1990 Miami Hurricanes football team

The 1990 Miami Hurricanes football team represented the University of Miami during the 1990 NCAA Division I-A football season. It was the Hurricanes' 65th season of football. The Hurricanes were led by second-year head coach Dennis Erickson and played their home games at the Orange Bowl. Coming off the school's third national championship in six years in 1989, Miami came in to the 1990 season favored by most experts to repeat as national champions. However, a season opening loss to BYU and a later defeat by Notre Dame dashed those chances and the Canes finished the season 10–2 overall. They were invited to the Cotton Bowl where they defeated Texas, 46–3.

1990 Miami Hurricanes football

National champion (ERS, NYT) National co-champion (Billingsley, Sagarin, Rothman) Cotton Bowl Classic champion
Cotton Bowl Classic, W 46–3 vs. Texas
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 3
AP	No. 3
Record	10–2
Head coach	Dennis Erickson (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Bob Bratkowski (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	One-back spread
Defensive coordinator	Sonny Lubick (2nd season)
MVP	Russell Maryland
Home stadium	Miami Orange Bowl
Seasons ← 1989 1991 →

1990 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
v t e	Conf.			Overall
Team	W	L	T	W		L		T
No. 14 Louisville		–		10	–	1	–	1
No. 3 Miami (FL)		–		10	–	2	–	0
No. 4 Florida State		–		10	–	2	–	0
No. 6 Notre Dame		–		9	–	3	–	0
No. 11 Penn State		–		9	–	3	–	0
Louisiana Tech		–		8	–	3	–	1
Southern Miss		–		8	–	4	–	0
Temple		–		7	–	4	–	0
Syracuse		–		7	–	4	–	2
Army		–		6	–	5	–	0
Northern Illinois		–		6	–	5	–	0
South Carolina		–		6	–	5	–	0
Virginia Tech		–		6	–	5	–	0
East Carolina		–		5	–	6	–	0
Southwestern Louisiana		–		5	–	6	–	0
Navy		–		5	–	6	–	0
Memphis State		–		4	–	6	–	1
Boston College		–		4	–	7	–	0
Tulane		–		4	–	7	–	0
West Virginia		–		4	–	7	–	0
Akron		–		3	–	7	–	1
Pittsburgh		–		3	–	7	–	1
Rutgers		–		3	–	8	–	0
Tulsa		–		3	–	8	–	0
Cincinnati		–		1	–	10	–	0

Rankings from AP Poll

The Hurricanes would be the last No. 1 team to lose on the season opener until the Texas Longhorns in 2025.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 8	7:30 pm	at No. 16 BYU	No. 1	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT	ESPN	L 21–28	66,235
September 15	3:30 pm	at California	No. 10	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	ABC	W 52–24	47,000
September 29	8:00 pm	Iowa	No. 10	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL	PPV	W 48–21	70,420
October 6	2:00 pm	No. 2 Florida State	No. 9	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL (rivalry)	CBS	W 31–22	80,396
October 13	4:00 pm	Kansas	No. 3	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL	Raycom	W 34–0	54,211
October 20	3:30 pm	at No. 6 Notre Dame	No. 2	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	CBS	L 20–29	59,075
October 27	1:00 pm	at Texas Tech	No. 8	Jones Stadium Lubbock, TX	Raycom	W 45–10	50,028
November 3	4:00 pm	Pittsburgh	No. 8	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL		W 45–0	50,412
November 17	4:00 pm	Boston College	No. 3	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL		W 42–12	50,942
November 24	7:30 pm	Syracuse	No. 2	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL	ESPN	W 33–7	66,196
December 1	4:00 pm	at San Diego State	No. 3	Jack Murphy Stadium San Diego, CA	ESPN	W 30–28	34,201
January 1	1:30 pm	vs. No. 3 Texas	No. 4	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (Cotton Bowl)	CBS	W 46–3	77,425
Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	1 (24)	1 (27)	10	9	10	9	3 (6)	2 (15)	8	8	5	3	2 (3)	3 (2)	4	3 (1)
Coaches	1 (25)	1	10	8	9	8	4 (4)	2 (7)	9	8	4	3	2 (3)	2 (3)	4 (2)	3 (2)

