College football game
The
1988 Orange Bowl
was the 54th
edition
of the
college football
bowl game
, played at the
Orange Bowl
in
Miami
,
Florida
, on Friday, January 1. Part of the
1987?88 bowl game
season, it matched undefeated teams: the
independent
and
second-ranked
Miami Hurricanes
and the #1
Oklahoma Sooners
of the
Big Eight Conference
.
Miami was led by head coach
Jimmy Johnson
and Oklahoma by
Barry Switzer
.
[2]
A slight underdog on their home field,
[1]
Miami won 20?14.
[3]
[4]
To date, it is the only time the opposing head coaches from a college national championship football game each later served as head coach of the same professional football team, and won the
Super Bowl
with that team, the
Dallas Cowboys
.
Orange Bowl
[
edit
]
The 1988 Orange Bowl featured "
Game of the Century
"-type billing
[
citation needed
]
as the undefeated and top-ranked
Oklahoma Sooners
faced off against undefeated and second-ranked Miami for the national championship.
[5]
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, and also their first postseason bowl win under Jimmy Johnson after three straight bowl losses, two in which they struggled and lost their chances to win the national championships. Further fuel for the fire was provided by the growing personal animosity between former Arkansas player Johnson and Oklahoma head coach
Barry Switzer
, who was also a former Arkansas player.
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
four years earlier
.
Scoring
[
edit
]
- First quarter
- Second quarter
- Oklahoma ? Anthony Stafford 1-yard run (R.D. Lashar kick)
- Third quarter
- Miami ? Cox 56-yard field goal
- Miami ?
Michael Irvin
23-yard pass from Walsh (Cox kick)
- Fourth quarter
- Miami ? Cox 48-yard field goal
- Oklahoma ?
Mark Hutson
29-yard run (Lashar kick)
MOP
:
Bernard Clark
(Miami LB),
Darrell Reed
(Oklahoma DE)
Statistics
[
edit
]
Statistics
|
Miami
|
Oklahoma
|
First Downs
|
15
|
13
|
Rushes-Yards
|
38?72
|
53?179
|
Passing Yards
|
209
|
76
|
Passes (C?A?I)
|
18?30?1
|
5?13?0
|
Total Offense
|
68?281
|
66?255
|
Return yards
|
7
|
22
|
Punts?Avg.
|
6?44.7
|
8?39.0
|
Fumbles?Lost
|
0?0
|
4?2
|
Turnovers
|
1
|
2
|
Penalties?Yards
|
8?85
|
5?39
|
Time of possession
|
32:08
|
27:52
|
- Source:
[3]
[6]
References
[
edit
]
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History & conference tie-ins
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Games
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Notes
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- The game was also the national title game (
Bowl Coalition
,
Bowl Alliance
, or
Bowl Championship Series
) in 1994, 1995, 1998, 2001, and 2005.
- There was an Orange Bowl in January and December in 1996, 2014, and 2021.
- The 2015, 2018, and 2021 (December) editions were
College Football Playoff
semifinals.
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Pound sign (#) denotes national championship game.
|