1983 Miami Hurricanes football team

1983 Miami Hurricanes football
Consensus national champion
Orange Bowl champion
Orange Bowl, W 31–30 vs. Nebraska
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
CoachesNo. 1
APNo. 1
Record11–1
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorGary Stevens (1st season)
Offensive schemePro-style
Defensive coordinatorTom Olivadotti (3rd season)
Base defense5–2
Home stadiumOrange Bowl
Seasons
← 1982
1984 →
1983 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 1 Miami (FL)   –   –   11 – 1 – 0
Virginia Tech   –   –   9 – 2 – 0
No. 19 Boston College   –   –   9 – 3 – 0
No. 16 West Virginia   –   –   9 – 3 – 0
No. 20 East Carolina   –   –   8 – 3 – 0
No. 18 Pittsburgh   –   –   8 – 3 – 1
Florida State   –   –   8 – 4 – 0
Penn State   –   –   8 – 4 – 1
Southern Miss   –   –   7 – 4 – 0
Memphis State   –   –   6 – 4 – 1
Notre Dame   –   –   7 – 5 – 0
Syracuse   –   –   6 – 5 – 0
South Carolina   –   –   5 – 6 – 0
Cincinnati   –   4 – 6 – 1
Southwestern Louisiana   –   –   4 – 6 – 0
Temple   –   –   4 – 7 – 0
Tulane   –   –   4 – 7 – 0
Louisville   –   –   3 – 8 – 0
Navy   –   –   3 – 8 – 0
Rutgers   –   –   3 – 8 – 0
Army   –   –   2 – 9 – 0
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1983 Miami Hurricanes football team represented the University of Miami during the 1983 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their 58th season of football, the independent Hurricanes were led by fifth-year head coach Howard Schnellenberger and played their home games at the Orange Bowl.

Unranked, Miami lost their opener at Florida by 25 points, but finished the regular season at 10–1, ranked fifth, and were invited to the Orange Bowl. Playing at home on January 2, the underdog Hurricanes upset top-ranked Nebraska 31–30, denying a two-point conversion attempt with less than a minute remaining.[1][2][3][4] They climbed to first in the major polls to win the school's first national championship.[5]

Schedule

[edit]
DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 3at No. 16 Florida
L 3–2873,907[6]
September 10at Houston
W 29–720,000
September 17Purdue
W 35–037,150
September 249:00 pmNo. 13 Notre Dame
  • Miami Orange Bowl
  • Miami, FL (rivalry)
CBSW 20–052,480
October 13:50 pmat DukeNo. 15
ABCW 56–1728,750[7]
October 8LouisvilleNo. 12
  • Miami Orange Bowl
  • Miami, FL (rivalry)
W 42–1430,073
October 15at Mississippi StateNo. 10
W 31–729,456[8]
October 22at CincinnatiNo. 8
W 17–714,163
October 29No. 12 West VirginiadaggerNo. 7
  • Miami Orange Bowl
  • Miami, FL
W 20–363,881[9]
November 5East CarolinaNo. 5
  • Miami Orange Bowl
  • Miami, FL
W 12–739,225[10]
November 127:00 pmat Florida StateNo. 6
WSVNW 17–1657,333
January 2, 19848:00 pmNo. 1 NebraskaNo. 5
NBCW 31–3072,596

Game summaries

[edit]

At Florida

[edit]
Miami (FL) at Florida
1 234Total
Hurricanes 0 003 3
• No. 16 Gators 13 0123 28
See also: 1983 Florida Gators football team and Florida–Miami football rivalry

At Houston

[edit]
See also: 1983 Houston Cougars football team

Purdue

[edit]
See also: 1983 Purdue Boilermakers football team
Purdue Boilermakers at Miami (FL) Hurricanes
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Purdue 0 0 000
Miami (FL) 7 21 7035

at Orange Bowl • Miami, Florida

  • Date: September 17
  • Game attendance: 34,557
Game information

[11]

Notre Dame

[edit]
See also: 1983 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

At Duke

[edit]
See also: 1983 Duke Blue Devils football team

Louisville

[edit]
See also: 1983 Louisville Cardinals football team

At Mississippi State

[edit]
See also: 1983 Mississippi State Bulldogs football team

At Cincinnati

[edit]
See also: 1983 Cincinnati Bearcats football team

West Virginia

[edit]
See also: 1983 West Virginia Mountaineers football team

East Carolina

[edit]
See also: 1983 East Carolina Pirates football team

At Florida State

[edit]
See also: 1983 Florida State Seminoles football team and Florida State–Miami football rivalry

Jeff Davis game-winning 19-yard field goal as time expired [12]

Orange Bowl (vs Nebraska)