Game summaries

BYU

#1 Miami (FL) at #16 BYU

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Hurricanes	7	7	7	0	21
• Cougars	0	17	11	0	28

Date: September 8
Location: Cougar Stadium, Provo, UT
Game attendance: 66,235
TV announcers (ESPN): Ron Franklin and Gary Danielson

California

#10 Miami (FL) at California

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• Hurricanes	10	21	0	21	52
Golden Bears	14	7	0	3	24

Date: September 15
Location: California Memorial Stadium, Berkeley, CA
Game attendance: 47,000
Referee: Gordon Reese
TV announcers (ABC): Gary Bender and Lynn Swann

Iowa

Iowa at #10 Miami

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Hawkeyes	0	14	7	0	21
• Hurricanes	14	10	7	17	48

Date: September 29
Location: Orange Bowl
Miami, FL
Game attendance: 70,420

Florida State

#2 Florida State at #9 Miami (FL)

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Seminoles	0	6	3	13	22
• Hurricanes	10	14	0	7	31

Date: October 6
Location: Orange Bowl, Miami, FL
Game attendance: 80,396

Kansas

Notre Dame

#2 Miami (FL) at #6 Notre Dame

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Hurricanes	10	7	0	3	20
• Fighting Irish	10	6	6	7	29

Date: October 20
Location: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, IN
Game attendance: 59,075
TV announcers (CBS): Jim Nantz and Tim Brant

Texas Tech

Pittsburgh

Boston College

Syracuse

San Diego State

Miami (FL) Hurricanes at San Diego State Aztecs

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Miami (FL)	7	13	10	0	30
San Diego St	0	13	7	8	28

at Jack Murphy Stadium, San Diego, California

Date: December 1, 1990
Game attendance: 34,201

Game information

MIA – Carroll 55-yard pass from Erickson (Huerta kick)
SDS – Trakas 25-yard field goal
SDS – R. Rowe 3-yard pass from McGwire (Trakas kick)
MIA – Huerta 44-yard field goal
MIA – McGuire 5-yard run (Huerta kick)
SDS – Trakas 43-yard field goal
MIA – Huerta 29-yard field goal
SDS – Wright 9-yard run (Trakas kick)
MIA – Hill 11-yard pass from Erickson (Huerta kick)
MIA – Huerta 22-yard field goal
SDS – Arey 13-yard pass from McGwire (pass good)

Top passers

MIA – Erickson 17/39, 264 Yds, 2 TD, INT
SDS – McGwire 32/53, 323 Yds, 2 TD, INT

Top rushers

MIA – McGuire 19/30, TD
SDS – Wright 22/112, TD

Top receivers

MIA – Hill 6/112, TD
SDS – R. Rowe 9/102, TD

Cotton Bowl

Cotton Bowl Classic: #4 Miami (FL) Hurricanes vs. #3 Texas Longhorns

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Miami (FL)	12	7	14	13	46
Texas	0	3	0	0	3

at Cotton Bowl • Dallas, Texas

Date: January 1, 1991
Game attendance: 73,521
Referee: Jimmy Harper
TV announcers (CBS): Jim Nantz, Tim Brant, and John Dockery

Game information

Miami (FL)

Craig Erickson
17/26, 272 Yds, 4 TD

Texas

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Drive			Team	Scoring information	Score
Quarter	Time	Plays	Yards	TOP	Team	Scoring information	MIA	TEX
1	8:53				Miami (FL)	28-yard field goal by Huerta	3	0
1	5:26				Miami (FL)	50-yard field goal by Huerta	6	0
1	0:11				Miami (FL)	Carroll 12-yard touchdown reception from Erickson, 2-point pass failed	12	0
2	7:43				Texas	29-yard field goal by Pollak	12	3
2	4:17				Miami (FL)	Carroll 24-yard touchdown reception from Erickson, Huerta kick good	19	3
3	11:46				Miami (FL)	Interception returned 34 yards for touchdown by D. Smith, Huerta kick good	26	3
3	6:09				Miami (FL)	Hill 48-yard touchdown reception from Erickson, Huerta kick good	33	3
4	10:56				Miami (FL)	Bethel 4-yard touchdown reception from Erickson, Huerta kick no good (blocked)	39	3
4	9:23				Miami (FL)	Conley 26-yard touchdown run, Huerta kick good	46	3
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.							46	3

