# 1991 Miami Hurricanes football team

The 1991 Miami Hurricanes football team represented the University of Miami during the 1991 NCAA Division I-A football season. It was the Hurricanes' 66th season of football and first as a member of the Big East Conference. The Hurricanes were led by third-year head coach Dennis Erickson and played their home games at the Orange Bowl. They finished the season 12–0 overall and 2–0 in the Big East while playing a partial conference schedule. They were invited to the Orange Bowl where they defeated Nebraska, 22–0. The Hurricanes were named as national champions by the AP Poll, the program's fourth national championship. Washington, who also finished 12–0 overall, were named as champions by the Coaches Poll.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 31 | 12:00 pm | at Arkansas* | No. 3 | War Memorial StadiumLittle Rock, AR | ABC | W 31–3 | 46,308 |
| September 12 | 8:00 pm | No. 10 Houston* | No. 2 | Miami Orange BowlMiami, FL | ESPN | W 40–10 | 71,842 |
| September 28 | 2:00 pm | at Tulsa* | No. 2 | Skelly StadiumTulsa, OK | | W 34–10 | 35,689 |
| October 5 | 12:00 pm | Oklahoma State* | No. 2 | Miami Orange BowlMiami, FL | | W 40–3 | 42,751 |
| October 12 | 12:00 pm | No. 9 Penn State* | No. 2 | Miami Orange BowlMiami, FL | ABC | W 26–20 | 75,723 |
| October 19 | 4:00 pm | Long Beach State* | No. 2 | Miami Orange BowlMiami, FL | | W 55–0 | 40,498 |
| October 26 | 10:00 pm | at Arizona* | No. 2 | Arizona StadiumTucson, AZ | | W 36–9 | 53,349 |
| November 9 | 4:00 pm | West Virginia | No. 3 | Miami Orange BowlMiami, FL | | W 27–3 | 60,250 |
| November 16 | 12:00 pm | at No. 1 Florida State* | No. 2 | Doak Campbell StadiumTallahassee, FL (rivalry) | ABC | W 17–16 | 63,442 |
| November 23 | 7:30 pm | at Boston College | No. 1 | Alumni StadiumChestnut Hill, MA | ESPN | W 19–14 | 32,071 |
| November 30 | 7:30 pm | San Diego State* | No. 1 | Miami Orange BowlMiami, FL | ESPN | W 39–12 | 56,721 |
| January 1 | 8:00 pm | vs. No. 11 Nebraska* | No. 1 | Miami Orange BowlMiami, FL (Orange Bowl, rivalry) | NBC | W 22–0 | 77,747 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time |||||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking т = Tied with team above or below ( ) = First-place votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Final |
| AP | 3 (2) | 3 (1) | 2 (2) | 2 (8) | 2 (8) | 2 (2) | 2 (1) | 2 (1) | 2 (2) | 2 (3) | 2 т (3) | 2 (3) | 1 (46) | 1 (37 1⁄2) | 1 (37) | 1 (32) |
| Coaches | 2 (3) | 2 (3) | 2 (3) | 2 (6) | 2 (5) | 2 (3) | 2 (3) | 2 (3) | 2 (4) | 2 (4) | 2 (4) | 2 (4) | 1 (44) | 1 (32) | 2 (30) | 2 (25 1⁄2) |

## Game summaries
### Arkansas

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Hurricanes | 7 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 31 |
| Razorbacks | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |

### Tulsa

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Hurricanes | 0 | 21 | 7 | 6 | 34 |
| Golden Hurricane | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
* Gino Torretta 20/33, 327 Yds
* Lamar Thomas 5 Rec, 106 Yds

### Oklahoma State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cowboys | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| • Hurricanes | 17 | 13 | 3 | 7 | 40 |

### Penn State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Nittany Lions | 3 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 20 |
| • Hurricanes | 3 | 3 | 14 | 6 | 26 |
* First meeting between the two schools since 1987 Fiesta Bowl
* Fans watching on television outside of Florida missed two scores when the network switched to United States Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee
* Horace Copeland 5 Rec, 106 Yds

### Long Beach State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| 49ers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| • Hurricanes | 7 | 28 | 7 | 13 | 55 |

