The Hurricanes' only loss was at Florida State in late October. Following their victory over Notre Dame a month later, they accepted an invitation to play in the Sugar Bowl.[4] This was Miami's sixteenth bowl game appearance and second Sugar Bowl.
The game kicked off shortly after 7:30 p.m. CST, following the Rose Bowl on ABC, and shortly after the start of the Orange Bowl on NBC, which matched top-ranked Colorado and #4 Notre Dame.[7]
Miami opened the scoring with Stephen McGuire's three-yard touchdown run.[8] In the second quarter, Alabama tied the game on a four-yard Gary Hollingsworth touchdown pass to Marco Battle.[8] On the next drive the Hurricanes retook the lead after Craig Erickson threw an eighteen-yard touchdown strike to Wesley Carroll. After the Carlos Huertaextra point was blocked by Thomas Rayam Miami led 13–7.[8] The Tide cut the lead to 13–10 midway through the quarter on a 45-yard Philip Doyle field goal.[8] The teams then traded touchdowns to end the quarter with Miami scoring on a three-yard Alex Johnson run and the Crimson Tide scoring on a four-yard touchdown pass from Gary Hollingsworth to Lamonde Russell to make the halftime score 20–17.[8]
In the third quarter, the Hurricanes extended their lead on an eleven-yard Erickson touchdown pass to Rob Chudzinski and after a second missed extra point the score was 26–17 entering the final period.[8] In the fourth, Miami scored again on a twelve-yard Randy Bethal touchdown reception from Erickson and Alabama scored the final points of the game after Prince Wimbley had a nine-yard touchdown reception from Gary Hollingsworth to make the final score 33–25.[8]
With #1 Colorado's loss in the Orange Bowl, both the Associated Press and Coaches' Polls awarded the Hurricanes the national championship, ranking them first in their final rankings.[10] Alabama fell to ninth in the final AP poll.[9]
References
^"Latest line". Gainesville Sun. (Florida). December 31, 1989. p. 4C.