# 1985 Miami Hurricanes football team

The 1985 Miami Hurricanes football team represented the University of Miami during the 1985 NCAA Division I-A football season. It was the Hurricanes' 60th season of football. The Hurricanes were led by second-year head coach Jimmy Johnson and played their home games at the Miami Orange Bowl. They finished the season 10–2 overall. They were invited to the Sugar Bowl, where they lost to Tennessee, 35–7.

## Schedule

| Date | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 7 | No. 5 Florida | | Miami Orange BowlMiami, FL (rivalry) | | L 23–35 | 80,227 |
| September 14 | at Rice | | Rice StadiumHouston, TX | | W 48–20 | 15,411 |
| September 28 | at Boston College | | Sullivan StadiumFoxborough, MA | | W 45–10 | 31,864 |
| October 5 | at East Carolina | | Ficklen Memorial StadiumGreenville, NC | | W 27–15 | 34,511 |
| October 12 | Cincinnati | | Miami Orange BowlMiami, FL | | W 38–0 | 30,164 |
| October 19 | at No. 3 Oklahoma | | Oklahoma Memorial StadiumNorman, OK | ABC | W 27–14 | 73,102 |
| October 26 | Louisville | No. 15 | Miami Orange BowlMiami, FL (rivalry) | | W 45–7 | 31,761 |
| November 2 | at No. 10 Florida State | No. 11 | Doak Campbell StadiumTallahassee, FL (rivalry) | ABC | W 35–27 | 61,250 |
| November 9 | at Maryland | No. 8 | Memorial StadiumBaltimore, MD | CBS | W 29–22 | 62,350 |
| November 23 | Colorado State | No. 4 | Miami Orange BowlMiami, FL | | W 24–3 | 35,035 |
| November 30 | Notre Dame | No. 4 | Miami Orange BowlMiami, FL (rivalry) | CBS | W 58–7 | 49,236 |
| January 1 | vs. No. 8 Tennessee | No. 2 | Louisiana SuperdomeNew Orleans, LA (Sugar Bowl) | ABC | L 7–35 | 77,432 |
| HomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the game ||||||||

## Personnel
### Roster

| Player | Pos | Summary |
| Vinny Testaverde* | QB | 216 Cmp, 352 Att, 3238 Yds, 21 TD |
| Geoff Torretta | QB | 11 Cmp, 16 Att, 263 Yds, 3 TD |
| Alonzo Highsmith* | RB | 117 Att, 451 Yds, 3.9 Avg |
| Warren Williams* | RB | 89 Att, 522 Yds, 5.9 Avg |
| Melvin Bratton | RB | 67 Att, 285 Yds, 4.3 Avg |
| Darryl Oliver | RB | 66 Att, 264 Yds, 4.0 Avg |
| J.C. Penny | RB | 21 Att, 181 Yds, 8.6 Avg |
| Todd Stanish | RB | 11 Att, 31 Yds, 2.8 Avg |
| Steve Staffier | RB | 2 Att, 8 Yds, 4.0 Avg |
| Michael Irvin* | WR | 46 Rec, 840 Yds, 18.3 Avg |
| Brian Blades* | WR | 30 Rec, 657 Yds, 21.9 Avg |
| Brett Perriman | WR | 14 Rec, 263 Yds, 18.8 Avg |
| Kenny Oliver | WR | 5 Rec, 125 Yds, 25.0 Avg |
| Andre Brown | WR | 2 Rec, 23 Yds, 11.5 Avg |
| Willie Smith* | TE | 48 Rec, 669 Yds, 13.9 Avg |
| Charles Henry | TE | 4 Rec, 48 Yds, 12.0 Avg |
| Alfredo Roberts | TE | 1 Rec, 4 Yds, 4.0 Avg |
| Dave Alekna* | OL | |
| Paul Bertucelli* | OL | |
| Ed Davis* | OL | |
| Paul O'Connor* | OL | |
| Greg Rakoczy* | OL | |
| John O'Neill | OL | |
| Matt Patchan | OL | |
| Jerome Brown* | DL | |
| Kevin Fagan* | DL | |
| Derwin Jones* | DL | |
| John McVeigh* | DL | |
| Victor Morris | DL | |
| Dan Sileo | DL |
| Daniel Stubbs | DL | |
| Rod Carter* | LB | |
| Bruce Fleming* | LB | |
| Randy Shannon* | LB | |
| Winston Moss | LB | |
| Tolbert Bain* | DB | |
| Selwyn Brown* | DB | |
| Donald Ellis* | DB | |
| Darrell Fullington* | DB | |
| Bennie Blades | DB | |
| Jeff Feagles | P |

### Recruits

Jimmy Johnson and his staff had the key recruit in the 1985 class QB Steve Walsh Jimmy also continued collecting talent from Florida, "Ten of the 19 signees are from Florida. Last year, 18 of the 25 high school players who signed letters were from Florida (11 from Dade and Broward), and 19 of 26 who signed in 1983 were from Florida (nine from Dade and Broward)."

### Coaching staff

| Name | Position | Seasons | Alma mater |
| Jimmy Johnson | Head coach | 2nd | Arkansas (1965) |
| Gary Stevens | Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks | 6th | John Carroll (1965) |
| Paul Jette | Defensive Coordinator/defensive backs | 1st | Texas (1977) |
| Hubbard Alexander | Wide receivers | 7th | Tennessee State (1962) |
| Joe Brodsky | Running backs | 8th | Florida (1956) |
| Butch Davis | Defensive line | 2nd | Arkansas (1973) |
| Art Kehoe | Assistant offensive line | 1st | Miami (1982) |
| Don Soldinger | Tight ends | 2nd | Memphis (1967) |
| Tony Wise | Offensive line | 1st | Ithaca (1972) |
| Mike Knoll | Linebackers | 2nd | Missouri Western State (1975) |

### Support staff

| Name | Position | Seasons | Alma mater |
| Bill Foran | Strength & conditioning | 1st | Central Michigan (1977) |
| Tom Ciskowski | Volunteer assistant | | |
| Mark Gibson | Volunteer assistant | | |

### Rankings
## Game summaries
### at No. 3 Oklahoma

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Hurricanes | 7 | 7 | 13 | 0 | 27 |
| No. 3 Sooners | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 |

### at No. 10 Florida State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • No. 11 Hurricanes | 14 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 35 |
| No. 10 Seminoles | 14 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 27 |
Despite being sacked seven times, Vinny Testaverde passed the Hurricanes to victory with 339 yards and four touchdowns.

### at Maryland

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • No. 8 Hurricanes | 0 | 13 | 7 | 9 | 29 |
| Terrapins | 10 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 22 |

### Colorado State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Rams | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| • No. 4 Hurricanes | 0 | 3 | 7 | 14 | 24 |

### Notre Dame

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Fighting Irish | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| • No. 4 Hurricanes | 13 | 14 | 10 | 21 | 58 |
Miami scored the most points in a game since 1967. The Hurricanes scored on their first four possessions, the fifth was ended when time ran out at halftime, and then they scored the first four times they got the ball in the second half.

### vs. No. 8 Tennessee (Sugar Bowl)

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 2 Hurricanes | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| • No. 8 Volunteers | 0 | 14 | 14 | 7 | 35 |

## 1986 NFL Draft

| Player | Position | Round | Pick | NFL club |
| Kevin Fagan | Defensive tackle | 4 | 102 | San Francisco 49ers |
| Reggie Sutton | Defensive back | 5 | 115 | New Orleans Saints |
| Willie Smith | Tight end | 10 | 265 | Cleveland Browns |
| John McVeigh | Linebacker | 12 | 321 | Seattle Seahawks |