[edit]
#1 Nebraska at #5 Miami (FL)
1 234Total
No.1 Cornhuskers 0 14313 30
• No. 5 Hurricanes 17 0140 31
Scoring summary
Q19:18MIADennison 2-yard pass from Kosar (Davis kick)MIA 7–0
Q14:51MIADavis 45-yard field goalMIA 10–0
Q11:08MIADennison 22-yard pass from Kosar (Davis kick)MIA 17–0
Q28:54NebSteinkuhler 19-yard fumble return (Livingston kick)MIA 17–7
Q22:17NebGill 1-yard run (Livingston kick)MIA 17–14
Q313:09NebLivingston 34-yard field goalTied 17–17
Q39:37MIAHighsmith 1-yard run (Davis kick)MIA 24–17
Q34:44MIABentley 7-yard run (Davis kick)MIA 31–17
Q46:55NebSmith 1-yard run (Livingston kick)MIA 31–24
Q40:48NebSmith 24-yard run (Gill pass to Smith failed)MIA 31–30
Main article: 1984 Orange Bowl
See also: 1983 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team and Miami–Nebraska football rivalry

[13][14]

Personnel

[edit]
1983 Miami Hurricanes football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
RB Jimmy Austin So
RB 16 Albert Bentley Sr
OL 79 Paul Bertucelli Fr
WR 40 Eddie Brown Jr
OL 69 Juan Comendeiro
TE 86 Glenn Dennison Sr
RB 44 Keith Griffin Sr
OL 52 David Heffernan
OL Chris Hembrough
RB 30 Alonzo Highsmith Fr
WR David Kintigh Fr
QB 20 Bernie Kosar RFr
OL Mike Moore
RB Speedy Neal Sr
OL 77 Paul O’Connor
RB Darryl Oliver Fr
RB Mel Bratton Fr
WR Kenny Oliver Fr
WR 6 Stanley Shakespeare
OL 76 Ian Sinclair
WR 7 John Smatana
RB Todd Stanish Fr
QB 14 Vinny Testaverde Fr
WR Lawrence Thompson Sr
QB Kyle Vanderwende So
OL 72 Alvin Ward
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
DB 4 Rodney Bellinger Sr
LB 53 Jay Brophy Sr
DL 41 Danny Brown
DT 98 Jerome Brown Fr
DB 2 Ken Calhoun
DL Dallas Cameron
DB 43 Doug McFadden Fr
LB 92 Winston Moss Fr
LB 99 Julio Cortes
DB Dave Ditthardt
DT 95 Kevin Fagan So
LB 51 Jack Fernandez
DL 62 Tony Fitzpatrick
LB Bruce Fleming
DL Joe Kohlbrand
DL 93 John McVeigh So
DL Fred Robinson
LB 36 Ken Sisk
DB Reggie Sutton Fr
DB Keith Walker
DB 29 Eddie Williams
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
K 3 Jeff Davis
P Steve Minie Jr
P 12 Rick Tuten
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Awards and honors

[edit]

All-Americans

[edit]
  • Jay Brophy, LB
  • Glenn Dennison, TE

Jack Harding University of Miami MVP Award

[edit]
  • Glenn Dennison, TE

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Miami topples No. 1 Nebraska". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. January 3, 1984. p. 13.
  2. ^ Smizik, Bob (January 3, 1983). "Miami claims No. 1 after beating Nebraska". Pittsburgh Press. p. D1.
  3. ^ "Hurricanes say there's no doubt". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). wire services. January 3, 1984. p. 1D.
  4. ^ Underwood, John (January 9, 1984). "No team was ever higher". Sports Illustrated. p. 14.
  5. ^ Finder, Chuck (January 1, 1987). "Miami's '83 champions: Where are they now?". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 37.
  6. ^ "For Gators, a Peace-full victory". St. Petersburg Times. September 4, 1983. Retrieved November 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Devils swept away by Miami". The Rocky Mount Telegram. October 2, 1983. Retrieved January 29, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Hurricanes breeze 31–7". The Palm Beach Post. October 16, 1983. Retrieved November 3, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Hurricanes blow past West Virginia". The Grand Island Independent. October 30, 1983. Retrieved January 29, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Hurricanes survive East Carolina, 12–7". The Orlando Sentinel. November 6, 1983. Retrieved March 5, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ Gainesville Sun. September 18, 1983.
  12. ^ "100 Greatest Plays in Miami History: #9-Game Winning Field Goal vs FSU 1983". August 14, 2019.
  13. ^ Wilbon, Michael (January 3, 1984). "Nebraska Falls, 31-30, On Day of Upsets". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 21, 2019.
  14. ^ "MIAMI IS CHOSEN AS NO. 1 AFTER UPSET OF NEBRASKA". The New York Times. January 4, 1984. Retrieved August 21, 2019.
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