January 1, 1995: The Orange Bowl is played in Miami, at the stadium of the same name. It was also the home field for the football team at the University of Miami, who were ranked Number 3 in the country, and invited to play in it.
The Number 1 team in the country was also invited to play in it. This was the University of Nebraska.
In spite of Nebraska being ranked higher, all signs pointed to a Miami win.
Since winning back-to-back National Championships in 1970 and 1971, Nebraska had won 12 Big Eight Conference Championships, 3 Sugar Bowls, 2 Orange Bowls and a Cotton Bowl. But they hadn't won another National Championship. They only lost 1 game in 1982, by 3 points, away to Penn State. They put up one of the most stunning seasons in college football history in 1983, but lost the Orange Bowl to Miami on a missed 2-point conversion.
That started Miami on a quasi-dynasty that saw them awarded that season's National Championship, and win it again in 1987, 1989 and 1991, and just miss it in 1986, 1988 and 1992. So in a stretch of 10 seasons, they reached an official or unofficial game for the National Championship 5 times, winning 3 of them. In those 10 seasons, they ended up Number 1 in the final poll 4 times, Number 2 twice, and Number 3 3 times.
But Nebraska couldn't get over the hump. Head coach Tom Osborne had been an assistant to Bob Devaney on those early 1970s titles, but since taking over in 1973, he couldn't win one himself. From 1982 to 1993, 12 seasons, the Cornhuskers had regular seasons of 11-1, 12-0, 9-2, 9-2, 9-2, 10-1, 11-1, 10-1, 9-2, 9-1-1, 9-2 and 11-0. They lost 3 Orange Bowls to Miami. And just 1 year earlier, on New Year's Day 1994, they thought they had the National Championship won with a last-minute field goal over Florida State. But they gave up a field goal, and then missed one on the last play.
At this point, the Chicago Cubs hadn't won a World Series in 86 years, the Boston Red Sox hadn't won one in 76 years, the New York Rangers had just ended a Stanley Cup drought at 54 years, and Nebraska football, while their drought was a much shorter 33 years, it was similarly tinged with painful close calls.
So when football fans found out that Nebraska's opponents for the de facto National Championship game were the Miami Hurricanes, it seemed like, as baseball legend Yogi Berra would have said, "Déjà vu all over again."
This was a typical Nebraska team, pounding weak opponents and doing enough, sometimes just enough, to beat the stronger ones. They opened the season ranked Number 4, and beat Number 24 West Virginia in the Kickoff Classic at the Meadowlands. They hung 70 points on the University of the Pacific, 49 on Number 13 UCLA, 45 on Kansas, 42 on Texas Tech, 42 on Wyoming, 42 on Missouri.
Kansas State was ranked Number 16 when Nebraska went there, and won, 17-6. The 'Huskers essentially wrapped up the Big Eight Conference title when, ranked Number 3, they beat Number 2 Colorado at home, 24-7. And they went to arch-rival Oklahoma and beat them, 13-3.
Miami were 10-1 under head coach Dennis Erickson. Their only loss was to Number 17 Washington, but it did come at the Orange Bowl. They did manage to beat Number 3 Florida State, Number 10 Syracuse, Number 13 Virginia Tech, and Number 25 Boston College, winning the Big East Conference title.
Cliché Alert: In football, home-field advantage is said to be worth 3 points. The Las Vegas oddsmakers took that into account, and installed Miami as favorites by 1 point.
Midway through the 1st quarter, Dan Prewitt kicked a field goal to put Miami on the board. At the end of the quarter, Frank Costa threw a touchdown pass to Trent Jones, and now the Hurricanes were up 10-0. It was looking like another bad ending for Nebraska.
But the 'Huskers made the only score of the 2nd quarter, as Brook Berringer threw a touchdown pass to Mark Gilman. The teams went into the locker room with the score 10-7 Miami, and the game still either team's to win.
Early in the 3rd quarter, Costa threw to Jonathan Harris, who ran 44 yards for a touchdown. It was 17-7 Miami, and with 28 minutes to go, it looked like Nebraska were beaten. Within 2 minutes, Nebraska had to punt the ball away. But with 11:35 left in the 3rd, Dwayne Harris sacked Costa in the end zone for a safety. The 3rd quarter ended 17-9 in Miami's favor.
Theoretically, it was now a one-score game. Quarterback Tommie Frazier drove the 'Huskers down the field. With 7:38 left in regulation, running back Cory Schlesinger scored on a 15-yard run. Frazier threw to Eric Alford for the 2-point conversion, the play that had doomed Nebraska on this very field 11 years earlier (and had helped to do so 1 year earlier). This time, it was successful, and the game was tied, 17-17.
Miami could do nothing with their next possession. Nebraska got the ball back, and Frazier drove them again. With 2:46 left, Schlesinger broke off a nearly identical run, and rumbled into the end zone. The extra point was good, and Nebraska led. Their defense held, and they were 24-17 victors.
The Nebraska Cornhuskers were redeemed. Tom Osborne had his National Championship. And his greatest victory had just been won on the site of his greatest defeat.
Two weeks later, Erickson resigned from Miami, to become head coach of the NFL's Seattle Seahawks. He did not do well there. In contrast, Osborne won another National Championship in 1995, and another in 1997 (albeit with the polls split, one poll choosing Nebraska, the other choosing Michigan).
Schlesinger played 12 seasons in the NFL, mostly as a blocking back for the Detroit Lions, making 3 Pro Bowls. Despite quarterbacking the 'Huskers to back-to-back National Championships, Frazier was not drafted, because NFL teams were afraid of his history of blood clots. He played 1 season with the CFL's Montreal Alouettes, but his illness took hold again, and he had to retire. Like Turner Gill, the quarterback on the 1983 Nebraska team that crashed through everybody before losing the title to Miami, he went into coaching. He was still better off than his backup, Berringer, who was killed in a plane crash in 1996.
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January 1, 1995 was a Sunday. Only 1 other bowl game was played that New Year's Day: Number 23 North Carolina State beat Number 16 Mississippi State in the Peach Bowl, at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
The rest of the major bowl games were played the next day, January 2 -- and it could have been argued that Nebraska still didn't have the National Championship won. Penn State was undefeated, and playing in the Rose Bowl. They beat Oregon, 38-20, and their fans still claim the 1994 season as a National Championship.
But both the final AP poll (the sportswriters) and the final UPI poll (the coaches) gave it to Nebraska. I guess they didn't want to take Osborne's great moment away. Or maybe they already knew about the harm that was being caused in Joe Paterno's program.
The reason there were comparatively few bowl games played on New Year's Day is that it was a Sunday, and it was the 1st round of the NFL Playoffs. Two games were played in those Playoffs. The Cleveland Browns beat the New England Patriots, 20-13, in what turned out to be the last postseason game, in any sport, at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. The Browns didn't win another Playoff game for 16 years. And the Chicago Bears beat the Minnesota Vikings, 35-18 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.
No NBA games were played, and the NHL players were locked out by the owners.