Wide Right II is a colloquial name for the 1992 college football game between the

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 Florida State Seminoles. The game is notable in the

Florida State–Miami football rivalry The Florida State–Miami football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the Florida State Seminoles football team of Florida State University and Miami Hurricanes football team of the University of Miami. Since the late 1980s, ...

and derives its name from the colloquial name

Wide Right I Wide Right I is the colloquial name for a 1991 college football game between the Miami Hurricanes and Florida State Seminoles. The game is one of the most significant in the history of the Florida State–Miami football rivalry, and its name is ...

, played during the immediately preceding season. Like its predecessor, the game had decisive

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or 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 best team, indi ...

implications and ended with a Florida State kicker missing a game-altering field goal in the waning seconds.

Background

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

entered the October 3, 1992, matchup of intrastate rivals as the defending national champion and second-ranked team in the country, riding a 20-game winning streak. Miami, however, appeared to be vulnerable, as Hurricane Andrew had disrupted the early portion of its schedule and Miami was unimpressive in surviving an 8-7 scare against the Arizona Wildcats the week prior. Because of Miami's lackluster performance against Arizona, the Hurricanes lost their number one ranking in the

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broad ...

and were dropped to number two, behind the

Washington Huskies The Washington Huskies are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Washington, located in Seattle. The school competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Pac-1 ...

. Nevertheless, Miami featured a bevy of stars on its roster, including Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback

Gino Torretta Gino Louis Torretta (born August 10, 1970) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for five seasons. He played college football at the University of Miami, won the Heisman Trophy in 1992, and w ...

, wide receiver

Lamar Thomas Lamar Nathaniel Thomas (born February 12, 1970 in Ocala, Florida) is a former American football Wide Receiver and current Wide Receivers coach for the Orlando Guardians of the XFL. College career Thomas played college football and college bas ...

, and linebackers

Jessie Armstead Jessie Willard Armstead (born October 26, 1970) is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) who played for eleven seasons with the New York Giants and the Washington Redskins between 1993 and 2003. He played col ...

and

Micheal Barrow Micheal Colvin Barrow (born April 19, 1970) is a former American college and professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for twelve seasons. He played college football for the University of Miami, a ...

, and the team was in the midst of an

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

-record 58-game home winning streak at 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 ...

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 ...

was looking to avenge its loss to Miami in

the season before.

The game

Florida State came strong out of the gate, as

Tamarick Vanover Tamarick Vanover (born February 25, 1974) is a former professional American football wide receiver. He played for the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League (NFL) and the Las Vegas Posse of the Canadian F ...

took the opening kickoff back 94 yards for a

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

. Miami struck back in the second quarter with a 24-yard Dane Prewitt field goal and a 29-yard touchdown pass from

Coleman Bell Coleman Bernard Bell, II (born April 22, 1970) is a former American football tight end in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins in 1995. He played college football at the University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, U ...

, taking the lead, 10–7. Florida State countered with a 22-yard field goal by Dan Mowrey, and the teams headed to the locker room deadlocked at 10. Mowrey added a 38-yard field goal in the third quarter and a 41-yarder early in the fourth. Leading 16–10 with just over 9 minutes to play, the Seminoles found themselves in a position eerily similar to the season before: a 6-point lead late in the game and a field goal kicker who was 3-for-3 on the day. Miami responded as it did the season before, going on a 7-play, 58-yard drive that culminated with a 33-yard touchdown pass from Torretta to

. Torretta was drilled as he released the ball, but Thomas was able to sneak behind

Clifton Abraham Clifton Eugene Abraham, Jr. (born December 9, 1971) is a former American and Canadian football player who was a defensive back in the National Football League (NFL) for three seasons. He played college football for Florida State University, ...

and make a basket catch. With the extra point, Miami seized the lead, 17–16. Miami's defense held on the next possession, and the Florida State defense forced a punt on Miami's subsequent series. The ensuing punt proved disastrous for the Seminoles: punt returner Corey Sawyer was penalized for attempting an illegal forward pass from his own end zone, resulting in a

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly dif ...

for Miami. With Miami now leading 19–16, a field goal could only tie the game for the Seminoles. The Miami defense again held, but Florida State then forced the 'Canes to punt, giving the Seminoles one last chance with 1:35 left. Quarterback

Charlie Ward Charlie Ward Jr. (born October 12, 1970) is a former American professional basketball player. Ward was an exceptional football player as well, winning the Heisman Trophy, Davey O'Brien Award, and College Football National Championship while quart ...

drove the Seminoles 59 yards and into field goal range, converting a crucial fourth-and-12 with a completion to Kez McCorvey along the way. The drive was highlighted by Matt Frier's diving, fingertip reception for 17 yards. After Ward picked up 19 yards on two quick scrambles, the Seminoles were on the Miami 22-yard line but nearly out of time. On the game's final play, Florida State called upon Mowrey to make a 39-yard field goal and tie the game at 19. With both Miami's and Florida State's

hopes again hanging in the balance, Mowrey, kicking into the open end of the

, missed wide right and collapsed face down onto the turf.

Aftermath

Miami once again used a hard-fought win over its rival as a springboard for a national championship run, winning its final seven regular season games and earning a berth in the

1993 Sugar Bowl The 1993 Sugar Bowl took place on January 1, 1993, in the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was the final game of the 1992 college football season and served as the first National Championship game selected by the Bowl Coalition, ...

as the nation's number one team in both the AP and Coaches' Polls. This time, however, the Hurricanes could not complete the perfect season, losing to the second-ranked and eventual national champion

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 me ...

in the Sugar Bowl 34–13, and finishing 11–1 and ranked third in the country. Unlike the previous season, when the Seminoles followed up their loss to Miami with an upset loss to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, Florida State rebounded and won the rest of its games, going 11–1 on the season. The Seminoles soundly defeated the

Nebraska Cornhuskers The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference, and the Cornhuskers compete in NCAA Divis ...

in the

1993 Orange Bowl The 1993 Orange Bowl was a college football bowl game played on January 1, 1993. This 59th edition to the Orange Bowl featured the Nebraska Cornhuskers, and the Florida State Seminoles. Nebraska came into the game ranked number 11 at 9–2. Flor ...

, 27–14, and, despite the loss to Miami, were ranked second in the final polls, one spot ahead of the Hurricanes. The game was the second in a peculiar string of 5 games in 12 years in which Florida State lost to Miami due to a late missed field goal that would have won or tied the game for the Seminoles, often with national championship implications.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wide Right II American football incidents 1992 Atlantic Coast Conference football season 1992 Big East Conference football season Florida State Seminoles football games Miami Hurricanes football games 1992 in sports in Florida 1990s in Miami October 1992 sports events in the United States Nicknamed sporting events