1986 NCAA Division I - A football season The 1986 NCAA Division I - A football season ended with Penn State winning the national championship . Coached by Joe Paterno , they defeated Miami ( Fl ) 14 – 10 in the Fiesta Bowl . This Fiesta Bowl was the first in the game ' s history to decide the national championship , launching it into the top tier of bowls . Miami came into the game # 1 and Penn State # 2 . In a move that would come to symbolize the game for years to come , Miami arrived wearing combat fatigues while Penn State arrived wearing suits and ties . Despite all the hype surrounding Miami , Penn State forced Heisman trophy winner Vinny Testaverde to throw five interceptions , including one in the end zone with 18 seconds left , winning the game for the Nittany Lions . Key matchups and upsets . Oklahoma and Michigan began the season at # 1 and # 2 . A 28 – 16 defeat of Oklahoma by Miami on September 27 pushed Miami into the # 1 ranking . Alabama moved into the number 2 spot . Probably the strongest case for Penn State was a defeat of a well - regarded # 2 ranked Alabama team 23 – 3 at Tuscaloosa on October 26 . This pushed Penn State into the number two spot . Otherwise , both Miami and Penn State had a number of teams on their schedule that were not strong opponents . Michigan defeated Iowa in a rematch of the previous season ' s # 1 - # 2 Iowa game . Three games later , Michigan was number 2 and undefeated after Penn State fell in the ranksings following a 17 – 15 close win to Maryland . The Michigan Wolverines football team began the season ranked number 2 in the nation . A # 1 vs # 2 matchup the previous season between Iowa and Michigan decided the race for the 1986 Rose Bowl . The Wolverines defeated Iowa 20 – 17 . Minnesota was regarded as an easy victory as a 25 - point underdog to number two ranked Michigan . The Gophers had not defeated the Wolverines since 1977 . With two minutes to go , and Michigan just having scored a touchdown to bring the Wolverines at 16 to the Gophers 17 , Bo Schembechler called for the extra point to be kicked for the tie . Minnesota quarterback Rickey Foggie scrambled to put Chip Lohmiller in position to get the winning field goal . The Gophers took home the Little Brown Jug from Michigan for the first time since 1962 . The Wolverines fell to # 6 and then faced arch rival Ohio State for the right to play in the Rose Bowl . Jim Harbaugh guaranteed a Michigan Victory over Ohio State . " We don ' t care where we play the game , " said the senior quarterback early in the week . " I hate to say it , but we could play it in the parking lot . We could play the game at 12 noon or midnight . We ' re going to be jacked up . " The Wolverines won 26 – 24 . Bowl games . With Arizona State having clinched the Rose Bowl berth on November 8 , and the Fiesta Bowl and Citrus Bowl scrambling to bid for the # 1 Miami ( Florida ) vs . # 2 Penn State Game , the Cotton Bowl Classic struck an agreement to take the loser of the Michigan - Ohio State game . All the bowl games attempted to line up participants before the official bids were extended on November 22 . The Sugar Bowl agreed to take the loser of the Oklahoma - Nebraska game to match the SEC winner , and the Orange Bowl agreed to take the second place SWC team to match the Big 8 winner . The Citrus Bowl , which moved to January 1 , got a second place SEC team in Auburn , and , what they hoped would be a good matchup , in 7 - 2 USC . The Trojans would lose to UCLA and Notre Dame after they were invited .