Nebraska 24
Miami 17

Jan. 1, 1995 - 7:22 p.m. Central
Orange Bowl | Miami, FL | NBC
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Total
Miami 10 0 7 0 17
Nebraska 0 7 2 15 24

Embed from Getty Images

First Quarter
UM: Dane Prewitt 44 field goal, 7:54
UM: Trent Jones 35 pass from Frank Costa (Prewitt kick) :04
Second Quarter
NU: Mark Gilman 19 pass from Brook Berringer (Tom Sieler kick) 7:54
Third Quarter
UM: Jonathan Harris 44 pass from Costa (Prewitt kick) 13:19
NU: Safety, Dwayne Harris sacks Costa in end zone, 11:35 
Fourth Quarter 
NU: Cory Schlesinger 15 run (Eric Alford pass from Tommie Frazier) 7:38 
NU: Schlesinger 14 run (Sieler kick) 2:46 

                              UM       NU
First Downs                   14       20 
 Rushing                       4       15 
 Passing                      10        4 
 Penalty                       0        1 
Net Rushing Yards             29      199 
 Rushing Attempts             28       46 
 Avg. Gain Per Rush          1.0      4.3
Net Passing Yards            248      106 
 Passes Attempted             35       20 
 Passes Completed             18       11 
 Passes Had Intercepted        1        2 
Total Net Yards              277      305 
 Total Offensive Plays        63       66 
 Avg. Gain Per Play          4.4      4.6 
Return Yards                  -6       17 
Fumbles-Fumbles Lost         2-0      2-1 
Penalties-Yds Penalized    11-92     3-20 
Interceptions-Yards          2-0      1-0 
Punts-Yards                7-278    7-288 
 Avg. Per Punt              39.7     41.1 
Punt Returns-Yards          2--6     4-17 
Kickoff Returns-Yards       2-40     5-88 
Possession Time            27:28    32:32 
Third-Down Conversions      3-13     3-11 
Fourth-Down Conversions      0-1      1-1 
Sacks By-Yards Lost         3-20     5-24

Attendance: 81,753 (Orange Bowl game record)
RADIO HIGHLIGHTS 

RUSHING     No. Gain  Lost  Net   LP  TD
Phillips    19   101    5    96   25   0
Schlesinger  6    48    0    48   15   2
Frazier      7    39    8    31   25   0
Benning      3    18    0    18    9   0
Washington   1     9    0     9    9   0
Childs       3     2    1     1    1   0
Berringer    7    16   20    -4    7   0

PASSING   Att. Cmp. I  Yds  LP  TD   Sks
Berringer  15   8   1   81  19   1  2-15
Frazier     5   3   1   25  12   0   1-5

RECEIVING  No. Yds   LP  TD 
Muhammad    4   60   19   0 
Phillips    4   13    7   0 
Gilman      1   19   19   1 
Holbein     1    7    7   0 
Baul        1    7    7   0

PUNTING    No.  Yds   Avg  LP 
Erstad      7   288  41.1  54

RETURNS    PR  LG    KOR  LG    IR  LG
Moss     4-17  12              1-0   0
Benning             5-88              

MISSED FG: None

NEBRASKA DEFENSIVE STATISTICS
Tackles (UT-AT-TT): Miles (9-3-12); Ellis (3-4-7); Veland (4-2-6); Harris (4-2-6); Stewart (3-3-6); Connealy (3-3-6); Colman (4-1-5); Jones (2-3-5); T. Williams (3-1-4); Moss (2-2-4); Brown (2-1-3); Wistrom (2-1-3); Dumas (1 -2-3); Dennis (2-0-2); Pesterfield (2-0-2); C. Peter (0-2-2); Hesse (1-0-1); Stokes (1-0-1); Terwilliger (0-1-1); Tomich (0-1-1); Townsend (0-1-1); J. Williams (0-1-1).

Tackles for loss (No.-Yds.): Harris (3-11); Connealy (1-8); Dumas (1-5); Miles (l-4); Veland (l-4); Brown(l-3); Colman(l-2); Pesterfield (l-l).

Sacks (No.-Yds.): Harris (3-11); Connealy (1-8); Dumas (1-5).

Pass Breakups: Miles 3; Ellis 1; Harris 1.

QB Hurries: Jones 3; Harris 3; Connealy 2; Stewart 1; Ellis 1; Pesterfield 1; C. Peter 1.
RUSHING     No. Gain  Lost  Net   LP  TD
Stewart     17    79    7    72   21   0
Harris       1     6    0     6    6   0
L.Jones      1     2    0     2    2   0
Ferguson     2     4    3     1    4   0
Costa        6     7  -24   -17    7   0
Team         1     0   35   -35    0   0

PASSING   Att. Cmp. I  Yds  LP  TD   Sks
Costa      35   18  1  248  44   2  5-24

RECEIVING  No. Yds   LP  TD
C.T.Jones   6   63   18   0
German      3   22   17   0
Tellison    2   53   43   0
Wimberly    2   18   13   0
Harris      1   44   44   1
T.Jones     1   35   35   1
Chambers    1   14   14   0
Ferguson    1    3    3   0
Green       1   -4   -4   0

PUNTING    No.  Yds   Avg  LP 
Prewitt     7   278  39.7  47

RETURNS    PR  LG    KOR  LG    IR  LG
German   2--6   0                     
Shipman             2-40  22          
C. Jones                       1-0   0
Little                         1-0   0

MISSED FG: None

MIAMI DEFENSIVE STATISTICS
Tackles (UT-AT-TT): Lewis (8-5-13); Richardson (7-3-10) Davis (9-0-9); Sapp (5-1-6); Holmes (4-1-5); Wilson (2-2-4); Francis (4-0-4); Pearson (3-0-3); Lang (3-0-3); Burgess (2-1-3); Little (2-0-2); Phillips (2-0-2); Russell (1-1-2); Scott (1-0-1); Johnson (1-0-1); McCullum (0-1-1); Marley (1-0-1); Taylor (1-0-1); Pickett (1-0-1).

