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01/08 23:56 CST Home, sweet home for Canes: Miami to play for the CFP national
championship at Hard Rock Stadium
Home, sweet home for Canes: Miami to play for the CFP national championship at
Hard Rock Stadium
By TIM REYNOLDS
AP Sports Writer
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) --- Miami is flying home on Friday from the Fiesta
Bowl. It'll be the last flight for the Hurricanes this season.
They'll get to the next game --- the last game --- by bus.
For the fifth time, Miami will be playing for a national championship on its
home field. The first four of those games were at the now-demolished Orange
Bowl; this one against either Oregon or Indiana in the College Football Playoff
title game on Jan. 19 will be at Hard Rock Stadium, the Miami Dolphins' home
field, where the Hurricanes have played their home games since 2008.
"We're back in Hard Rock," quarterback Carson Beck said after he produced the
go-ahead touchdown --- with his legs, not his arm --- in Miami's 31-27 win over
Mississippi in the Fiesta Bowl on Thursday night. "So, I think that's all that
needs to be said."
Miami is 3-1 in its other national-title-game appearances at home --- though it
should be noted that in the Bowl Championship Series and now CFP era when there
has been a designated "national championship game," the Hurricanes have not
gotten this far.
"This team knows they are the team and the time is now," coach Mario Cristobal
said during the on-field celebration Thursday night.
Other teams have won national championships close to home over the years. For
example, Southern California claims national titles in the 1931 and 1932
seasons after winning Rose Bowls (it wasn't USC's home field, but not exactly a
long road trip for the Trojans, either). Those came before The Associated Press
began awarding a national championship trophy with the 1936 season.
In recent years, LSU won a BCS title (but not the AP title) for the 2003 season
by winning the Sugar Bowl in nearby New Orleans --- about 80 miles from Baton
Rouge. LSU secured national championships for the 2007 and 2019 seasons by
winning in New Orleans as well.
Being at home --- or near home --- hasn't guaranteed titles, though. Texas beat
USC in the Rose Bowl to win the 2005 season's national championship. Alabama
faced what might have been considered road games in the 2011 and 2017 seasons
and won both, topping LSU in New Orleans and Georgia in Atlanta for national
crowns.
And Miami's most recent home title game was a loss as well, when the Hurricanes
fell to Oklahoma 24-17 to end the 1994 season.
Here's look at Miami's previous home title-game appearances.
1983 season: Miami 31, Nebraska 30 The Hurricanes ran out to a 17-0 lead over the top-ranked, unbeaten and heavily favored Cornhuskers, who clawed within 31-30 with 48 seconds left. Nebraska coach Tom Osborne decided to try a 2-point conversion instead of playing for the tie; the pass fell incomplete and Miami finished atop the AP poll. "We're No. 1," Hurricanes coach Howard Schnellenberger said. "No doubt about it." He was right, and Miami had its first national title. 1987 season: Miami 20, Oklahoma 14 Oklahoma came in undefeated and ranked No. 1, Miami came in undefeated and ranked No. 2. The teams were tied 7-7 at halftime, but the Hurricanes scored 10 points in the fourth quarter and held on to win their second national championship. 1991 season: Miami 22, Nebraska 0 Miami's fourth national title, and third won at the Orange Bowl, was no contest. The Hurricanes led 13-0 after just 11 minutes of play and the defense never let Nebraska --- a double-digit underdog --- get on track. 1994 season: Nebraska 24, Miami 17 In the final year of the short-lived Bowl Coalition era, the Hurricanes ran out to a 10-0 lead after the first quarter. But the Cornhuskers wouldn't go away, and Cory Schlesinger ran for two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to cap the comeback and lead Nebraska to the win. ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football |