Roster

1990 Miami Hurricanes football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
OL	`60`	Rudy Barber	Fr
TE	`17`	Coleman Bell	So
TE	`93`	Randy Bethel	Sr
WR	`12`	Bobby Byrd	Sr
WR	`81`	Wesley Carroll	Sr
TE	`84`	Rob Chudzinski	Sr
RB	`28`	Leonard Conley	Sr
WR	`88`	Horace Copeland	So
OL	`72`	Mario Cristobal	So
FB	`20`	Shannon Crowell	Sr
QB	`7`	Craig Erickson	Sr
TE	`82`	Carlos Etheredge	Fr
OL	`66`	Darren Handy	Sr
OL	`98`	Kelvin Harris	Jr
WR	`3`	Randal Hill	Sr
RB	`21`	Alex Johnson	Sr
OL	`70`	Claude Jones	Jr
RB	`32`	Jason Marucci	So
RB	`30`	Stephen McGuire	So
TE	`90`	Joe Moore	Jr
RB	`22`	Martin Patton	So
OL	`73`	Leon Searcy	Jr
WR	`35`	Darryl Spencer	Jr
G	`79`	Mike Sullivan	Sr
WR	`36`	Lamar Thomas	So
QB	`13`	Gino Torretta	So
WR	`5`	Kevin Williams	Fr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
LB	`1`	Jessie Armstead	So
CB	`23`	Robert Bailey	Sr
LB	`56`	Micheal Barrow	So
S	`8`	Hurlie Brown	Jr
DL	`76`	Mark Caesar	So
LB	`49`	Maurice Crum	Sr
DE	`44`	Shane Curry	Sr
OL	`97`	Anthony Hamlet	Jr
DB	`26`	Herbert James	Jr
DL	`94`	Dwayne Johnson	Fr
DL	`71`	Kenny Lopez	Fr
DT	`67`	Russell Maryland	Sr
DB	`47`	Ryan McNeil	Fr
DL	`98`	Rusty Medearis	Fr
DL	`95`	Eric Miller	Jr
DL	`86`	Kevin Patrick	Fr
DB	`2`	Charles Pharms	Jr
LB	`45`	Darrin Smith	So
DB	`16`	Roland Smith	Sr
DB	`31`	Darryl Williams	So

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
K	`27`	Carlos Huerta	Jr
P	`15`	Paul Snyder	So

Head coach

Dennis Erickson

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Dave Arnold (ST/TE)
Bob Bratkowski (OC/WR)
Bob Karmelowicz (DL)
Art Kehoe (Ast OL)
Sonny Lubick (DC/DB)
Ed Orgeron (DL)
Brad Roll (Str + Cond)
Gregg Smith (OL)
Tommy Tuberville (LB)
Alex Wood (RB)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Roster

Awards and honors

Craig Erickson, Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award
Russell Maryland, Outland Trophy

Jack Harding University of Miami MVP Award

Russell Maryland, DT

1991 NFL draft

Player	Position	Round	Pick	Team
Russell Maryland	Defensive tackle	1	1	Dallas Cowboys
Randal Hill	Wide receiver	1	23	Miami Dolphins
Shane Curry	Defensive end	2	40	Indianapolis Colts
Wesley Carroll	Wide receiver	2	42	New Orleans Saints
Robert Bailey	Defensive back	4	107	Los Angeles Rams
Craig Erickson	Quarterback	5	131	Philadelphia Eagles
Mike Sullivan	Guard	6	153	Dallas Cowboys
Roland Smith	Defensive back	8	220	Miami Dolphins
Randy Bethel	Tight end	10	251	New England Patriots


