American college football season
The 1983 Miami Hurricanes football team represented the University of Miami during the 1983 NCAA Division I-A football season . In their 58th season of football, the independent Hurricanes were led by fifth-year head coach Howard Schnellenberger and played their home games at the Orange Bowl .
Unranked, Miami lost their opener at Florida by 25 points, but finished the regular season at 10–1, ranked fifth, and were invited to the Orange Bowl . Playing at home on January 2, the underdog Hurricanes upset top-ranked Nebraska 31–30, denying a two-point conversion attempt with less than a minute remaining.[ 1] [ 2] [ 3] [ 4] They climbed to first in the major polls to win the school's first national championship .[ 5]
Date Time Opponent Rank Site TV Result Attendance Source September 3 at No. 16 Florida L 3–2873,907 [ 6] September 10 at Houston W 29–720,000 September 17 Purdue W 35–037,150 September 24 9:00 pm No. 13 Notre Dame Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL (rivalry ) CBS W 20–052,480 October 1 3:50 pm at Duke No. 15 ABC W 56–1728,750 [ 7] October 8 Louisville No. 12 Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL W 42–1430,073 October 15 at Mississippi State No. 10 W 31–729,456 [ 8] October 22 at Cincinnati No. 8 W 17–714,163 October 29 No. 12 West Virginia No. 7 Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL W 20–363,881 [ 9] November 5 East Carolina No. 5 Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL W 12–739,225 [ 10] November 12 7:00 pm at Florida State No. 6 WSVN W 17–1657,333 , 1984 8:00 pm vs. No. 1 Nebraska No. 5 NBC W 31–3072,596
Miami (FL) at Florida 1 2 3 4 Total Hurricanes 0 0 0 3 3 • No. 16 Gators 13 0 12 3 28
Purdue Boilermakers at Miami (FL) Hurricanes
Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total Purdue 0 0 0 0 0 Miami (FL) 7 21 7 0 35
at Orange Bowl • Miami, Florida
Date : September 17Game attendance : 34,557
Game information Purdue Everett 16/22, 186 Yds, 2 INT Hawthorne 12 Rush, 37 Yds Griffin 5 Rec, 64 Yds Miami (FL) Kosar 12/20, 182 Yds, 3 TD, 2 INT Bentley 15 Rush, 78 Yds Shakespeare 4 Rec, 68 Yds, 2 TD
[ 11]
Scoring summary Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP PUR MIA 1 Miami (FL) Kosar 1-yard touchdown run, Davis kick good 0 7 2 Miami (FL) Shakespeare 35-yard touchdown reception from Kosar, Davis kick good 0 14 2 Miami (FL) Vanderwende 1-yard touchdown run, Davis kick good 0 21 2 Miami (FL) Shakespeare 12-yard touchdown reception from Kosar, Davis kick good 0 21 3 Miami (FL) Griffin 17-yard touchdown reception from Kosar, Davis kick good 0 28 "TOP" = time of possession . For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football . 0 28
At Mississippi State [ edit ]
Jeff Davis game-winning 19-yard field goal as time expired [ 12]
Orange Bowl (vs Nebraska)[ edit ] #1 Nebraska at #5 Miami (FL) 1 2 3 4 Total No.1 Cornhuskers 0 14 3 13 30 • No. 5 Hurricanes 17 0 14 0 31
Scoring summary Q1 9:18 MIA Dennison 2-yard pass from Kosar (Davis kick) MIA 7–0 Q1 4:51 MIA Davis 45-yard field goal MIA 10–0 Q1 1:08 MIA Dennison 22-yard pass from Kosar (Davis kick) MIA 17–0 Q2 8:54 Neb Steinkuhler 19-yard fumble return (Livingston kick) MIA 17–7 Q2 2:17 Neb Gill 1-yard run (Livingston kick) MIA 17–14 Q3 13:09 Neb Livingston 34-yard field goal Tied 17–17 Q3 9:37 MIA Highsmith 1-yard run (Davis kick) MIA 24–17 Q3 4:44 MIA Bentley 7-yard run (Davis kick) MIA 31–17 Q4 6:55 Neb Smith 1-yard run (Livingston kick) MIA 31–24 Q4 0:48 Neb Smith 24-yard run (Gill pass to Smith failed) MIA 31–30
[ 13] [ 14]
1983 Miami Hurricanes football team roster Players Coaches Offense Defense Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 3 Jeff Davis P Steve Minie Jr P 12 Rick Tuten
Head coach Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt
Jay Brophy, LB Glenn Dennison, TE Jack Harding University of Miami MVP Award [ edit ] ^ "Miami topples No. 1 Nebraska" . Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . Associated Press. January 3, 1984. p. 13. ^ Smizik, Bob (January 3, 1983). "Miami claims No. 1 after beating Nebraska" . Pittsburgh Press . p. D1. ^ "Hurricanes say there's no doubt" . Eugene Register-Guard . (Oregon). wire services. January 3, 1984. p. 1D. ^ Underwood, John (January 9, 1984). "No team was ever higher" . Sports Illustrated . p. 14. ^ Finder, Chuck (January 1, 1987). "Miami's '83 champions: Where are they now?" . Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . p. 37. ^ "For Gators, a Peace-full victory" . St. Petersburg Times . September 4, 1983. Retrieved November 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com . ^ "Devils swept away by Miami" . The Rocky Mount Telegram . October 2, 1983. Retrieved January 29, 2024 – via Newspapers.com . ^ "Hurricanes breeze 31–7" . The Palm Beach Post . October 16, 1983. Retrieved November 3, 2023 – via Newspapers.com . ^ "Hurricanes blow past West Virginia" . The Grand Island Independent . October 30, 1983. Retrieved January 29, 2024 – via Newspapers.com . ^ "Hurricanes survive East Carolina, 12–7" . The Orlando Sentinel . November 6, 1983. Retrieved March 5, 2021 – via Newspapers.com . ^ Gainesville Sun. September 18, 1983. ^ "100 Greatest Plays in Miami History: #9-Game Winning Field Goal vs FSU 1983" . August 14, 2019. ^ Wilbon, Michael (January 3, 1984). "Nebraska Falls, 31-30, On Day of Upsets" . The Washington Post . Retrieved August 21, 2019 . ^ "MIAMI IS CHOSEN AS NO. 1 AFTER UPSET OF NEBRASKA" . The New York Times . January 4, 1984. Retrieved August 21, 2019 .
Venues Bowls and rivalries Culture and lore Documentaries People Early years (1926 to 1978) Seasons National championship seasons in bold
1936–1949 1950s 1960s 1960 : Minnesota (AP, Coaches, NFF ) / Ole Miss (FWAA) 1961 : Alabama (AP, Coaches, NFF) / Ohio State (FWAA) 1962 : USC 1963 : Texas 1964 : Alabama (AP, Coaches) / Arkansas (FWAA) / Notre Dame (NFF) 1965 : Alabama (AP, FWAA) / Michigan State (Coaches, FWAA, NFF) 1966 : Notre Dame (AP, Coaches, FWAA, NFF) / Michigan State (NFF) 1967 : USC 1968 : Ohio State 1969 : Texas 1970s 1980–1991