Miami football: 5 best seasons in program history
By John Buhler
National Champions/Orange Bowl Champions. No. 2 Coaches/No. 1 AP. 1991 (12-0). 3. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. player. 834
Miami has three undefeated national championship seasons in school history. The first of the three to appear here is the 1991 season. Miami went 12-0, navigating a pretty tough schedule as a top-three team throughout it. The Canes beat four ranked teams, three were in the top 10 and all were ranked No. 11 overall or better. There were plenty of signature moments to be had.
Miami beat No. 10 Houston and No. 9 Penn State at home in the first half of the year. Dennis Erickson’s program won a national title two years prior, but their latter two wins on the year over ranked teams make this campaign more impressive than the one from 1989. In a clash between the two top teams in college football, the Canes beat No.1 Florida State by a point in Tallahassee.
Miami held the top ranking in the country the rest of the way. After handing losses to the Boston College Eagles and the San Diego State Aztecs, Miami faced the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Orange Bowl. Nebraska was only the No. 11 team in the country, but that didn’t stop Erickson’s bunch from shutting them out to the tune of 22-0 en route to perfection.
Going undefeated by beating a rival on the road by a point and then defeating a familiar bowl game foe is hard to top. This was Erickson’s best team. The only problem is Miami wasn’t picked No. 1 overall by the coaches. They were split national champions with the Washington Huskies, the greatest team in school history. There’s nothing wrong with being co-champions with them.