1991 Miami Hurricanes football team

The 1991 Miami Hurricanes football team represented the University of Miami during the 1991 NCAA Division I-A football season. It was the Hurricanes' 66th season of football and first as a member of the Big East Conference. The Hurricanes were led by third-year head coach Dennis Erickson and played their home games at the Orange Bowl. They finished the season 12–0 overall and 2–0 in the Big East while playing a partial conference schedule. They were invited to the Orange Bowl where they defeated Nebraska, 22–0. The Hurricanes were named as national champions by the AP poll, the program's fourth national championship. Washington, who also finished 12–0 overall, were named as champions by the Coaches Poll.

1991 Miami Hurricanes football
AP poll national champion Orange Bowl champion
Orange Bowl, W 22–0 vs. Nebraska
Conference	Big East Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 2
AP	No. 1
Record	12–0 (2–0 Big East)
Head coach	Dennis Erickson (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Bob Bratkowski (3rd season)
Offensive scheme	One-back spread
Defensive coordinator	Sonny Lubick (3rd season)
Base defense	4–3
MVP	Carlos Huerta
Home stadium	Miami Orange Bowl
Seasons ← 1990 1992 →

1991 Big East Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 11 Syracuse	5	–	0	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 1 Miami (FL)	2	–	0	–	0			12	–	0	–	0
Virginia Tech	1	–	0	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Pittsburgh	3	–	2	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
West Virginia	3	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Rutgers	2	–	3	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Boston College	2	–	4	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Temple	0	–	5	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
The Big East did not crown an official champion until 1993 when full league play began. Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
August 31	12:00 pm	at Arkansas*	No. 3	War Memorial Stadium Little Rock, AR	ABC	W 31–3	46,308
September 12	8:00 pm	No. 10 Houston*	No. 2	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL	ESPN	W 40–10	71,842
September 28	2:00 pm	at Tulsa*	No. 2	Skelly Stadium Tulsa, OK		W 34–10	35,689
October 5	12:00 pm	Oklahoma State*	No. 2	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL		W 40–3	42,751
October 12	12:00 pm	No. 9 Penn State*	No. 2	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL	ABC	W 26–20	75,723
October 19	4:00 pm	Long Beach State*	No. 2	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL		W 55–0	40,498
October 26	10:00 pm	at Arizona*	No. 2	Arizona Stadium Tucson, AZ		W 36–9	53,349
November 9	4:00 pm	West Virginia	No. 3	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL		W 27–3	60,250
November 16	12:00 pm	at No. 1 Florida State*	No. 2	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL (rivalry)	ABC	W 17–16	63,442
November 23	7:30 pm	at Boston College	No. 1	Alumni Stadium Chestnut Hill, MA	ESPN	W 19–14	32,071
November 30	7:30 pm	San Diego State*	No. 1	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL	ESPN	W 39–12	56,721
January 1	8:00 pm	vs. No. 11 Nebraska*	No. 1	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL (Orange Bowl, rivalry)	NBC	W 22–0	77,747
*Non-conference game 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
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	Final
AP	3 (2)	3 (1)	2 (2)	2 (8)	2 (8)	2 (2)	2 (1)	2 (1)	2 (2)	2 (3)	2 т (3)	2 (3)	1 (46)	1 (37 1⁄2)	1 (37)	1 (32)
Coaches	2 (3)	2 (3)	2 (3)	2 (6)	2 (5)	2 (3)	2 (3)	2 (3)	2 (4)	2 (4)	2 (4)	2 (4)	1 (44)	1 (32)	2 (30)	2 (25 1⁄2)

Game summaries

Arkansas

#3 Miami (FL) at Arkansas

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• Hurricanes	7	7	7	10	31
Razorbacks	0	3	0	0	3

• Date: August 31
• Location: War Memorial Stadium
• Game attendance: 46,308

Scoring summary

Q1		MIA	Copeland 99 yard pass from Torretta (Huerta kick)	MIA 7–0
Q2		ARK	Wright 35 yard field goal	MIA 7–3
Q2		MIA	McGuire 11 yard run (Huerta kick)	MIA 14–3
Q3		MIA	Patton 42 yard pass from Torretta (Huerta kick)	MIA 21–3
Q4		MIA	McGuire 1 yard run (Huerta kick)	MIA 28–3
Q4		MIA	Huerta 22 yard field goal	MIA 31–3

