The Game
Nebraska came into the game as a 10½ point favorite, and early on it looked very much like the blowout many people anticipated. On their opening drive, the Huskers moved downfield rather easily. However, the Hurricanes got an early lift when they forced Nebraska to attempt a field-goal, which they then blocked. It was a huge early momentum swing and they would capitalize very quickly. Kosar's two touchdown passes to Glenn Dennison along with a 45-yard Jeff Davis field goal would give Miami a stunning 17-0 lead at the end of one quarter.
Nebraska didn't panic. Early in the second quarter, Osborne reached into his bag of tricks, running a trick play known as the fumblerooski. Nebraska quarterback Gill intentionally “fumbled” the snap from center by effectively setting it on the turf. The ball was picked up by All-American offensive guard Dean Steinkuhler, who ran the ball 19 yards for a touchdown. While it is neither the first nor the last time this play has been run, it is arguably the most famous incidence of this play, which is now illegal. A touchdown run by Gill later in the period made the score 17-14 at halftime, and Nebraska would kick a field-goal early in the third quarter to tie the game at 17.
It was at this point that the familiar script everyone expected had again appeared. And it was at this point that Miami again decided not to cooperate with it. Two long touchdown drives of 75 and 73 yards took the score back out to 31-17, behind the passing of Kosar (who would pass for exactly 300 yards on the night) and the running of backs Alonzo Highsmith and Albert Bentley, who each contributed rushing touchdowns to cap each drive. Things would get even bleaker for Nebraska when Rozier left the game with an injured ankle, after having rushed for 147 yards on 25 carries.
Backup I-back Jeff Smith came off the bench and scored on a 1 yard run early in the 4th quarter which brought the margin back to 31-24. Then Nebraska caught a break, when Davis missed a 42-yard field goal attempt that would have made the margin 10 points in favor of the Hurricanes. Then the Huskers went to work. Gill completed a long pass to Fryar which took the ball inside the Miami 35 with under 2 minutes to go. On 1st and 10 from the Miami 26, Gill found a wide open Fryar all alone in the end zone and threw a perfect pass, which Fryar dropped. This play would later be forgotten in the midst of what would come soon after, but it may have taken on a much greater significance in Husker lore had they not eventually scored. A running play and an incomplete pass followed, setting up a 4th down and 8 from the Miami 24-yard line with the clock running down inside a minute. Osborne called an option play, which Gill ran to his right, initially keeping the ball and running into the grasp of a Miami defender before pitching the ball at the last second to a streaking Smith, who sprinted in the rest of the way, making the score 31-30 Miami, with the extra point pending.
Read more about this topic: 1984 Orange Bowl
Famous quotes containing the word game:
“Old age is far more than white hair, wrinkles, the feeling that it is too late and the game finished, that the stage belongs to the rising generations. The true evil is not the weakening of the body, but the indifference of the soul.”
—André Maurois (1885–1967)
“A Stander-by is often a better judge of the game than those that play.”
—Samuel Richardson (1689–1761)