Part of the 1983–84 bowl game season, it matched the undefeated and top-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers of the Big Eight Conference and the No.
[2][3][4][5] The game is famous for a coaching call by Nebraska's Tom Osborne after a touchdown late in the fourth quarter, where instead of playing for a tie with an extra point kick the Cornhuskers went for a two-point conversion to try to take the lead.
Despite being the designated away team in their home stadium, Miami, a heavy underdog, emerged victorious by a final count of 31–30.
Thanks to results of bowls played earlier in the day, the victory enabled the Hurricanes to leapfrog Nebraska in the polls and become national champion for the first time in program history.
The Huskers were led by "Triplets" Heisman Trophy winning I-back Mike Rozier, future NFL #1 draft pick Irving Fryar at wingback and with All-American quarterback and Heisman finalist Turner Gill calling the signals, the Huskers of 1983 were a formidable outfit, averaging 52 points a game.
They had a fairly mediocre defense that was vulnerable to the pass, especially across the middle of the field, owing to the fact the Big Eight was dominated by run-oriented offenses, notably Oklahoma's wishbone.
They were led by redshirt freshman quarterback Bernie Kosar, who had completed 61.5 percent of his passes for 2,328 yards and 15 touchdowns and had started all 11 games.
Then, in the Rose Bowl, Illinois, ranked fifth in the coaches' poll and fourth by the Associated Press, was blown out 45–9 by unranked UCLA.
When the Sugar Bowl concluded, Miami was ahead of Nebraska in the third quarter; if their lead held, the Hurricanes had a legitimate chance of being voted national champions.
Kosar's two touchdown passes to Glenn Dennison along with a 45-yard Jeff Davis field goal gave Miami a 17–0 lead at the end of one quarter.
expected had again appeared, after Miami fumbled at the 23-yard line of their own territory and Nebraska added three points to tie 17–17, beginning in the third quarter.
Then Nebraska caught a break, when Davis missed a 42-yard field goal attempt that would have made the margin 10 points in favor of the Hurricanes.
Instead, Osborne went for the win, and with it, risked everything (the NCAA introduced overtime for Division I-A college football more than a decade later; so it would have ended in a tie).
Miami's Kenny Calhoun broke up the conversion pass from quarterback Turner Gill to I-back Jeff Smith, leaving the inspired Hurricanes with a 31–30 upset victory over the top-ranked Cornhuskers.
A tie would most likely have been enough to give the Huskers their third national championship with a 12–0–1 record, their first for Tom Osborne, since second-ranked Texas also lost earlier in the day to Georgia in the Cotton Bowl Classic and third-ranked Auburn had won unimpressively.
[10] The game almost overnight established the University of Miami as a football power, and it went on to win two more national championships before the end of the decade, under head coaches Jimmy Johnson and Dennis Erickson.
But it was his decision to go for the win, rather than the tie, and his willingness to risk the national championship on one play which has come to define his legacy more than any single achievement, and has become a textbook case in game theory.