Q1	MIA	McGuire 7-yard run (Huerta kick)	MIA 7–0

Q2	BYU	Bellini 14-yard pass from Detmer (Kaufman kick)	Tied 7–7
	BYU	Kaufman 32-yard field goal	BYU 10–7
	MIA	McGuire 7-yard run (Huerta kick)	MIA 14–10
	BYU	Boyce 2-yard pass from Detmer (Kaufman kick)	BYU 17–14

Q3	MIA	Conley 5-yard run (Huerta kick)	MIA 21–17
	BYU	Kaufman 29-yard field goal	MIA 21–20
	BYU	Salido 7-yard pass from Detmer (Detmer to Boyce pass)	BYU 28–21


Q1	MIA	Huerta 22 yard field goal	MIA 3–0

Q1	CAL	White 99 yard kickoff return (Keen kick)	CAL 7–3

Q1	MIA	Carroll 20 yard pass from Erickson (Huerta kick)	MIA 10–7

Q1	CAL	White 1 yard run (Keen kick)	CAL 14–10

Q2	MIA	Bethel 7 yard pass from Erickson (Huerta kick)	MIA 17–14

Q2	CAL	Treggs 13 yard pass from Pawlawski (Keen kick)	CAL 21–17

Q2	MIA	Erickson 1 yard run (Huerta kick)	MIA 24–21

Q2	MIA	Hill 4 yard pass from Erickson (Huerta kick)	MIA 31–21

Q4	CAL	Keen 25 yard field goal	MIA 31–24

Q4	MIA	McGuire 1 yard run (Huerta kick)	MIA 38–24

Q4	MIA	Conley 7 yard pass from Erickson (Huerta kick)	MIA 45–24

Q4	MIA	Spencer 38 yard run (Huerta kick)	MIA 52–24


1	4:14	UM	McGuire 1-yard run (Huerta kick)	MIA 7–0

1		UM	Wesley Carroll 73-yard pass from Craig Erickson (Huerta kick)	MIA 14–0

2	13:42	IOWA	Nick Bell 3-yard run (Skillett kick)	MIA 14–7

2		UM	Darryl Spencer 40-yard pass from Craig Erickson (Huerta kick)	MIA 21–7

2		IOWA	Nick Bell 53-yard pass from Matt Rodgers (Skillett kick)	MIA 21–14

2		UM	Huerta field goal	MIA 24–14

3	8:29	IOWA	Sean Smith 35-yard pass from Matt Rodgers (Skillett kick)	MIA 24–21

3		UM	McGuire 6-yard run (Huerta kick)	MIA 31–21

4	14:04	UM	Wesley Carroll 16-yard pass from Craig Erickson (Huerta kick)	MIA 38–21

4		UM	Huerta 36-yard field goal	MIA 41–21

4		UM	Ryan McNeil 75-yard fumble return (Huerta kick)	MIA 48–21


Q1	12:17	MIA	McGuire 1-yard run (Huerta kick)	MIA 7–0
	6:51	ND	Hentrich-25 yard field goal	MIA 7–3
	1:43	MIA	Huerta 23-yard field goal	MIA 10–3
		ND	Ismail 94-yard kickoff return (Hentrich kick)	Tie 10–10

Q2	11:48	ND	Hentrich-44 yard field goal	ND 13–10
	8:10	MIA	Erickson-1 yard run (Huerta kick)	MIA 17–13
	4:16	ND	Hentrich-34 yard field goal	MIA 17–16

Q3	5:24	ND	Hentrich-36 yard field goal	ND 19–17
Q3	1:45	ND	Hentrich 35-yard field goal	ND 22–17

Q4	14:01	MIA	Huerta 25-yard field goal	ND 22–20
Q4	6:16	ND	Culver 21-yard pass from Mirer (Hentrich kick)	ND 29–20