1989 Miami Hurricanes football team

The 1989 Miami Hurricanes football team represented the University of Miami during the 1989 NCAA Division I-A football season. It was the Hurricanes' 64th season of football. The Hurricanes were led by first-year head coach Dennis Erickson and played their home games at the Orange Bowl. They finished the season 11–1 overall. They were invited to the Sugar Bowl where they defeated Alabama, 33-25, to win the school's 3rd national championship.

1989 Miami Hurricanes football
Consensus National Champion Sugar Bowl champion
Sugar Bowl, W 33–25 vs. Alabama
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 1
1989 record	11–1
Head coach	Dennis Erickson (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Bob Bratkowski (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Pro-style
Defensive coordinator	Sonny Lubick (1st season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Miami Orange Bowl (Capacity: 75,500)

1989 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 1 Miami (FL)			–					11	–	1	–	0
No. 2 Notre Dame			–					12	–	1	–	0
No. 3 Florida State			–					10	–	2	–	0
Northern Illinois			–					9	–	2	–	0
No. 15 Penn State			–					8	–	3	–	1
No. 17 Pittsburgh			–					8	–	3	–	1
No. 21 West Virginia			–					8	–	3	–	1
Syracuse			–					8	–	4	–	0
Southwestern Louisiana			–					7	–	4	–	0
Akron			–					6	–	4	–	1
South Carolina			–					6	–	4	–	1
Virginia Tech			–					6	–	4	–	1
Louisiana Tech			–					5	–	4	–	1
Army			–					6	–	5	–	0
Louisville			–					6	–	5	–	0
East Carolina			–					5	–	5	–	1
Tulsa			–					6	–	6	–	0
Southern Miss			–					5	–	6	–	0
Tulane			–					4	–	8	–	0
Navy			–					3	–	8	–	0
Rutgers			–					2	–	7	–	2
Boston College			–					2	–	9	–	0
Memphis State			–					2	–	9	–	0
Cincinnati			–					1	–	9	–	1
Temple			–					1	–	10	–	0
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 9	at Wisconsin	No. 3	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	ABC	W 51–3	38,646
September 16	California	No. 3	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL	ESPN	W 31–3	56,931
September 23	at Missouri	No. 2	Faurot Field Columbia, MO	Prime	W 38–7	43,293
September 30	at Michigan State	No. 2	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	ABC	W 26–20	76,217
October 7	Cincinnati	No. 2	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL		W 56–0	48,597
October 14	San Jose State	No. 2	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL		W 48–16	45,122
October 28	at No. 9 Florida State	No. 2	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL (rivalry)	ESPN	L 10–24	62,602
November 4	East Carolina	No. 7	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL		W 40–10	35,159
November 11	at No. 14 Pittsburgh	No. 7	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA	CBS	W 24–3	52,528
November 18	San Diego State	No. 7	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL		W 42–6	42,362
November 25	No. 1 Notre Dame	No. 7	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL	CBS	W 27–10	81,634
January 1	vs. No. 7 Alabama	No. 2	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA (Sugar Bowl)	ABC	W 33–25	77,425
Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Personnel

Roster

1989 Miami Hurricanes football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR Doyle Aaron TE 93 Randy Bethel Jr WR 81 Wesley Carroll Jr TE 84 Rob Chudzinski Jr RB 28 Leonard Conley Jr OL 72 Mario Cristobal Fr FB 20 Shannon Crowell Jr WR 11 Dale Dawkins Sr QB 7 Craig Erickson Jr QB Bryan Fortray C 50 Bobby Garcia Sr RB 25 Kevin Gibbs  Fr OL Darren Handy WR 3 Randal Hill Jr C 64 Rod Holder Sr RB Alex Johnson WR Dennis Kelleher RB 30 Stephen McGuire Fr OL 73 Leon Searcy So WR 18 Pee Wee Smith Sr WR 35 Darryl Spencer So G 79 Mike Sullivan Jr WR 36 Lamar Thomas Fr QB 13 Gino Torretta Fr	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 1 Jessie Armstead Fr CB 23 Robert Bailey Jr LB 56 Micheal Barrow Fr CB 6 Kenny Berry Sr DB Hurlie Brown LB 57 Bernard Clark Sr LB 49 Maurice Crum Jr DL 44 Shane Curry Jr DB 39 Bobby Harden Sr DL 63 Jimmie Jones Sr DT 96 Cortez Kennedy Sr DT 94 Greg Mark Sr DT 67 Russell Maryland Jr CB 47 Ryan McNeil Fr LB 38 Richard Newbill Sr DE 58 Willis Peguese Sr DB 2 Charles Pharms So LB 45 Darrin Smith  Fr DB 16 Roland Smith Jr DB 31 Darryl Williams Fr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 1 Edgar Benes Sr K 27 Carlos Huerta So P 19 Tim Kalal Sr	Head coach Dennis Erickson Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

