1987 Miami Hurricanes football team The 1987 Miami Hurricanes were the national champions of the 1987 NCAA Division I - A football season . The national championship was the second of five won by the University of Miami in football . Season summary . Pre - season . After taking over as head coach in 1984 , Jimmy Johnson had a winning record , but some critics questioned whether he could gain a national championship . In 1985 , Miami finished the regular season 10 - 1 , and had a chance to win the national title with Penn State ' s loss to Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl . Needing a victory over Tennessee in the Sugar Bowl , Miami jumped out to a 7 - 0 lead . Tennessee then scored 35 unanswered to derail Miami ' s title hopes . In 1986 , Miami achieved a perfect 11 - 0 regular season record . Led by Heisman Trophy - winner Vinny Testaverde , a record breaking offense , and the 5th - ranked defense in the country , # 1 Miami was a prohibitive favorite heading into its Fiesta Bowl matchup against # 2 Penn State . However , Penn State was able to disrupt the Miami passing game and force the Hurricanes into seven turnovers . Penn State won the national championship with a 14 to 10 victory over Miami that was sealed when a Testaverde pass from the Penn State 6 - yard line was intercepted in the endzone by linebacker Pete Giftopoulos with 0 : 18 left in the game . After losing three key players ( Testaverde , Alonzo Highsmith , and Jerome Brown ) from the ' 86 squad who were selected within the first nine picks of the 1987 NFL Draft , 1987 was expected to be somewhat of a reloading year for Miami , which began the season ranked 10th in the nation by the AP poll . Regular season . Under the direction of sophomore quarterback Steve Walsh and a defense that returned nine starters , Miami opened the regular season with a win over rival Florida , 31 - 4 . The game would prove to be the last in a series that had been played annually since 1944 . The teams would not meet in the regular season again until the 2001 season . The victory over Florida was followed by a 51 - 7 victory over # 10 Arkansas Razorbacks in Little Rock , which would catapult Miami to a # 3 ranking . Miami ' s rigorous early season schedule continued the next week with a showdown with # 4 Florida State at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee . The October 3 game featured not only high drama , but also an astounding 56 players who would go on to play in the NFL . Miami scored first with a second quarter field goal , but Florida State , fielding a team many consider to be the best in school history , took control of the game after that . A 67 - yard run by Florida State running back Sammie Smith was followed by a 1 - yard touchdown run from Dayne Williams , giving FSU a 7 - 3 lead . A 36 - yard field goal from Derek Schmidt pushed the Seminoles ' lead to 10 - 3 at the half . After Schmidt missed a third quarter field goal wide right , Miami took over , but went three - and - out and was forced to punt . The ensuing punt by Jeff Feagles was blocked and returned by Florida State for a touchdown , increasing the Florida State lead to 16 - 3 ( Schmidt missed the extra point ) . Miami was forced to punt again , and a big return by FSU ' s Deion Sanders put Florida State in position to add another Schmidt field goal to make the score 19 - 3 . With Miami having been unable to mount any offense to that point , the Hurricanes looked to be in dire straits late in the third quarter . Spurred on by an impassioned speech from receiver Michael Irvin , the Hurricanes were able to keep their focus and climbed back into the game when Walsh found a streaking Melvin Bratton for a 49 - yard touchdown . Miami went for two , which they converted when Walsh was able to hook up with receiver Brian Blades , trimming the FSU lead to 19 - 11 heading into the fourth quarter . The final quarter was filled with back - and - forth drama . Irvin started things off when he was on the receiving end of a 26 - yard touchdown pass from Walsh . With the score now at 19 - 17 , Miami again went for two , which Miami , again , converted , this time on a pass from Walsh to Warren Williams . With the game now tied at 19 - 19 and its 16 - point lead evaporated , Florida State staged a drive of its own , taking the ball down to the Miami 17 - yard line before quarterback Danny McManus fumbled the snap , which was recovered by Bennie Blades . Miami wasted little time in capitalizing on the miscue , as four plays later Walsh hooked up with Irvin for one of the most famous plays in University of Miami history . Walsh walked to the line , read the FSU defense , and called an audible for Irvin , who was appropriately nicknamed " The Playmaker " due to his penchant for making big plays . Walsh took a quick three - step drop and hung the ball up perfectly for Irvin on a fly route . Irvin was in double coverage , but was able to get behind the coverage , catch the pass , and take it 73 - yards for a Miami touchdown . With 2 : 22 left to play , Miami led 26 - 19 . Florida State would not go meekly , though , as the Seminoles valiantly fought back after taking possession on their own 25 - yard line . Before long , the Seminoles were in the endzone when McManus hit Ronald Lewis on a perfect corner route for 18 - yards . With college football not having overtime at the time , Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden was faced with a decision : attempt the extra point and settle for a 26 - 26 tie , or attempt a two - point conversion and go for the win . Complicating matters was the fact that Schmidt , FSU ' s kicker , had looked shaky on this day , already missing on a field goal attempt and on an extra point attempt . Nevertheless , Bowden initially had decided to kick the extra point and settle for the tie , as he had stated when asked before the game what he would if he found himself in this exact predicament . But after the FSU offense protested and urged their coach to go for the win , Bowden changed his mind and decided to go for the two , betting both FSU ' s and Miami ' s national championship hopes on the outcome . FSU called a pass play . McManus took the snap , looked for a receiver , and then threw into the right corner of the endzone . The ball was underthrown and broken up by Miami defensive back Bubba McDowell before it could reach its intended target . With Miami up 26 - 25 , Florida State attempted an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff , but Miami recovered the ball with 0 : 42 left and was able to run out the clock , sealing the Hurricane victory . Having successfully negotiated its brutal early season schedule , Miami won its next six games with ease , beating Maryland ( 46 - 16 ) , Cincinnati ( 48 - 10 ) , East Carolina ( 41 - 3 ) , ( 54 - 3 ) , Virginia Tech ( 27 - 13 ) , and ( 24 - 14 ) . Next up for the now 2nd - ranked Hurricanes was a date with # 10 Notre Dame in Miami . Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz brought an upset minded Irish squad to the Orange Bowl , but they proved to be little match for Daniel Stubbs and a relentless Hurricane defense . Miami continued its dominance over Notre Dame , shutting out the Irish , 24 - 0 , and beating them for the fourth straight time . It was also the first time Notre Dame had been shutout since 1983 , when they were also shutout at the hands of the Hurricanes . Miami ' s final regular season game came at home against # 8 . South Carolina played a spirited game and gave the Hurricanes all they could handle . Eventually , Miami was able to walk away from the nail biter with a hard fought 20 - 16 victory , capping an 11 - 0 regular season . The Orange Bowl . The 1988 Orange Bowl featured " Game of the Century " - type billing as the undefeated and top - ranked Oklahoma Sooners faced off against undefeated and second - ranked Miami for the national championship . Adding to the hype was the recent on - field history between the teams . Oklahoma was a dominant force in college football , winning the national championship in 1985 and losing just one game in each of the preceding two years . Miami , though , had proven to be the thorn in Oklahoma ' s side , as the Sooners ' losses in ' 85 and ' 86 had both come at the hands of Miami . Now , with the national championship on the line , Miami sought to make it three - losses - in - three - years for Oklahoma . Further fuel for the fire was provided by the growing personal animosity between Johnson and Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer . Miami ' s vaunted defense set the tone early , forcing the Sooners to punt on their first five possessions . Meanwhile , Walsh settled into a nice rhythm , putting Miami on the board first with a 30 - yard touchdown pass to fullback Melvin Bratton , who caught 9 passes for 102 yards for the game . Oklahoma got on the board with a second - quarter touchdown to tie things up , but Miami responded with 10 unanswered third quarter points , coming on a 56 - yard field goal by kicker Greg Cox and a 23 - yard touchdown pass from Walsh to Irvin . Oklahoma would add a fourth - quarter touchdown to trim the score to 20 - 14 , but Miami held on for the win and the national championship . Johnson received a Gatorade bath , which messed his trademark impeccably coiffed hair , and was carried off the field , having finally won " the big one " at Miami . The Hurricane defense held Oklahoma to just 255 yards of offense , while Walsh ' s efficient play ( 18 of 30 , 209 yards , 2 touchdowns ) paced the Hurricane offense . Middle linebacker Bernard " Tiger " Clark - a backup middle linebacker who was forced to start after starting MLB George Mira Jr . was suspended for failing a drug test - was named the MVP of the Orange Bowl after recording 14 tackles ( 12 unassisted ) . With the win , Miami completed its first ever undefeated season . In winning their second national championship , the Canes once again had to go through the nation ' s top - ranked team at the Orange Bowl , just as they had done in 1983 . Awards and honors . Awards finalists . Bold indicates winners