New Year’s Day bowl memories: Part 4

Miami Quarterback Bernie Kosar (#20) led the Hurricanes
to an upset win over Nebraska in the 1984 Orange Bowl.

Source: Ghosts of the Orange Bowl

(May be subject to copyright)

Year’s Day bowl games in 1984 shifted to January 2, because New Year’s Day fell on a Sunday. That year the Orange Bowl was again the game to remember. It was the beginning of an era for what became a storied program, as the Miami Hurricanes won their first national championship against some significant odds.

The Rose and Fiesta Bowls would also provide their share of memories.

From 5 to 1
The Nebraska Cornhuskers had been the class of college football in 1983. Not only were they unbeaten and untied coming into the 1984 Orange Bowl, but they were loaded with talent, starting with Heisman Trophy winner Mike Rozier, receiver Irving Fryar who would be the number pick in the NFL Draft, and quarterback Turner Gill who was an All-American and finished fourth in Heisman voting. They had the most prolific offence in the nation, averaging 52 points a game. Their offensive line was anchored by All-American Outland and Lombardi Trophy winner Dean Steinkuhler. However, they had a defence susceptible to the pass

That would play into the hands of the Hurricanes who had a good passing and good running game. They were led by 19-year-old freshman quarterback Bernie Kosar, who became one of my favourite players of all time. I also remember runningbacks Alberta Bentley, Alonzo Highsmith, and Keith Griffin; receivers Eddie Brown and Stanley Shakespeare, and Canadian offensive lineman Ian Sinclair. Miami also had a solid defence. The guys from that defence I remember are defensive backs Kenny Calhoun, Reggie Sutton and Rodney Bellinger.

Miami came into the game ranked fifth. The Cornhuskers was ranked first, and were more than 10-point favourites.

However, there had been some upsets in bowl games earlier in the day. The second ranked Texas Longhorns lost to Georgia in the Cotton Bowl, number four Illinois lost to UCLA in the Rose Bowl, and the third-ranked Auburn Tigers barely beat Michigan in the Sugar Bowl. That meant if Miami won, they could lay calim to the national championship.

They were up to it. Behind the passing of Kosar and the running of Bentley, the Hurricanes jumped out to a 17-0 first quarter lead. Nebraska responded, first with Steinkuhler scoring on a “fumblerooski”. I still remember Don Criqui’s call of the play. He had a knack for calling the Orange Bowl. Gill then scored and cut the Hurricane lead to 17-14. The Huskers tied it 17-17 with a field goal before the Hurricanes scored two touchdowns in the third quarter, one each by Bentley and Highsmith. Nebraska scored a touchdown early in the fourth quarter, but it was late in the game when the drama came. On fourth down Jeff Smith scored on the option, taking a pitch from Gill for a touchdown.

The convert would have tied the game and, if it held up, would have kept Nebraska undefeated and given them the national championship. Instead, Husker coach Tom Osborne decided to go for the two-point convert. Gill threw into the end zone, but Kenny Calhoun knocked the ball away. That left the score 31-30 for Miami and that gave them their first national championship.

This was the first game I really got heavy into, and watched from beginning to end.

Bentley would go on to play for my beloved Indianapolis Colts. Kosar would take the Cleveland Browns to three AFC Championship games, losing all three to Denver, but would back-up Troy Aikman to win an Super Bowl with Dallas. Steinkuhler would play for the Houston Oilers. Sinclair would return to Canada and play for the B.C. Lions; Brown would be one of Boomer Esiason’s targets with Cincinnati; and Highsmith would also play with the Oilers.

Rose Bowl upset
Although UCLA came into the Rose Bowl as defending champions, they were unranked and the under dog against the Illinois Fighting Illini who were ranked fourth in the country. I distinctly remember Illinois quarterback Jack Trudeau, partly because he shared the last name of our prime minister. They also had Mark Butkus at linebacker, and he was the nephew of the legendary Chicago Bear linebacker Dick Butkus.

UCLA had a lot of great players too. Now playing quarterback, with the graduation to the NFL of Tom Ramsey, was Rick Neuheisel. He had the same targets as Ramsey did, in wide receivers Karl Dorrell and Mike Sherrard, and tight end Paul Bergmann. They still had Don Rogers, who had been the defensive most valuable player of the 1983 Rose Bowl, and an excellent kicker in John Lee.

The game was never close, as Neuheisel tied a Rose Bowl record with four touchdown passes, including two two Dorrell and one to Bergmann. Neuheisel was also named most valuable player. Rogers intercepted two Trudeau passes, tying another Rose Bowl record.

Trudeau would go on to play quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts. Neuheisel would play for the San Antonio Gunslingers of the USFL, then get into coaching including a stint with the Bruins. Dorrell would also go on to coach the Bruins. In fact, he was the coach Neuheisel replaced at UCLA.

The others
I did not watch the 1984 Cotton Bowl that saw Texas upset by Georgia. I am not sure why. For the second straight year, I saw the last part of the Fiesta Bowl, likely because when CTV picked up the NBC feed, the game was still going.

This time, it pitted the Ohio State Buckeyes against the Pitt Panthers. This match-up reinforced my observation that the Fiesta Bowl had teams that had been to other New Year’s Day bowls. The previous year was Oklahoma, and this year both Pitt and Ohio State.

The Buckeyes would prevail over the Panthers by a score of 28-23, coming from behind to win in the fourth quarter. I remember Ohio State’s quarterback was Mike Tomczak, who would play for Chicago in the NFL. I also remember runningback Keith Byars having a great game. I saw his runs mostly on highlights, including a kick return where he kept drifting closer and closer to the sidelines causing the announcers to wonder if he would go out of bounds before he hit the end zone. There was no worry, as he returned that kick 99 yards for the touchdown. He would go on to a long career with Philadelphia and Miami. The Buckeyes also had receiver Thad Jemison. He hooked up with Tomczak for the winning touchdown, and would go on to play with Toronto of the CFL.

I remember John Congemi as well, who played quarterback for Pitt. He had the unenviable task of replacing Dan Marino, who was turning heads in the NFL. Still, Congemi played well, and was named the game’s offensive most valuable player. He would find his way to the CFL too, playing for Baltimore and Toronto.

Parting thoughts
I will always remember the 1984 Orange Bowl. That was the day I met Bernie Kosar and Albert Bentley, who would become two of my favourite players of all time. It says a lot, because over time I grew to detest the Miami Hurricanes. Part of it was their behaviour, part of it the fact they played a very weak schedule compared to their rivals for the national championship.

But that would come later.

On that day, I loved the Hurricanes.

Plus I thought it was so cool they had a player named Shakespeare.