Coaching staff

Name	Position	Seasons	Alma Mater
Dennis Erickson	Head Coach	1st	Montana State (1969)
Bob Bratkowski	Offensive Coordinator/Wide Receivers	1st	Washington State (1978)
Sonny Lubick	Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Backs	1st	Western Montana (1960)
Gregg Smith	Offensive Line	1st	Idaho (1969)
Dave Arnold	Special Teams/Tight Ends	1st
Bob Karmelowicz	Defensive Line	1st	Bridgeport (1972)
Art Kehoe	Assistant Offensive Line	5th	Miami (1982)
Ed Orgeron	Defensive Line	1st	Northwestern State (1984)
Tommy Tuberville	Linebackers	1st	Southern Arkansas (1976)
Alex Wood	Running Backs	1st	Iowa (1978)

Support staff

Name	Position	Seasons	Alma Mater
Brad Roll	Strength & Conditioning	1st	Stephen F. Austin (1980)
Carmen Grosso	Graduate Assistant
Ronnie Lee	Graduate Assistant
Scott Runyan	Graduate Assistant
Pete Savage	Graduate Assistant
Dan Werner	Volunteer Assistant	3rd	Western Michigan (1983)

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
AP	4 (4)	3 (4)	3 (5)	2 (3)	2 (3)	2 (3)	2 (4)	2 (3)	2 (3)	7	7	7	7	4 (3)	2 (4)	2 (4)	1 (38)
Coaches	5 (1)	5 (1)	2 (2)	2 (3)	2 (4)	2 (2)	2 (5)	2 (5)	2 (3)	6	7	7	7	3 (3)	2 (4)		1 (36)

[1]

Game summaries

at Wisconsin

#3 Miami (FL) at Wisconsin

1 2 3 4 Total • Hurricanes 13 21 10 7 51 Badgers 3 0 0 0 3 Date: September 9 Location: Camp Randall Stadium, Madison, Wisconsin Game attendance: 38,646 TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson, Bob Griese, Mike Adamle

Scoring summary 1 WIS Thompson 38-yard field goal WIS 3–0 1 MIA Huerta 28-yard field goal Tied 3–3 1 MIA Huerta 43-yard field goal MIA 6–3 1 MIA Conley 1-yard run (Huerta kick) MIA 13–3 2 MIA Carroll 15-yard pass from Erickson (Huerta kick) MIA 20–3 2 MIA Carroll 10-yard pass from Erickson (Huerta kick) MIA 27–3 2 MIA Hill 3-yard pass from Erickson (Huerta kick) MIA 34–3 3 MIA Huerta 24-yard field goal MIA 37–3 3 MIA Aaron 3-yard pass from Erickson (Huerta kick) MIA 44–3 4 7:57 MIA Kevin Gibbs 6-yard run (Huerta kick) MIA 51–3

[2]

California

California at #3 Miami (FL)

1 2 3 4 Total Golden Bears 3 0 0 0 3 • Hurricanes 0 17 7 7 31 Date: September 16 Location: Orange Bowl (stadium), Miami, Florida Game attendance: 56,931 Game weather: 93 °F (34 °C), Partly cloudy, Wind S 15 mph (24 km/h) TV announcers (ESPN): Tim Brando, Gene Washington

Scoring summary 1 7:45 CAL Robbie Keen 45-yard field goal CAL 3–0 2 MIA Huerta 29-yard field goal Tied 3–3 2 4:48 MIA Conley 6-yard run (Huerta kick) MIA 10–3 2 2:10 MIA Crowell 2-yard pass from Erickson (Huerta kick) MIA 17–3 3 0:11 MIA Dawkins 18-yard pass from Erickson (Huerta kick) MIA 24–3 4 12:46 MIA Hill 33-yard pass from Erickson (Huerta kick) MIA 31–3

at Missouri

#2 Miami (FL) at Missouri

1 2 3 4 Total • Hurricanes 7 17 0 14 38 Tigers 7 0 0 0 7 Date: September 23 Location: Faurot Field, Columbia, Missouri Game attendance: 43,293 Game weather: 59 °F (15 °C), Sunny, Wind N 10–15 mph (16–24 km/h) TV announcers (Prime): Dave Armstrong, Dave Logan