### Florida State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Hurricanes | 7 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 17 |
| Seminoles | 3 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 16 |

### Vs. Nebraska (Orange Bowl)

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Hurricanes | 13 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 22 |
| Cornhuskers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

## Personnel
### Coaching staff

| Name | Position | Seasons | Alma Mater |
| Dennis Erickson | Head coach | 3rd | Montana State (1969) |
| Bob Bratkowski | Offensive coordinator/wide receivers | 3rd | Washington State (1978) |
| Sonny Lubick | Defensive Coordinator/defensive backs | 3rd | Western Montana (1960) |
| Gregg Smith | Offensive line | 3rd | Idaho (1969) |
| Dave Arnold | Special Teams/tight ends | 3rd | |
| Bob Karmelowicz | Defensive line | 3rd | Bridgeport (1972) |
| Art Kehoe | Assistant offensive line | 7th | Miami (1982) |
| Ed Orgeron | Defensive line | 3rd | Northwestern State (1984) |
| Tommy Tuberville | Linebackers | 3rd | Southern Arkansas (1976) |
| Alex Wood | Running backs | 3rd | Iowa (1978) |

### Depth chart

Defense :
* FS
* Charles Pharms
* Teris Harris
* Marcus Carey
| MIKE | WILL | SAM |
| Jessie Armstead Sean Thompson | Michael Barrow | Robert Bass Derrick Golden |
| Willie Phillips | Darrin Smith | Corries Hardy |
| Bruce Eberst | Kevin Brinkworth | Corwin Francis |
* ROVER
* Hurlie Brown
* Casey Greer
* Malcolm Pearson
* CB
* Ryan McNeil
* Paul White
* Dexter Seigler
| DE | DT | DT | DE |
| Rusty Medearis | Mark Ceasar | Eric Miller | Anthony Hamlet |
| Kevin Patrick | Warren Sapp | Patrick Riley | Darrin Krein |
| Damon Bethel | Kenny Lopez | Warren Sapp | Damon Bethel |
* CB
* Darryl Williams
* Herbert James
* Jean Stiverne
Offense :
* WR
* Lamar Thomas
* Kevin Williams
* Chris Jones
* WR
* Darryl Spencer
* A.C Tellison
* Doyle Aaron
| LT | LG | C | RG | RT |
| Mario Cristobal | Kipp Vickers | Kelvin Harris | Brad Shirey | Leon Searcy |
| Kyle Stranahan | Rudy Barber | Tirrell Greene | Jason Budroni | Robert Woodus |
| Zev Lumelski | Marty Golloher | Candido Cerda | Anthony Lewis | Jason Owens |
* TE
* Coleman Bell
* Joe Moore
* Carlos Etheredge Kevin Kirkeide
* WR
* Horace Copeland
* Bobby Byrd
* Johnathan Harris
* QB
* Gino Torreta
* Frank Costa
* Bryan Fortay
* Special teams
* PK Carlos Huerta
* P Paul Snyder
* RB
* Stephen McGuire Larry Jones
* Russell Sapp
* Donnell Bennett

## Awards and honors
### First Team All-Americans

* Leon Searcy, T
* Darrin Smith, LB
* Darryl Williams, FS
* Kevin Williams, KR/PR
* Carlos Huerta, K

### Award finalists

Bold indicates winners
* Darrin Smith, LB - Big East Co-Defensive Player of the Year
* Gino Torretta, QB - Big East Offensive Player of the Year
* Kevin Williams, KR/PR - Big East Special Teams Player of the Year
* Russell Sapp, RB/KR/PR -Big East Co-Special Teams Player of the Year

### Jack Harding University of Miami MVP Award

* Carlos Huerta, K

## 1992 NFL Draft

| Player | Position | Round | Pick | Team |
| Leon Searcy | Tackle | 1 | 11 | Pittsburgh Steelers |
| Darryl Williams | Defensive Back | 1 | 28 | Cincinnati Bengals |
| Craig Erickson | Quarterback | 4 | 86 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| Anthony Hamlet | Defensive end | 10 | 263 | Seattle Seahawks |
| Kelvin Harris | Center | 12 | 312 | Los Angeles Rams |
| Carlos Huerta | Kicker | 12 | 315 | San Diego Chargers |