University of Miami - Ibis Yearbook (Coral Gables, FL)

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M I A M I 2 3 NEBRASKA3 ICanes blitz . . . ' ' for what might have been the most painful loss of one yard since the Battle of the Bulge of World War II. Defensively, we pretty well ihad them zeroed in on every- ; thing that they did, said Mia- mi Coach Jimmy Johnson. I j think that we dominated the line of scrimmage more than anything else and made some nice adjustments to their differ- ent alignments. Nebraska ' s only points came early in the second half after cornerback Tahaun Lewis inter- cepted a Steve Walsh pass and returned it 3 1 yards to the Mia- mi 37. After Clark broke away for a 16-yard dash, Nebraska only went backward and sophomore kicker Gregg Barrios snuck a 50-yard field goal attempt over the crossbar for the longest field goal of his career and the pre- vention of a shutout. Nebraska had not been shut out since 1973 and was held without a touchdown for the first time in 10 years. Cornhusker Coach Tom Os- borne, who had come to the Orange Bowl only a month ear- lier to scout Miami when the Hurricanes downed Brigham Young, seemed frustrated about his lack of offense throughout the game. ; We would find anything that would work a little bit but we couldn ' t find anything that would work for us consistently, he said. You ' ve got to give jMiami a lot of credit. We just igot beat by a better football team. Our big problem was that we couldn ' t generate enough of- fense to keep the pressure off of 3ur defense. Walsh, voted the game ' s Most Valuable Player, did his part in keeping the pressure on Nebraska ' s defense by taking Miami into the endzone on its second offensive series. After a 21 -yard punt return by Darryl Spencer put the Canes in great field position, Miami drove to the Husker 22 when, on third and 10, Walsh sailed a scoring strike down the middle of the zone defense to tailback Leonard Conley, giv- ing the Miami defense all the margin it needed. However, the Walsh-Conley connection was not ready to be totally upstaged by guys named Crum, Carter, and Maryland and put together an impressive encores midway through the second quarter. Did someone hear the word impressive Walsh, who was under con- stant pressure all night from the Husker defensive front, evaded a rush, stepped up and fired a six-yard flat pass to Conley who then broke two tackles, got a couple of great downfield blocks and sprinted down the sideline past Lewis for a 42- yard touchdown with more flash than even the crowd of 79,480 could produce with their halftime flashlights. The touchdown was a simple pass play designed to get 1 or 1 2 yards, said Conley, but I felt the defense on my back, so I cut inside and got good blocks from Rob Chudzinski and Randal Hill and I took it in. Even though it was 17-0, Mia- mi wasn ' t through with its text- book first half quite yet, and with Nebraska lining up to punt deep in its own territory late in the half, Miami was going for the block it had missed by inches ESPN CNN COLLEGE FOOTBALL TOP 20 1. Notre Dame 2. MIAMI 3. Florida State 4. UCLA 5. Michigan 6. West Virginia 7. use 8. Nebraslta 9. Auburn 10. Clemson 11. Oklahoma State 12. Syracuse 13. Oklahoma 14. Arkansas 15. Washington State 16. Georgia 17. Alabama 18. North Carolina State 19. Houston 20. Indiana Michael DtBart In the final seconds of the last unsponsored Orange Bowl Clas- sic, Miami fans cheer an impres- sive victory and an 11-1 season. Beginning in 1990, Federal Ex- press becomes sponsor of the New Year ' s Day game. Orange Bowl 121

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Over 70,000 flashlights are given to fans as they enter the stadium so they can participate in the halftime show. In front of a na- tional audience, the show begins with fireworlfs as thousands of dancing lights dot the crowd. In what some speculated may be quarterback Steve Walsh ' s final game in a Hurricane uniform, the junior Ail-American passes for 277 yards and two touchdowns in route to being voted Orange Bowl Most Valuable Player. 120 Orange Bowl Orangi

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On one of the rare occassions that the Miami offense did not easily penetrate the Cornhuslier defense, Cleveland Gary is turned back at the goal line on a scoring opportunity. After sprinting 42 yards down the sideline, Leonard Conley dives over the goal line with the Hurri- canes ' second touchdown of the game. The score put Miami up 17-0 shortly before the half. 122 Orange Bowl