The 1990 Sugar Bowl was the 56th

edition Edition may refer to: * Edition (book), a bibliographical term for a substantially similar set of copies * Edition (printmaking), a publishing term for a set print run * Edition (textual criticism), a particular version of a text * Edition Recor ...

of the

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

, played at the

Louisiana Superdome The Caesars Superdome, commonly known as the Superdome (formerly known as Mercedes-Benz Superdome), is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the home stadium of the New Orleans Saints ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, on Monday, January 1. Part of the 1989–90 bowl game season, it featured the second-ranked

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

Miami Hurricanes The Miami Hurricanes (known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes) are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic A ...

and the #7

Alabama Crimson Tide The Alabama Crimson Tide refers to the intercollegiate athletic varsity teams that represent the University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I as a mem ...

of the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC). Favored Miami won 33–25. Sponsored by the

USF&G USF&G was an American insurance company that existed from 1896 until 1998. It was originally called the United States Fidelity and Guaranty Company. The insurer formed a holding company for its insurance businesses and changed its name to USF&G i ...

insurance company, the game was officially known as the USF&G Sugar Bowl.

Teams

Both teams entered the game with just one loss.

Miami

The Hurricanes' only loss was at

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

in late October. Following their victory over Notre Dame a month later, they accepted an invitation to play in the Sugar Bowl. This was Miami's sixteenth bowl game appearance and second Sugar Bowl.

Alabama

The Crimson Tide won their first ten games, but lost to

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

in the first-ever

Iron Bowl The Alabama–Auburn football rivalry, better known as the Iron Bowl, is an American college football rivalry game between the Auburn University Tigers and University of Alabama Crimson Tide, both charter members of the Southeastern Conferenc ...

played at

Jordan–Hare Stadium Jordan–Hare Stadium (properly pronounced n central Alabama dialectas ) is an American football stadium in Auburn, Alabama on the campus Auburn University. It primarily serves as the home venue of the Auburn Tigers football team. The stadium i ...

, and fell from second to seventh in the AP poll. This was Alabama's 42nd bowl game appearance, eleventh in the Sugar Bowl, but the first in ten years, when they defeated the

Arkansas Razorbacks The Arkansas Razorbacks, also known as the Hogs, are the intercollegiate athletics teams representing the University of Arkansas, located in Fayetteville. The University of Arkansas student body voted to change the name of the school mascot (ori ...

en route to the

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

Game summary

The game kicked off shortly after 7:30 p.m. CST, following the Rose Bowl on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

, and shortly after the start of the

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game in th ...

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

, which matched top-ranked

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

and #4 Notre Dame. Miami opened the scoring with Stephen McGuire's three-yard touchdown run. In the second quarter, Alabama tied the game on a four-yard Gary Hollingsworth touchdown pass to Marco Battle. On the next drive the Hurricanes retook the lead after

Craig Erickson Craig Neil Erickson (born May 17, 1969) is a former professional quarterback who was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fifth round of the 1991 NFL Draft and also by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the fourth round of the 1992 NFL Draft. He ...

threw an eighteen-yard touchdown strike to Wesley Carroll. After the

Carlos Huerta Carlos Antonio Huerta (born June 29, 1969) is an American former professional football player who was a placekicker in three different professional leagues. He played college football for the Miami Hurricanes, and was recognized as an All-Amer ...

extra point The conversion, try (American football, also known as a point(s) after touchdown, PAT, or (depending on the number of points) extra point/2-point conversion), or convert (Canadian football) occurs immediately after a touchdown during which the sc ...

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 A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ba ...

. 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 an eleven-yard Erickson touchdown pass to

Rob Chudzinski Robert Matthew Chudzinski (born May 12, 1968) is an American football coach who is currently the special assistant to the head coach of the Boston College Eagles. Chudzinski was the offensive coordinator for several National Football League (N ...

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.

Statistics

: :

Aftermath

With #1 Colorado's loss in the Orange Bowl, both the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

and

Coaches' Poll The Coaches Poll is a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football, Division I college basketball, and Division I college baseball teams. The football version of the poll has been known officially ...

s awarded the Hurricanes the national championship, ranking them first in their final rankings. Alabama fell to ninth in the final AP poll.

References

{{Miami Hurricanes bowl game navbox

Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed onl ...

Sugar Bowl Miami Hurricanes football bowl games Alabama Crimson Tide football bowl games