The 1990 USF&G

USF&G

USF&G was an American insurance company which existed from 1896 until 1998. Originally called United States Fidelity and Guaranty Company, the Baltimore, Maryland-based company was organized on March 19, 1896, and commenced business on August 1, 1896...

 Sugar Bowl

Sugar Bowl

The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Sugar Bowl has been played annually since January 1, 1935, and celebrated its 75th anniversary on January 2, 2009...

, part of the 1989 season, took place on January 1, 1990, at the Louisiana Superdome

Louisiana Superdome

The Mercedes-Benz Superdome, previously known as the Louisiana Superdome and colloquially known as the Superdome, is a sports and exhibition arena located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana, USA...

 in New Orleans, Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

. The competing teams were the Alabama Crimson Tide, representing the Southeastern Conference

Southeastern Conference

The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference that operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama...

 (SEC), and the Miami Hurricanes

1989 Miami Hurricanes football team

The 1989 Miami Hurricanes were the national champions of the 1989 NCAA Division I-A football season. The national championship was the third won by the University of Miami in football.-Offense:-Defense:-Special Teams:-Schedule:...

, competing as a football independent. Miami was victorious in by a final score of 33–25.

Alabama

The 1989 Alabama squad finished the regular season with an 10–1 record, as conference co-champions. Following their loss against Auburn

1989 Auburn Tigers football team

The 1989 Auburn Tigers football team represented Auburn University in the 1989 NCAA Division I-A football season. Coached by Pat Dye, the team finished the season with a 10–2 record and won their third straight SEC title. On December 2, Alabama visited Auburn on their home campus for the first...

 in the first ever Iron Bowl

Iron Bowl

The Iron Bowl is an American college football rivalry game played annually by the Alabama Crimson Tide football team of the University of Alabama and the Auburn Tigers football team of Auburn University. The series is considered one of the best and most hard-fought rivalries in all of sports...

 played at Jordan–Hare Stadium, university officials announced they accepted an invitation to play in the Sugar Bowl. The appearance marked the eleventh for Alabama in the Sugar Bowl and their 42nd overall bowl game appearance.

Miami

The 1989 Miami squad finished the regular season with an 10–1. Following their victory over Notre Dame, university officials announced they accepted an invitation to play in the Sugar Bowl. The appearance marked the second for Miami in the Sugar Bowl, and their sixteenth overall bowl game appearance.

Game summary

Miami opened the scoring with a Stephen McGuire, 3-yard touchdown run to take an early 7–0 lead. In the second quarter, Alabama tied the game on a 4-yard Gary Hollingsworth touchdown pass to Marco Battle. On the next drive the Hurricanes retook the lead after Craig Erickson

Craig Erickson

Craig Neil Erickson is a former professional quarterback who was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 5th round of the 1991 NFL Draft and also by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 4th round of the 1992 NFL Draft. He is one of the few NFL players to be drafted twice, most famously Bo...

 threw an eighteen yard touchdown strike to Wesley Carroll

Wesley Carroll (wide receiver)

Wesley Carroll is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League. He played three years for the New Orleans Saints and Cincinnati Bengals....

. After the Carlos Huerta

Carlos Huerta

Carlos Huerta was a gridiron football kicker in three professional leagues.After playing his college football at the University of Miami, Huerta joined the Las Vegas Posse, a Canadian Football League expansion franchise...

 extra point

Convert

The convert or try, in American football known as "point after", and Canadian football "Point after touchdown", is a one-scrimmage down played immediately after a touchdown during which the scoring team is allowed to attempt to score an extra one point by kicking the ball through the uprights , or...

 was blocked by Thomas Rayam Miami led 13–7. The Tide cut the lead to 13–10 midway through the quarter on a 45-yard Philip Doyle field goal. The teams then traded touchdowns to end the quarter with Miami scoring on a three-yard Alex Johnson run and the Crimson Tide scoring on a four-yard touchdown pass from Gary Hollingsworth to Lamonde Russell to make the halftime score 20–17.

In the third quarter, the Hurricanes extended their lead on a eleven-yard Erickson touchdown pass to Rob Chudzinski

Rob Chudzinski

Robert A. Chudzinski is an American football coach. He is currently the Offensive Coordinator for the Carolina Panthers. He was the offensive coordinator of the Cleveland Browns, having been named to that position on January 20, 2007...

 and after a second missed extra point the score was 26–17 entering the final period. In the fourth, Miami scored again on a twelve-yard Randy Bethal touchdown reception from Erickson and Alabama scored the final points of the game after Prince Wimbley had a nine-yard touchdown reception from Gary Hollingsworth to make the final score 33–25.

With their victory, both the Associated Press

Associated Press

The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...

 and Coaches' Polls awarded the Hurricanes the national championship in ranking them #1 in their final rankings.