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Each week we're going to highlight a big game from Cane history that took place during the days of each "game week." There were a number of games to pick from this week, but only one of the options was a #1 vs #2 battle that has reached all-time legendary status amongst the Hurricane fanbase.
September 27, 1986- #1 Oklahoma at #2 Miami
The Setup:
From the Boz hype and the late night wake up calls to the coin toss and the soon to be Heisman winner having himself a day, this was a game full of storylines. Even 34 years later (go ahead, feel old), this is as good an example of what a great Hurricanes team looks like as any performance since.
Miami came into this one rolling, but feeling disrespected as always. One year prior, Miami met Oklahoma (then #3 in the country) as an unranked squad and walked out having ended Troy Aikman’s Sooner career and OU’s undefeated season. Oklahoma would still go on to win a national title that year, but they wouldn’t forget the beating that Miami handed down. Now Miami was #2 to Oklahoma’s #1, but Jimmy's Canes knew full well that they were the better team.
The Hurricanes defense was led by the great Jerome Brown and a front seven that was as good as any that Miami has ever boasted. The defensive line in particular featured a handful of future All Americans who were especially skilled at getting to the QB. After giving up an average of just 13 points a contest in the three games prior, they were confident, even though many were hyping Jamelle Holieway and the Sooner offense as one of the best in the country. The OU Offense was coming off a 63 point thrashing of Minnesota, which itself came on the heels of a 38-3 beat down of #4 UCLA.
The Miami O featured the eventual Heisman Trophy winner Vinny Testaverde, legendary Cane running backs Alonzo Highsmith and Melvin Bratton, and a ton of talented receivers, including a brash sophomore named Michael Irvin. They had already put it on Florida in a revenge game for 1985 and were expecting to continue their roll against a Sooner defense that was getting some publicity for their own standout players. Brian Bosworth and the late Rickey Dixon were two of the best players in the country and were dead set on showing the world that they could shut down the Canes high powered attack.
Maybe the best anecdote from the build to this game came from the night before the game. While the Sooners were worried about their beauty rest, the Canes backfield members were too fired up to sleep, thinking about all the damage they would do the next day. So, Zo and Bratton spent a little time calling up all the big name Sooners at their hotel, screaming their names, and explaining in (very) explicit detail what was going to happen the next day.
The Story:
If you want to know the entire story of the game, just watch the first minutes of the broadcast. Oklahoma walked out for the coin toss expecting it to be just another pregame necessity, but they found Jerome Brown, Alonzo Highsmith, and Winston Moss all staring daggers at them. That’s when you heard some of the great quotes in Cane history, such as Zo's “We ain’t scared of you, b***h” and Jerome's “We’re the boss.” Miami came into the game against the top squad in all the land and showed absolutely no fear, which, as Miami proved throughout the 80s, is the only way to play against #1 teams.
From there, the Canes were ready to continue that momentum, and Vinny responded immediately. He showed his unique athleticism with a sparkling scramble that set up an Alfredo Roberts TD early on. After a limited offensive showing otherwise in the first half, the Canes went on a roll in the third quarter. Testaverde, who Jimmy Johnson called “the finest football player in the country,” threw three more TDs, opening up a multi-score lead that the Sooners methodical offense couldn’t erase. At one point, Vinny completed 14 straight passes, embarrassing the Sooners fabled defense.
On the other side of the ball, Holieway struggled to find any type of openings that he had been accustomed to exploiting. The speed of the Cane defenders neutralized the big, physical OU blockers, allowing Mira, Blades, and the rest of the back seven to fly forward and limit anything to the outside. This was a Sooner offense that was averaging 464 yards rushing, but Miami held them to nearly 300 yards less on the day, effectively ending Holieway’s Heisman campaign before it could even begin.
After the Hurricanes poured it on in the third quarter, the Sooners had no options but to turn to the passing game, and while they were able to sneak a few TDs in there, the game was too far out of hand for them to catch up. The game ended with the '86 Canes emerging as THE team to beat in the nation, and, despite a late season failure that we don't need to discuss, they are still considered by many to be among the best Miami teams ever.
The Studs:
Vinny Testaverde: Barry Switzer said that Vinny was the best quarterback that he had ever played against, which says a ton about his play. He broke the team record for consecutive completions with 14 on his way to a 260+ yard, four touchdown day that would be one of the biggest reasons for his Heisman Trophy victory.
Jerome Brown: Really, the entire defensive line belongs here, so add in Danny Stubbs, Bill Hawkins, and everyone else, but as always Jerome was the ringleader down there. He disrupted just about everything that the Sooners had grown accustomed to doing to the teams out west. After the game, Jerome said, ''After we got them into the fourth quarter, they were dead. You could see they just wanted to get the game over.'' Jerome is one of the main guys to thank for that.
Michael Irvin: Irvin was hard to ignore from the second that he joined the squad, even being surrounded by legendary Canes like Highsmith, Bratton, and Blades. He caught two TDs in this one (one towards the sideline and the other down the seam), displaying the speed, hands, and physical prowess that would make him a Hall of Famer.
Jimmy Johnson: After getting beat down by the Sooners as the head coach at Oklahoma State five straight times (getting outscored 53-176), Jimmy became the biggest thorn in the Sooners’ side in the mid 80s. He had the Canes ready to roll three times in a row, effectively costing Oklahoma two titles in three years.
