After their win, Georgia Tech climbed to first in the Coaches' Poll, enabling the Yellow Jackets to claim their fourth national championship, shared with Colorado.
[5][6][7][8] ACC Champion Georgia Tech came into the Citrus Bowl as Division I-A's only undefeated team at 10–0–1 and ranked second in both major polls behind 10–1–1 Colorado.
The Yellow Jackets had begun the 1990 season unranked, but worked their way up the polls over the course of the year, helped greatly by a 41–38 win over then-#1 Virginia on November 3.
[10] Shawn Jones, Georgia Tech's sophomore quarterback, rushed for 46 yards on the fourth play of the game which set up the first touchdown.
However, Nebraska's punt returner fumbled the ball with Jay Martin of Georgia Tech recovering, which led to a 37-yard field goal by Scott Sisson and a 24–14 halftime lead.