The Hurricanes were led by first-year head coach Dennis Erickson and played their home games at the Orange Bowl.

Roster [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] Backup Gino Torretta, making his second consecutive start for the injured Craig Erickson, threw for a school-record 468 yards and 3 touchdowns.

[7] Prior to the Miami-Florida State game, University of Miami mascot Sebastian the Ibis was tackled by a group of police officers for attempting to put out Chief Osceola's flaming spear.

Sebastian was wearing a fireman's helmet and yellow raincoat and holding a fire extinguisher.

Miami quarterback Gino Torretta, who started the game in place of injured Craig Erickson, told ESPN, "Even if we weren't bad boys, it added to the mystique that, 'Man, look, even their mascot's getting arrested.