The 1991 Mobil Cotton Bowl Classic was a post-season

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 ...

game played on January 1, 1991. It pitted the #3 Texas Longhorns, champions of the

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma an ...

, against the independent #5 Miami Hurricanes.

Team backgrounds

Miami entered the game having only lost to BYU and Notre Dame. Texas had stunned Penn State on the road 17-13 to open its season, then lost at home to Colorado 29-22 before winning nine straight games (including wins over then #4

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

and then #3

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

to win the

championship.

Game summary

Miami led 19-3 at halftime, but put the game out of reach with two touchdowns within five minutes in the third quarter. The Hurricanes also set Cotton Bowl and school records for most penalties (15) and most penalty yards (202) in a single game, many of which were for

unsportsmanlike conduct Unsportsmanlike conduct (also called untrustworthy behaviour or ungentlemanly fraudulent or bad sportsmanship or poor sportsmanship or anti fair-play) is a foul or offense in many sports that violates the sport's generally accepted rules of sport ...

. Partly as a result of controversy from this game, the NCAA instituted a new rule stipulating that excessive celebration would be a 15-yard penalty. In the pre-Internet era, many established newspaper reporters castigated the Hurricanes' players and coaches for Miami's actions, with some reporters demanding that coach

Dennis Erickson Dennis Brian Erickson (born March 24, 1947) is an American football coach who most recently served as the head coach for the Salt Lake Stallions of the Alliance of American Football league. He was also the head coach at the University of Idaho ( ...

be suspended or fired and that the game result be vacated and the win given to Texas. These calls were ignored.

Aftermath

The next season,

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

claimed the AP National Championship by going 12-0, ending with a 22-0 victory over Nebraska in 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 ...

. Texas went 5-6 in their next season, did not play in another New Year's Day bowl game until 1995, and did not win another New Year's Day bowl game until the 1998 Cotton Bowl victory.

Scoring summary

First Quarter *8:53 UM - Carlos Huerta 28-yd field goal; Drive: 8 plays, 4 yards (3-0 UM) *5:26 UM - Huerta 50-yd field goal; Drive: 5 plays, 16 yards (6-0 UM) *0:11 UM - Wesley Carroll 12-yd pass from Craig Erickson (Erickson pass failed); Drive: 2 plays, 9 yards (12-0 UM) Second Quarter *7:43 UT - Michael Pollak 29-yd field goal; Drive: 9 plays, 46 yards (12-3 UM) *4:17 UM - Carroll 24-yd pass from Erickson (Huerta kick); Drive: 2 plays, 21 yards (19-3 UM) Third Quarter *11:46 UM - Darrin Smith 34-yd interception return (Huerta kick) (26-3 UM) *6:09 UM - Randal Hill 48-yd pass from Erickson (Huerta kick); Drive: 3 plays, 63 yards (33-3 UM) Fourth Quarter *10:56 UM - Randy Bethel 4-yd pass from Erickson (Huerta kick blocked); Drive: 12 plays, 77 yards (39-3 UM) *9:23 UM - Leonard Conley 26-yd run (Huerta kick); Drive: 3 plays, 26 yards (46-3 UM)

References

Cotton Bowl Classic The Cotton Bowl Classic (also known as the Cotton Bowl) is an American college football bowl game that has been held annually in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex since January 1, 1937. The game was originally played at its namesake stadium i ...

Cotton Bowl Classic Miami Hurricanes football bowl games Texas Longhorns football bowl games Cotton Bowl January 1991 sports events in the United States 1990s in Dallas 1991 in Texas {{Collegefootball-bowl-stub