Houston

Tulsa

#2 Miami (FL) at Tulsa

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• Hurricanes	0	21	7	6	34
Golden Hurricane	0	3	0	7	10

• Date: September 28
• Location: Skelly Stadium
• Game attendance: 35,689

Scoring summary

Q2		MIA	McGuire 8 yard run (Huerta kick)	MIA 7–0
Q2		MIA	Etheredge 1 yard pass from Torretta (Huerta kick)	MIA 14–0
Q2		MIA	Moore 3 yard pass from Torretta (Huerta kick)	MIA 21–0
Q2		TLSA	Lange 30 yard field goal	MIA 21–3
Q3		MIA	McGuire 4 yard run (Huerta kick)	MIA 28–3
Q4		MIA	Huerta 23 yard field goal	MIA 31–3
Q4		TLSA	Fair 3 yard pass from Rubley (Lange kick)	MIA 31–10
Q4		MIA	Huerta 28 yard field goal	MIA 34–10

• Gino Torretta 20/33, 327 Yds
• Lamar Thomas 5 Rec, 106 Yds

Oklahoma State

Oklahoma State at #2 Miami (FL)

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Cowboys	0	0	3	0	3
• Hurricanes	17	13	3	7	40

• Date: October 5
• Location: Orange Bowl
• Game attendance: 42,751

Scoring summary

Q1		MIA	McGuire 7 yard run (Huerta kick)	MIA 7–0
Q1		MIA	Huerta 27 yard field goal	MIA 10–0
Q1		MIA	Thomas 5 yard pass from Torretta (Huerta kick)	MIA 17–0
Q2		MIA	Patton 4 yard run (Huerta kick)	MIA 24–0
Q2		MIA	Patton 2 yard run (kick failed)	MIA 30–0
Q3		MIA	Huerta 29 yard field goal	MIA 33–0
Q3		OKST	Myers 20 yard field goal	MIA 33–3
Q4		MIA	Bennett 22 yard run (Huerta kick)	MIA 40–3

Penn State

#9 Penn State at #2 Miami (FL)

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Nittany Lions	3	3	7	7	20
• Hurricanes	3	3	14	6	26

• Date: October 12
• Location: Orange Bowl
• Game attendance: 75,723
• Television network: ABC

Scoring summary

Q1		MIA	Huerta 24 yard field goal	MIA 3–0
Q1		PSU	Fayak 20 yard field goal	Tie 3–3
Q2		PSU	Fayak 46 yard field goal	PSU 6–3
Q2		MIA	Huerta 45 yard field goal	Tie 6–6
Q3	6:34	MIA	Copeland 80 yard pass from Torretta (Huerta kick)	MIA 13–6
Q3		MIA	K. Williams 91 yard punt return (Huerta kick)	MIA 20–6
Q3		PSU	T. Smith 2 yard pass from Sacca (Fayak kick)	MIA 20–13
Q4		MIA	Thomas 42 yard pass from Torretta (kick failed)	MIA 26–13
Q4		PSU	T. Smith 9 yard pass from Sacca (Fayak kick)	MIA 26–20

• First meeting between the two schools since 1987 Fiesta Bowl
• Fans watching on television outside of Florida missed two scores when the network switched to United States Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee
• Horace Copeland 5 Rec, 106 Yds

Long Beach State

Long Beach State at #2 Miami (FL)

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
49ers	0	0	0	0	0
• Hurricanes	7	28	7	13	55

• Date: October 19
• Location: Orange Bowl
• Game attendance: 40,498

Scoring summary

Q1		MIA	McGuire 1 yard run (Huerta kick)	MIA 7–0
Q2		MIA	Spencer 8 yard pass from Torretta (Huerta kick)	MIA 14–0
Q2		MIA	McGuire 1 yard run (Huerta kick)	MIA 21–0
Q2		MIA	K. Williams 63 yard punt return (Huerta kick)	MIA 28–0
Q2		MIA	Torretta 1 yard run (Huerta kick)	MIA 35–0
Q3		MIA	Bennett 2 yard run (Huerta kick)	MIA 42–0
Q4		MIA	L. Jones 30 yard run (Huerta kick)	MIA 49–0
Q4		MIA	Marucci 5 yard run (kick failed)	MIA 55–0

