# 1984 Miami Hurricanes football team

The 1984 Miami Hurricanes football team represented the University of Miami during the 1984 NCAA Division I-A football season. It was the Hurricanes' 59th season of football. The Hurricanes were led by first-year head coach Jimmy Johnson and played their home games at the Orange Bowl. They finished the season 8–5 overall. They were invited to the Fiesta Bowl where they lost to UCLA, 39–37.
The Hurricanes were the defending national champions from the 1983 college football season. Having defeated number one ranked Auburn, and then Florida, they rose to be ranked number one before their game at Michigan. They remained in the top ten after that loss. They lost again to Florida State. They beat a ranked Notre Dame team in South Bend to return to the top 10. The Hurricanes earned three more wins, but then suffered two of the most notable losses in college football history.
On November 10, at the Miami Orange Bowl, Maryland defeated the Hurricanes with the largest comeback in college football history. Down 31–0 at halftime, Frank Reich, who had been injured, came off the bench and led the comeback. At the start of the third quarter, Reich led the Terrapins on multiple scoring drives. Three touchdowns in the third quarter and a fourth at the start of the final quarter turned what was a blowout into a close game. Maryland completed a 42–9 second half, and won 42–40.
Two weeks later at the Orange Bowl stadium, the Hurricanes faced the Boston College Eagles in a nationally televised game that has become known as "Hail Flutie". It has been regarded by FOX Sports writer Kevin Hench as among the most memorable moments in sports. The game is most notable for a last-second Hail Mary pass from quarterback Doug Flutie to wide receiver Gerard Phelan to give Boston College the win.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 27 | 9:00 pm | vs. No. 1 Auburn | No. 10 | Giants StadiumEast Rutherford, NJ (Kickoff Classic) | KATZ | W 20–18 | 51,131 |
| September 1 | 7:30 pm | vs. No. 17 Florida | No. 10 | Tampa StadiumTampa, FL (rivalry) | ESPN | W 32–20 | 72,813 |
| September 8 | 1:00 pm | at No. 14 Michigan | No. 1 | Michigan StadiumAnn Arbor, MI | KATZ | L 14–22 | 105,403 |
| September 15 | 2:30 pm | at Purdue | No. 5 | Ross–Ade StadiumWest Lafayette, IN | | W 28–17 | 56,716 |
| September 22 | 3:30 pm | No. 15 Florida State | No. 4 | Miami Orange BowlMiami, FL (rivalry) | CBS | L 3–38 | 60,210 |
| September 29 | 7:00 pm | Rice | No. 16 | Miami Orange BowlMiami, FL | | W 38–3 | 20,084 |
| October 6 | 7:30 pm | at No. 16 Notre Dame | No. 14 | Notre Dame StadiumNotre Dame, IN (rivalry) | ESPN | W 31–13 | 59,075 |
| October 13 | | at Cincinnati | No. 10 | Riverfront StadiumCincinnati, OH | KATZ | W 49–25 | 25,642 |
| October 20 | 12:00 pm | Pittsburgh | No. 9 | Miami Orange BowlMiami, FL | USA | W 27–7 | 32,872 |
| November 3 | 12:30 pm | at Louisville | No. 6 | Cardinal StadiumLouisville, KY (rivalry) | | W 38–23 | 20,113 |
| November 10 | 12:00 pm | Maryland | No. 6 | Miami Orange BowlMiami, FL | JP | L 40–42 | 31,548 |
| November 23 | 2:30 pm | No. 10 Boston College | No. 12 | Miami Orange BowlMiami, FL | CBS | L 45–47 | 30,325 |
| January 1 | 1:30 pm | vs. No. 14 UCLA | No. 13 | Sun Devil StadiumTempe, AZ (Fiesta Bowl) | NBC | L 37–39 | 60,310 |
| HomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time |||||||||

## Game summaries
### Auburn

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Tigers | 0 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 18 |
| • Hurricanes | 7 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 20 |
* Bernie Kosar 21/38, 329 Yds, 2 TD
* Alonzo Highsmith 21 Rush, 140 Yds
* Eddie Brown 8, Rec 157 Yds

