1996 Fiesta Bowl
| 1996 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| National Championship Game | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | January 2, 1996 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1995 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Sun Devil Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Tempe, Arizona | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Tommie Frazier | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Pat Flood (Pac-10) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 79,864 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Network | CBS | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Jim Nantz and Terry Donahue | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The 1996 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl game was a post-season college football bowl game in which the Nebraska Cornhuskers won the national championship for the 1995 college football season by defeating the Florida Gators, 62–24. Played on January 2, 1996, at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona, the game matched the #1 and #2 ranked teams in the nation, respectively, Nebraska and Florida. The game was part of the 1995–96 Bowl Alliance.
The game was billed as a classic #1 vs. #2 matchup, featuring two completely different but equally potent offenses.
Nebraska, the defending national champion, opened the season by pounding Oklahoma State 64-21. It set the tone for a season in which no opponent came within 14 points, including three Top-10 ranked opponents whom the Huskers defeated by a combined score of 134–49 (#8 Kansas State, #7 Colorado and #10 Kansas). The Huskers averaged more than 53 points per game and 400 yards rushing.
Florida, behind the passing of future Heisman winner Danny Wuerffel, had racked up similarly impressive offensive numbers, though mostly through the air. They emerged unbeaten through a brutal Southeastern Conference schedule, having throttled rivals Tennessee and Florida State, and whipping Arkansas 34–3 in the SEC championship game. Florida, like Nebraska, had rarely been tested; its closest margin of victory had been 11 points.
Oddsmakers had made Nebraska about a 3-point favorite going into the game. However, many experts picked Florida to win, as it was thought that Nebraska's option attack would not succeed very well on Sun Devil Stadium's grass field, and that Wuerffel's passing arm would be too deadly for Nebraska to stop.
Florida received the opening kickoff and drove to the Nebraska 5, before settling for a 23-yard Bart Edmiston field goal. Aided by good field position, the Huskers countered on their opening series with a 53-yard scoring drive, capped by a 16-yard cross-field throwback pass from Tommie Frazier to Lawrence Phillips. The Gators blocked the Huskers' extra point, and Nebraska led 6–3. Late in the period, Florida went back ahead on a short 1-yard sneak from Wuerffel and led 10–6. As the Gators scored, CBS' Terry Donahue stated, "Nebraska better not get too far behind."
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