Arizona

West Virginia

Florida State

#2 Miami (FL) at #1 Florida State

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• Hurricanes	7	0	0	10	17
Seminoles	3	7	3	3	16

• Date: November 16
• Location: Doak Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee, FL
• Game start: 12:00 p.m. EST
• Game attendance: 63,442
• TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson and Bob Griese

   

Scoring summary

1		MIA	Stephen McGuire 2-yard run (Huerta kick)	MIA 7-0
		FSU	Gerry Thomas 25-yard field goal	MIA 7-3
2		FSU	Paul Moore 1-yard run (Thomas kick)	FSU 10-7
3		FSU	Gerry Thomas 31-yard field goal	Tied 13-7
4		FSU	Gerry Thomas 20-yard field goal	FSU 16-7
	9:48	MIA	Carlos Huerta 45-yard field goal	FSU 16-10
	3:01	MIA	Larry Jones 1-yard run (Huerta kick)	MIA 17-16

Boston College

San Diego State

Vs. Nebraska (Orange Bowl)

#1 Miami (FL) vs. #11 Nebraska

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• Hurricanes	13	0	9	0	22
Cornhuskers	0	0	0	0	0

• Date: January 1
• Location: Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida
• Game attendance: 77,747
• Referee: Ron Winter (Big Ten)
• Television network: NBC

Personnel

Coaching staff

Name	Position	Seasons	Alma mater
Dennis Erickson	Head coach	3rd	Montana State (1969)
Bob Bratkowski	Offensive coordinator/wide receivers	3rd	Washington State (1978)
Sonny Lubick	Defensive Coordinator/defensive backs	3rd	Western Montana (1960)
Gregg Smith	Offensive line	3rd	Idaho (1969)
Dave Arnold	Special Teams/tight ends	3rd
Bob Karmelowicz	Defensive line	3rd	Bridgeport (1972)
Art Kehoe	Assistant offensive line	7th	Miami (1982)
Ed Orgeron	Defensive line	3rd	Northwestern State (1984)
Tommy Tuberville	Linebackers	3rd	Southern Arkansas (1976)
Alex Wood	Running backs	3rd	Iowa (1978)

Roster

1991 Miami Hurricanes football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 37 Doyle Aaron Sr G 60 Rudy Barber So TE 17 Coleman Bell Jr FB 33 Donnell Bennett Fr G 69 Jason Budroni So WR 12 Bobby Byrd Sr OL 75 Candido Cerda So QB 20 Ryan Collins Fr WR 88 Horace Copeland Jr QB 11 Frank Costa Fr OT 72 Mario Cristobal Jr TE 82 Carlos Etheredge Jr QB 9 Bryan Fortay So G 52 Marty Golloher Sr C 51 Tirrell Greene Fr QB 7 Alan Hall Fr RB 40 Derrick Harris Fr TB 3 Jonathan Harris Fr C 54 Kelvin Harris Sr WR 85 Chris Jones Fr G 70 Claude Jones Sr FB 44 Larry Jones Fr TE 87 Kevin Kirkeide Jr G 64 Anthony Lewis Fr OT 77 Zev Lumelski Fr FB 22 Jason Marucci So RB 30 Stephen McGuire Jr TE 90 Joe Moore Sr OL 75 Jason Owens Fr FB 32 Martin Patton So RB 33 Russell Sapp Sr TE 84 Warren Sapp Fr OT 73 Leon Searcy Sr WR 24 Todd Seiple Sr G 68 Brad Shirey So WR 35 Darryl Spencer Jr RB 28 James Stewart Fr OT 62 Kyle Stranahan So WR 18 A. C. Tellison Fr WR 36 Lamar Thomas Jr QB 13 Gino Torretta Jr TE 81 Syii Tucker Fr G 78 Kipp Vickers Jr WR 5 Kevin Williams So OL 65 Robert Woodus Fr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DL 67 Omar Andres Fr LB 1 Jessie Armstead Jr LB 56 Michael Barrow Jr LB 49 Robert Bass Jr DT 46 Damon Bethel So LB 57 Kevin Brinkworth Fr LB 99 Matt Britton Sr S 8 Hurlie Brown Sr DT 76 Mark Caesar Jr S 48 Marcus Carey So LB 83 Dietrich Clausell Fr LB 59 Travis Cooper Fr LB 61 Bruce Eberst Jr LB 58 Corwin Francis Fr LB 80 Derrick Golden Sr S 29 Casey Greer Jr DE 97 Anthony Hamlet Sr LB 57 Corries Hardy Fr S 6 Terris Harris So DE 92 David Holliman Fr CB 26 Herbert James Sr DT 94 Dwayne Johnson Fr DL 93 Shawn Jones Fr DE 91 Darren Krein So DT 71 Kenny Lopez So DB 37 Rohan Marley Fr CB 47 Ryan McNeil Jr DE 98 Rusty Medearis So DL 63 George Michaels Jr DT 95 Eric Miller Sr DL 79 Jessie Mitchell Fr DE 86 Kevin Patrick So LB 59 Tom Patterson So SS 38 Malcolm Pearson Fr S 2 Charles Pharms Sr LB 55 Willie Phillips Fr FS 19 C. J. Richardson Fr DL 41 Patrick Riley Fr CB 34 Dexter Seigler So DE 50 Baraka Short Fr LB 45 Darrin Smith Jr CB 43 Jean Stiverne Jr DL 66 Alan Symonette Fr LB 53 Sean Thompson Jr DL 74 Shayon Tresvant Fr OL 78 Kipp Vickers Jr CB 4 Paul White So DB 31 Darryl Williams Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class P 24 David Dziczkowski Jr K 27 Carlos Huerta Sr K 21 Dane Prewitt So P 15 Paul Snyder Jr	Head coach Dennis Erickson Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

