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1987 Miami Hurricanes football team

1987 Miami Hurricanes football
Miami Hurricanes logo.svg
Consensus national champion
Orange Bowl champion
Orange Bowl, W 20–14 vs. Oklahoma
Conference Independent
Ranking
Coaches No. 1
AP No. 1
1987 record 12–0
Head coach Jimmy Johnson (4th year)
Offensive scheme Pro-style
Defensive coordinator Dave Wannstedt (2nd year)
Base defense 4–3
Home stadium Miami Orange Bowl
(Capacity: 75,500)
Seasons
← 1986
1988 →
1987 Division I-A independents football records
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
#1 Miami (FL)           12 0 0
#4 Syracuse           11 0 1
#2 Florida State           11 1 0
#15 South Carolina           8 4 0
Pittsburgh           8 4 0
Penn State           8 4 0
#17 Notre Dame           8 4 0
Southern Miss           6 5 0
Rutgers           6 5 0
Southwestern Louisiana           6 5 0
Memphis           5 5 1
Northern Illinois           5 5 1
West Virginia           6 6 0
Tulane           6 6 0
Army           5 6 0
Boston College           5 6 0
East Carolina           5 6 0
Akron           4 7 0
Cincinnati           4 7 0
Louisville           3 7 1
Temple           3 8 0
Tulsa           3 8 0
Navy           2 9 0
Virginia Tech           2 9 0
Rankings from AP Poll
1 2 3 4 Total
#2 Miami 7 0 10 3 20
#1 Oklahoma 0 7 0 7 14

The 1987 Miami Hurricanes football team were the national champions of the 1987 NCAA Division I-A football season. The national championship was the second of five won by the University of Miami in football.

After taking over as head coach in 1984, Jimmy Johnson had a winning record, but some critics questioned whether he could gain a national championship.

In 1985, Miami finished the regular season 10-1, and had a chance to win the national title with Penn State's loss to Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl. Needing a victory over Tennessee in the Sugar Bowl, Miami jumped out to a 7-0 lead. Tennessee then scored 35 unanswered to derail Miami's title hopes.

In 1986, Miami achieved a perfect 11-0 regular season record. Led by Heisman Trophy-winner Vinny Testaverde, a record breaking offense, and the 5th-ranked defense in the country, #1 Miami was a prohibitive favorite heading into its Fiesta Bowl matchup against #2 Penn State. However, Penn State was able to disrupt the Miami passing game and force the Hurricanes into seven turnovers. Penn State won the national championship with a 14-10 victory over Miami that was sealed when a Testaverde pass from the Penn State 6-yard line was intercepted in the endzone by linebacker Pete Giftopoulos with 0:18 left in the game.

After losing three key players (Testaverde, Alonzo Highsmith, and Jerome Brown) from the '86 squad who were selected within the first nine picks of the 1987 NFL Draft, 1987 was expected to be somewhat of a reloading year for Miami, which began the season ranked 10th in the nation by the AP poll.

By year's end, the Hurricanes had allowed a mere 125 points. Miami took down six ranked opponents that fall - including No. 20 Florida, No. 4 FSU, No. 10 Notre Dame and No. 1 Oklahoma. The Canes earned victories by an average of 23.9 points, scoring over 40 points on five different games. This was more than just the program's second National Championship - this was history in the making.


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