September 27, 1986- #1 Oklahoma at #2 Miami
The Setup:
From the Boz hype and the late night wake up calls to the coin toss and the soon to be Heisman winner having himself a day, this was a game full of storylines. Even 34 years later (go ahead, feel old), this is as good an example of what a great Hurricanes team looks like as any performance since.
Miami came into this one rolling, but feeling disrespected as always. One year prior, Miami met Oklahoma (then #3 in the country) as an unranked squad and walked out having ended Troy Aikman’s Sooner career and OU’s undefeated season. Oklahoma would still go on to win a national title that year, but they wouldn’t forget the beating that Miami handed down. Now Miami was #2 to Oklahoma’s #1, but Jimmy's Canes knew full well that they were the better team.
The Hurricanes defense was led by the great Jerome Brown and a front seven that was as good as any that Miami has ever boasted. The defensive line in particular featured a handful of future All Americans who were especially skilled at getting to the QB. After giving up an average of just 13 points a contest in the three games prior, they were confident, even though many were hyping Jamelle Holieway and the Sooner offense as one of the best in the country. The OU Offense was coming off a 63 point thrashing of Minnesota, which itself came on the heels of a 38-3 beat down of #4 UCLA.
The Miami O featured the eventual Heisman Trophy winner Vinny Testaverde, legendary Cane running backs Alonzo Highsmith and Melvin Bratton, and a ton of talented receivers, including a brash sophomore named Michael Irvin. They had already put it on Florida in a revenge game for 1985 and were expecting to continue their roll against a Sooner defense that was getting some publicity for their own standout players. Brian Bosworth and the late Rickey Dixon were two of the best players in the country and were dead set on showing the world that they could shut down the Canes high powered attack.
Maybe the best anecdote from the build to this game came from the night before the game. While the Sooners were worried about their beauty rest, the Canes backfield members were too fired up to sleep, thinking about all the damage they would do the next day. So, Zo and Bratton spent a little time calling up all the big name Sooners at their hotel, screaming their names, and explaining in (very) explicit detail what was going to happen the next day.
The Story:
If you want to know the entire story of the game, just watch the first minutes of the broadcast. Oklahoma walked out for the coin toss expecting it to be just another pregame necessity, but they found Jerome Brown, Alonzo Highsmith, and Winston Moss all staring daggers at them. That’s when you heard some of the great quotes in Cane history, such as Zo's “We ain’t scared of you, b***h” and Jerome's “We’re the boss.” Miami came into the game against the top squad in all the land and showed absolutely no fear, which, as Miami proved throughout the 80s, is the only way to play against #1 teams.
From there, the Canes were ready to continue that momentum, and Vinny responded immediately. He showed his unique athleticism with a sparkling scramble that set up an Alfredo Roberts TD early on. After a limited offensive showing otherwise in the first half, the Canes went on a roll in the third quarter. Testaverde, who Jimmy Johnson called “the finest football player in the country,” threw three more TDs, opening up a multi-score lead that the Sooners methodical offense couldn’t erase. At one point, Vinny completed 14 straight passes, embarrassing the Sooners fabled defense.
On the other side of the ball, Holieway struggled to find any type of openings that he had been accustomed to exploiting. The speed of the Cane defenders neutralized the big, physical OU blockers, allowing Mira, Blades, and the rest of the back seven to fly forward and limit anything to the outside. This was a Sooner offense that was averaging 464 yards rushing, but Miami held them to nearly 300 yards less on the day, effectively ending Holieway’s Heisman campaign before it could even begin.
After the Hurricanes poured it on in the third quarter, the Sooners had no options but to turn to the passing game, and while they were able to sneak a few TDs in there, the game was too far out of hand for them to catch up. The game ended with the '86 Canes emerging as THE team to beat in the nation, and, despite a late season failure that we don't need to discuss, they are still considered by many to be among the best Miami teams ever.
The Studs:
Vinny Testaverde: Barry Switzer said that Vinny was the best quarterback that he had ever played against, which says a ton about his play. He broke the team record for consecutive completions with 14 on his way to a 260+ yard, four touchdown day that would be one of the biggest reasons for his Heisman Trophy victory.
Jerome Brown: Really, the entire defensive line belongs here, so add in Danny Stubbs, Bill Hawkins, and everyone else, but as always Jerome was the ringleader down there. He disrupted just about everything that the Sooners had grown accustomed to doing to the teams out west. After the game, Jerome said, ''After we got them into the fourth quarter, they were dead. You could see they just wanted to get the game over.'' Jerome is one of the main guys to thank for that.
Michael Irvin: Irvin was hard to ignore from the second that he joined the squad, even being surrounded by legendary Canes like Highsmith, Bratton, and Blades. He caught two TDs in this one (one towards the sideline and the other down the seam), displaying the speed, hands, and physical prowess that would make him a Hall of Famer.
Jimmy Johnson: After getting beat down by the Sooners as the head coach at Oklahoma State five straight times (getting outscored 53-176), Jimmy became the biggest thorn in the Sooners’ side in the mid 80s. He had the Canes ready to roll three times in a row, effectively costing Oklahoma two titles in three years.
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