Sacks (No.-Yds.): Sapp (2-17); Lang (1-3).

Interceptions (No.-Yds.): C.Jones (1-0); Little (1-0).

Coverage

Game recap
frazier

Powerful finish on enemy turf secures title

It was a night when Nebraska just wouldn’t give up, even in Miami’s home stadium, where the Hurricanes had won 62 of their last 63 games and had not lost at night since 1985.

Behind a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown runs by fullback Cory Schlesinger, No. 1 Nebraska defeated third-ranked Miami, 24-17, in the Orange Bowl in a spectacular come-from-behind victory to capture the Huskers’ first national title since 1971. The title was the first for Tom Osborne as head coach, whose teams fell just short in the 1982, 1984 and 1994 Orange Bowls.

After spotting the Hurricanes a 10-0 advantage at the end of the first quarter, the Huskers got on the board as quarterback Brook Berringer found Mark Gilman for a 19-yard touchdown to cap a five-play, 40-yard drive, cutting the UM lead to 10-7 at halftime. Miami extended the margin to 17-7 when Hurricane quarterback Frank Costa completed a 44-yard touchdown pass to Jonathan Harris just five plays into the third quarter.

On Miami’s next possession, the Husker defense turned the momentum of the contest as Dwayne Harris sacked Costa in the end zone to make the score 17-9. In the fourth quarter, Schlesinger capped a two-play, 40-yard drive with a 15-yard run to pull NU within 17-15. Quarterback Tommie Frazier, who entered the game on the previous series, found Eric Alford in the end zone for the two-point conversion to tie the score.

After forcing a three-and-out on Miami’s next possession, Nebraska marched 58 yards on six plays before Schlesinger’s 14-yard score gave the Huskers a 24-17 lead. Kareem Moss ended any Hurricane comeback hopes with an interception. Frazier ran out the clock, giving the Huskers their third national title in school history.

Full NU Athletics recap & video

1994 champions
Embed from Getty Images
Omaha World-Herald
Lincoln Journal Star
New York Times*
Sports Illustrated
Miami Herald
More Fla. sources
Tampa Tribune
Sun-Sentinel
Tampa Bay Times
Orlando Sentinel
OrangeBowl.org
Miami Athletics
More Sources
Baltimore Sun
Los Angeles Times
Associated Press
Gannett News Service
Philadelphia Inquirer
Washington Post
White House
Photos & video
Photos

Video
Retrospectives
Nebraska Athletics
Lincoln Journal Star
Football Study Hall
Anatomy of an Era
Grand Island Independent
HuskerOnline
North Platte Telegraph
Columbus Telegram
Nebraska Athletics
Through These Gates
ESPN
Pregame & team info
Los Angeles Times
Scripps Howard News Service
New York Times
Associated Press
1994 schedule
04/23 Reds 43, Whites 9
08/28 @ West Virginia W 31-0
09/08 @ Texas Tech W 42-16
09/17 UCLA W 49-21
09/24 Pacific W 70-21
10/01 Wyoming W 42-32
10/08 Oklahoma St. W 32-3
10/15 @ Kansas St. W 17-6
10/22 @ Missouri W 42-7
10/29 Colorado W 24-7
11/05 Kansas W 45-17
11/12 Iowa St. W 28-12
11/25 @ Oklahoma W 13-3
01/01 @ Miami W 24-17
SI issues: Regular | Commemorative

Commentary

Litke

When the game was there to be won or lost, Osborne quit chewing his gum so nervously, folded his arms, bit his lip and called for the option.

Jim Litke
Associated Press
Shatel

While Sapp had his moments, it was clear on NU's two late scoring drives that Stai's pounding had taken its toll.

Tom Shatel
Omaha World-Herald
Babcock

Osborne's commitment to the option, and junior quarterback Tommie Frazier, was vindicated during the game's final 8 minutes.

Mike Babcock
Lincoln Journal Star
Wojociechowski

Tommie Frazier ... did what the Hurricanes insisted he couldn’t do: He ran the option and by doing so engineered the comeback that Nebraskans will be talking about for harvests to come.

Gene Wojociechowski
Los Angeles Times
Hyde

Miami had 4 total yards on its last five possessions. Nebraska had two title-shaking touchdowns. That was the game.

Dave Hyde
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Vecsey

Osborne is a son of Nebraska. He was always a gentleman when he lost the big bowl game. You couldn't tell the difference when he finally won it.

George Vecsey
New York Times
Klocke

The Orange Bowl was not particularly well played. But you can bet the red-and-white clad Nebraskans don't care.

Mike Klocke
Gannett News Service
Kornheiser

At this point Tommie Frazier has to be the greatest Cinderella story, well, since Cinderella.

Tony Kornheiser
Washington Post
* Article may require subscription