3-yard touchdown run, Carlos Huerta kick good 7 0
2 14:07 9 36 Alabama Marco Battle 4-yard touchdown reception from Gary Hollingsworth, Philip Doyle kick good 7 7
2 12:10 5 78 Miami Wesley Carroll 18-yard touchdown reception from Craig Erickson, Carlos Huerta kick no good (blocked) 13 7
2 8:58 4 7 Alabama 45-yard field goal by Philip Doyle 13 10
2 5:08 9 62 Miami Alex Johnson 3-yard touchdown run, Carlos Huerta kick good 20 10
2 00:40 11 80 Alabama Lamonde Russell 4-yard touchdown reception from Gary Hollingsworth, Philip Doyle kick good 20 17
3 6:54 10 67 Miami Rob Chudzinski 11-yard touchdown reception from Craig Erickson, Carlos Huerta kick no good 26 17
4 12:35 11 88 Miami Randy Bethal 12-yard touchdown reception from Craig Erickson, Carlos Huerta kick good 33 17
4 2:53 6 33 Alabama Prince Wimbley 9-yard touchdown reception from Gary Hollingsworth, 2-point pass good 33 25
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 33 25

References

  1. ↑ Cecil, Hurt; Tommy Stevenson (December 3, 1989). "AU wins but Bama gets Sugar". The Tuscaloosa News. p. A1.
  2. ↑ Jenkins, Sally (November 26, 1989). "Hurricanes storm through Irish". The Washington Post.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 "How they scored". The Tuscaloosa News. January 2, 1990. p. 4B. Retrieved August 30, 2011.
  4. ↑ Fernandes, Doug (January 3, 1990). "Miami sweeps polls". The Tuscaloosa News. NYT Regional Newspapers. p. 1D. Retrieved August 30, 2011.