The 1987 Miami Hurricanes football team represented the University of Miami during the 1987 NCAA Division I-A football season. It was the Hurricanes' 62nd season of football. The Hurricanes were led by fourth-year head coach Jimmy Johnson and played their home games at the Orange Bowl. They finished the season 12–0 overall. They were invited to the Orange Bowl where they defeated Oklahoma, 20-14, to win the school's second national championship.
Pre-season
After taking over as head coach in 1984, Jimmy Johnson had a winning record, but some critics questioned whether he could gain a national championship.
In 1985, Miami finished the regular season 10-1, and had a chance to win the national title with Penn State's loss to Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl. Needing a victory over Tennessee in the Sugar Bowl, Miami jumped out to a 7-0 lead. Tennessee then scored 35 unanswered to derail Miami's title hopes.
In 1986, Miami achieved a perfect 11-0 regular season record. Led by Heisman Trophy-winner Vinny Testaverde, a record breaking offense, and the 5th-ranked defense in the country, #1 Miami was a prohibitive favorite heading into its Fiesta Bowl matchup against #2 Penn State. However, Penn State was able to disrupt the Miami passing game and force the Hurricanes into seven turnovers. Penn State won the national championship with a 14-10 victory over Miami that was sealed when a Testaverde pass from the Penn State 6-yard line was intercepted in the endzone by linebacker Pete Giftopoulos with 0:18 left in the game.
Despite losing three key players (Testaverde, Alonzo Highsmith, and Jerome Brown) from the '86 squad who were selected within the first nine picks of the 1987 NFL Draft, 1987 was expected to be somewhat of a reloading year for Miami, which began the season ranked 10th in the nation by the AP poll.
By year's end, the Hurricanes had allowed a mere 125 points. Miami took down six ranked opponents that fall – including No. 20 Florida, No. 4 FSU, No. 10 Notre Dame and No. 1 Oklahoma. The Canes earned victories by an average of 23.9 points, scoring over 40 points on five different games.
Schedule
Personnel
Roster
Coaching staff
Support staff
Rankings
Game summaries
No. 20 Florida
Under the direction of sophomore quarterback Steve Walsh and a defense that returned nine starters, Miami opened the regular season with a win over rival Florida, 31–4. The game would prove to be the last in a series that had been played annually since 1944. The teams would not meet in the regular season again until the 2002 season.
At No. 10 Arkansas
The victory over Florida was followed by a 51–7 victory over #10 Arkansas Razorbacks in Little Rock, which would catapult Miami to a #3 ranking.
At No. 4 Florida State
Miami's rigorous early season schedule continued the next week with a showdown with #4 Florida State at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee. The October 3 game featured not only high drama, but also an astounding 56 players who would go on to play in the NFL. Miami scored first with a second-quarter field goal, but Florida State, fielding a team many consider to be the best in school history, took control of the game after that. A 67-yard run by Florida State running back Sammie Smith was followed by a 1-yard touchdown run from Dayne Williams, giving FSU a 7-3 lead. A 36-yard field goal from Derek Schmidt pushed the Seminoles' lead to 10-3 at the half.
After Schmidt missed a third-quarter field goal wide right, Miami took over, but went three-and-out and was forced to punt. The ensuing punt by Jeff Feagles was blocked and returned by Florida State for a touchdown, increasing the Florida State lead to 16-3 (Schmidt missed the extra point). Miami was forced to punt again, and a big return by FSU's Deion Sanders put Florida State in position to add another Schmidt field goal to make the score 19-3.
With Miami having been unable to mount any offense to that point, the Hurricanes looked to be in dire straits late in the third quarter. Spurred on by an impassioned speech from receiver Michael Irvin, the Hurricanes were able to keep their focus and climbed back into the game when Walsh found a streaking Melvin Bratton for a 49-yard touchdown. Miami went for two, which they converted when Walsh was able to hook up with receiver Brian Blades, trimming the FSU lead to 19-11 heading into the fourth quarter.