Scoring summary 1 3:24 MIA Maurice Crum 30-yard interception return (Huerta kick) MIA 7–0 1 1:16 MIZ Collins 67-yard pass from Keifer (Baker kick) Tied 7–7 2 12:28 MIA Crowell 1-yard run (Huerta kick) MIA 14–7 2 1:36 MIA Huerta 42-yard field goal MIA 17–7 2 0:07 MIA Erickson 6-yard run (Huerta kick) MIA 24–7 4 9:28 MIA Conley 2-yard run (Huerta kick) MIA 31–7 4 8:34 MIA Chudzinski 30-yard pass from Erickson (Huerta kick) MIA 38–7

[3]

at Michigan State

#2 Miami (FL) at Michigan State

1 2 3 4 Total • Hurricanes 3 7 10 6 26 Spartans 3 7 3 7 20 Date: September 30 Location: Spartan Stadium, East Lansing, Michigan Game attendance: 76,217 Referee: Jim Kemerling TV announcers (ABC): Gary Bender, Dick Vermeil, Cheryl Miller

Scoring summary 1 7:56 MIA Huerta 32-yard field goal MIA 3–0 1 3:59 MSU Langeloh 46-yard field goal Tied 3–3 2 5:32 MSU Enos 19-yard run (Langeloh kick) MSU 10–3 2 2:14 MIA Carroll 5-yard pass from Torretta (Huerta kick) Tied 10–10 3 11:52 MIA Johnson 38-yard run (Huerta kick) MIA 17–10 3 6:42 MIA Huerta 27-yard field goal MIA 20–10 3 2:48 MSU Langeloh 27-yard field goal MIA 20–13 4 MSU Harlon Barnett 35-yard interception return Tied 20–20 4 5:04 MIA Huerta 27-yard field goal MIA 23–20 4 0:54 MIA Huerta 52-yard field goal MIA 26–20

[4]

Cincinnati

Cincinnati at #3 Miami (FL)

1 2 3 4 Total Bearcats 0 0 0 0 0 • Hurricanes 7 35 7 7 56 Date: October 7 Location: Orange Bowl (stadium), Miami, Florida Game attendance: 48,597

[5]

San Jose State

San Jose State at #3 Miami (FL)

1 2 3 4 Total Spartans 0 8 0 8 16 • Hurricanes 10 7 17 14 48 Date: October 14 Location: Orange Bowl (stadium), Miami, Florida

Backup Gino Torretta, making his second consecutive start for the injured Craig Erickson, threw for a school-record 468 yards and 3 touchdowns. The Hurricanes picked up their 48th win in 49 games.[6]

at Florida State

#2 Miami (FL) Hurricanes at #9 Florida State Seminoles

	1	2	3	4	Total
Miami (FL)	10	0	0	0	10
Florida St	14	0	7	3	24

at Doak Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee, Florida

• Date: October 28, 1989
• Game time: 8:00 p.m. EST
• Game attendance: 62,602
• TV announcers (ESPN): Ron Franklin and Kevin Kiley
• Recap/Box Score

Game information

First quarter FSU – Dexter Carter 37-yard run (Richie Andrews kick), 14:37. Florida St 7–0. Drive: MIA – Randal Hill 8-yard pass from Gino Torretta (Carlos Huerta kick), 9:57. Tie 7–7. Drive: 80 yards. FSU – Edgar Bennett 1-yard run (Richie Andrews kick), 5:11. Florida St 14–7. Drive: 82 yards. MIA – Carlos Huerta 44-yard field goal, 1:09. Florida St 14–10. Drive: Third quarter FSU – Amp Lee 1-yard run (Richie Andrews kick), 2:20. Florida St 21–10. Drive: Fourth quarter FSU – Richie Andrews 41-yard field goal, 14:18. 'Florida St 24–10. Drive: Top passers MIA – Gino Torretta – TD, 4 INT FSU – Peter Tom Willis – 7/20, 129 yards, INT Top rushers MIA – FSU – Dexter Carter – 21 rushes, 142 yards, TD Top receivers MIA – FSU – Ronald Lewis – 3 receptions, 77 yards

[7]

East Carolina

at Pittsburgh

#7 Miami (FL) at #14 Pittsburgh

1 2 3 4 Total • Hurricanes 10 3 9 2 24 Panthers 0 0 0 3 3 Date: November 11 Location: Pitt Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Game attendance: 52,528 Game weather: 49 °F (9 °C), Light rain, Wind SSW 14 mph (23 km/h) TV announcers (CBS): Jim Nantz, Pat Haden, John Dockery