Depth chart

Defense FS Charles Pharms Teris Harris Marcus Carey MIKE WILL SAM Jessie Armstead Sean Thompson Michael Barrow Robert Bass Derrick Golden Willie Phillips Darrin Smith Corries Hardy Bruce Eberst Kevin Brinkworth Corwin Francis ROVER Hurlie Brown Casey Greer Malcolm Pearson CB Ryan McNeil Paul White Dexter Seigler DE DT DT DE Rusty Medearis Mark Ceasar Eric Miller Anthony Hamlet Kevin Patrick Warren Sapp Patrick Riley Darrin Krein Damon Bethel Kenny Lopez Warren Sapp Damon Bethel CB Darryl Williams Herbert James Jean Stiverne Offense WR Lamar Thomas Kevin Williams Chris Jones WR Darryl Spencer A.C Tellison Doyle Aaron LT LG C RG RT Mario Cristobal Kipp Vickers Kelvin Harris Brad Shirey Leon Searcy Kyle Stranahan Rudy Barber Tirrell Greene Jason Budroni Robert Woodus Zev Lumelski Marty Golloher Candido Cerda Anthony Lewis Jason Owens TE Coleman Bell Joe Moore Carlos Etheredge Kevin Kirkeide WR Horace Copeland Bobby Byrd Johnathan Harris QB Gino Torreta Frank Costa Bryan Fortay Special teams PK Carlos Huerta P Paul Snyder RB Stephen McGuire Larry Jones Russell Sapp Donnell Bennett

Awards and honors

First Team All-Americans

• Leon Searcy, T
• Darrin Smith, LB
• Darryl Williams, FS
• Kevin Williams, KR/PR
• Carlos Huerta, K

Conference awards

• Darrin Smith, LB: Big East Co-Defensive Player of the Year
• Gino Torretta, QB: Big East Offensive Player of the Year
• Kevin Williams, KR/PR: Big East Special Teams Player of the Year

• Russell Sapp, RB/KR/PR: Big East Co-Special Teams Player of the Year

Jack Harding University of Miami MVP Award

• Carlos Huerta, K

1992 NFL draft

Player	Position	Round	Pick	Team
Leon Searcy	Tackle	1	11	Pittsburgh Steelers
Darryl Williams	Defensive Back	1	28	Cincinnati Bengals
Craig Erickson	Quarterback	4	86	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Anthony Hamlet	Defensive end	10	263	Seattle Seahawks
Kelvin Harris	Center	12	312	Los Angeles Rams
Carlos Huerta	Kicker	12	315	San Diego Chargers