### Florida

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Hurricanes | 3 | 13 | 3 | 13 | 32 |
| Gators | 3 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 20 |
* Bernie Kosar 25/33, 300 Yds
* Willie Smith 11 Rec, 152 Yds

### Michigan

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Hurricanes | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 |
| • Wolverines | 6 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 22 |

### Purdue

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Hurricanes | 7 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 28 |
| Boilermakers | 10 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 17 |

### Notre Dame

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Hurricanes | 0 | 7 | 14 | 10 | 31 |
| Fighting Irish | 0 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 13 |

### Louisville

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Hurricanes | 0 | 24 | 7 | 7 | 38 |
| Cardinals | 0 | 3 | 7 | 13 | 23 |
* Kosar 22/36, 330 Yds
* Highsmith 18 Rush, 100 Yds
* Smith 10 Rec, 124 Yds
* Brown 5 Rec, 113 Yds

### Maryland

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Terrapins | 0 | 0 | 21 | 21 | 42 |
| Hurricanes | 7 | 24 | 3 | 6 | 40 |

### Boston College

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Eagles | 14 | 14 | 3 | 16 | 47 |
| Hurricanes | 7 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 45 |

### UCLA (Fiesta Bowl)

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Bruins | 7 | 15 | 7 | 10 | 39 |
| Hurricanes | 14 | 7 | 3 | 13 | 37 |

## Roster

| Player | Pos | Summary |
| Bernie Kosar* | QB | 262 Cmp, 416 Att, 3642 Yds, 25 TD |
| Vinny Testaverde | QB | 17 Cmp, 34 Att, 184 Yds, 0 TD |
| Alonzo Highsmith* | RB | 146 Att, 906 Yds, 6.2 Avg |
| Darryl Oliver* | RB | 92 Att, 407 Yds, 4.4 Avg |
| Melvin Bratton | RB | 49 Att, 279 Yds, 5.7 Avg |
| Warren Williams | RB | 29 Att, 140 Yds, 4.8 Avg |
| Steve Staffier | RB | 9 Att, 48 Yds, 5.3 Avg |
| Todd Stanish | RB | 9 Att, 28 Yds, 3.1 Avg |
| Eric Ham | RB | 8 Att, 11 Yds, 1.4 Avg |
| Eddie Brown* | WR | 59 Rec, 1114 Yds, 18.9 Avg |
| Stanley Shakespeare* | WR | 38 Rec, 621 Yds, 16.3 Avg |
| David Kintigh | WR | 4 Rec, 62 Yds, 15.5 Avg |
| Brian Blades | WR | 3 Rec, 50 Yds, 16.7 Avg |
| Kenny Oliver | WR | 1 Rec, 17 Yds, 17.0 Avg |
| Willie Smith* | TE | 66 Rec, 852 Yds, 12.9 Avg |
| Alfredo Roberts | TE | 5 Rec, 50 Yds, 10.0 Avg |
| Charles Henry | TE | 1 Rec, 1 Yds, 1.0 Avg |
| Paul Bertucelli* | OL | |
| Juan Comendeiro* | OL | |
| Dave Heffernan* | OL | |
| Ian Sinclair* | OL | |
| Alvin Ward* | OL | |
| Mike Moore | OL | |
| Willie Lee Broughton* | DL | |
| Dallas Cameron* | DL | |
| Julio Cortes* | DL | |
| Kevin Fagan* | DL | |
| Joe Kohlbrand* | DL | |
| Paul O'Connor | DL | |
| John McVeigh* | LB | |
| Winston Moss* | LB | |
| Bruce Fleming | LB | |
| Ken Calhoun* | DB | |
| Darrell Fullington* | DB | |
| Greg Jones* | DB | |
| Willie Martinez* | DB | |
| Lucious Delegal | DB | |
| Reggie Sutton | DB | |
| Rick Tuten | P | |
| Steve Minie | P | |
| J.C. Penny | KR |
Other: LB #45 George Mira Jr. (FR)