Scoring summary 1 10:38 MIA Huerta 20-yard field goal MIA 3–0 1 MIA McGuire 8-yard run (Huerta kick) MIA 10–0 2 MIA Huerta 27-yard field goal MIA 13–0 3 MIA Huerta 27-yard field goal MIA 16–0 3 MIA Dawkins 9-yard pass from Erickson (pass failed) MIA 22–0 4 12:06 PITT Frazier 29-yard field goal MIA 22–3 4 10:19 MIA Safety, Van Pelt tackled in end zone MIA 24–3

[8]

San Diego State

[9]

Notre Dame

#1 Notre Dame at #7 Miami (FL)

1 2 3 4 Total Fighting Irish 0 10 0 0 10 • Hurricanes 10 7 7 3 27 Date: November 25 Location: Orange Bowl (stadium), Miami, Florida Game attendance: 81,634 Game weather: 77 °F (25 °C), Chance of rain, Wind E 15–20 mph (24–32 km/h) Referee: Jimmy Harper TV announcers (CBS): Jim Nantz, Pat Haden, John Dockery

Scoring summary 1 9:41 MIA Huerta 35-yard field goal MIA 3–0 1 0:04 MIA Dawkins 55-yard pass from Erickson (Huerta kick) MIA 10–0 2 8:23 ND Hackett 22-yard field goal MIA 10–3 2 2:08 ND Bolcar 49-yard interception return (Hackett kick) Tied 10–10 2 0:24 MIA McGuire 5-yard run (Huerta kick) MIA 17–10 3 4:13 MIA Dawkins 5-yard pass from Erickson (Huerta kick) MIA 24–10 4 1:44 MIA Huerta 32-yard field goal MIA 27–10

The Hurricanes avenged a close loss from the previous year in South Bend. This game marked the seventh time in seven attempts that Miami defeated a #1 ranked team during the 1980s.[10][11][12]

vs. Alabama (Sugar Bowl)

#2 Miami (FL) at #7 Alabama

1 2 3 4 Total • Hurricanes 7 13 6 7 33 Crimson Tide 0 17 0 8 25 Date: January 1 Location: Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans Game attendance: 77,452 Game weather: Indoors Referee: John Nealon (Big Ten) TV announcers (ABC): Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, and Dan Dierdorf

1990 NFL Draft

Player	Position	Round	Pick	Team
Cortez Kennedy	Defensive Tackle	1	3	Seattle Seahawks
Jimmie Jones	Defensive Tackle	3	64	Dallas Cowboys
Bernard Clark	Linebacker	3	65	Cincinnati Bengals
Willis Peguese	Defensive End	3	72	Houston Oilers
Greg Mark	Defensive End	3	79	New York Giants
Richard Newbill	Linebacker	5	126	Houston Oilers
Dale Dawkins	Wide receiver	9	223	New York Jets
Kenny Berry	Defensive back	10	256	San Diego Chargers
Bobby Harden	Defensive back	12	315	Miami Dolphins

[13]

References

1. "Miami (FL) 1989 AP Football Rankings". collegepollarchive.com. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
2. "Miami Overwhelms Wisconsin by 51-3". The New York Times. September 10, 1989. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
3. "Miami 38, Missouri 7". United Press International. September 23, 1989. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
4. "Hurricanes Survive Scare : Miami Loses Erickson, Beats Michigan State". Los Angeles Times. October 1, 1986. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
5. "'CANES MAKE IT A CINCH EARLY VS. CINCINNATI IN 56-0 BLOWOUT". Orlando Sentinel. October 8, 1989. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
6. "Miami 48, San Jose State 16". United Press International. October 14, 1989. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
7. "Six Turnovers by No. 2 Miami Give Game to No. 9 Florida St". Los Angeles Times. October 29, 1989. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
8. "COLLEGE FOOTBALL". Chicago Tribune. November 12, 1989. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
9. "Loses Grow for SDSU After Miami Defeat". Los Angeles Times. November 22, 1989. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
10. "Miami Exacts Its Revenge, 27-10". Los Angeles Times. November 26, 1989. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
11. "Miami Snaps Streak By Irish". The New York Times. November 26, 1989. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
12. "Miami Shuts Down No. 1 Notre Dame". The Washington Post. November 26, 1989. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
13. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/draft/1990.htm