1986 Sugar Bowl
The 1986 Sugar Bowl was the 52nd edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, on Wednesday, January 1. Part of the 1985–86 bowl game season, it matched the independent and second-ranked Miami Hurricanes and the #8 Tennessee Volunteers of the Southeastern Conference (SEC).[2]
| 1986 Sugar Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| 52nd edition | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | January 1, 1986 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1985 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Louisiana Superdome | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | New Orleans, Louisiana | ||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Daryl Dickey (Tennessee QB) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Miami by 8 points[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ABC | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Keith Jackson, Frank Broyles | ||||||||||||||||||||
Underdog Tennessee trailed early, rallied, and won in a rout, 35–7.[3][4][5][6]
Teams
Miami
The second-ranked Hurricanes were competing for another national championship; they won ten straight after dropping the opener at home to Florida. Miami's most notable win was at Oklahoma in October, which was the Sooners' only loss.[7]
Tennessee
The #8 Volunteers had two non-conference ties at home (UCLA, Georgia Tech), and a loss at Florida.
Game summary
The game kicked off shortly after 7 p.m. CST, televised by ABC, at the same time as the Orange Bowl on NBC,[2] with top-ranked Penn State and #3 Oklahoma.
Miami appeared dominant on its opening drive, capped with an 18-yard touchdown pass from Vinny Testaverde to Michael Irvin, and took the 7–0 lead into the second quarter. As the game wore on, however, Tennessee's defense began to shut down Miami's vaunted passing attack. Volunteers' quarterback Daryl Dickey threw a six-yard touchdown pass to Jeff Smith to tie the game at seven.
A drive from midfield took Tennessee to the Miami nine, where running back Jeff Powell gained eight yards but fumbled at the one, and All-American wide receiver Tim McGee recovered it in the end zone; Tennessee took the lead at 14–7, the score at halftime.
In the third quarter, Sam Henderson scored from a yard out and Tennessee led 21–7, then Powell broke for a sixty-yard run to make it 28–7. In the fourth quarter, Charles Wilson scored on a six-yard run as Tennessee won by a 35–7 margin.[3][4][5][6]
Tennessee quarterback Dickey, a fifth-year senior back-up,[5] was named the game's most valuable player.
Scoring
- First quarter
- Miami – Michael Irvin 18-yard pass from Vinny Testaverde (Greg Cox kick)
- Second quarter
- Tennessee – Jeff Smith 6-yard pass from Daryl Dickey (Fuad Reveiz kick)
- Tennessee – Tim McGee recovered fumble in end zone (Reveiz kick)
- Third quarter
- Tennessee – Sam Henderson 1-yard run (Reveiz kick)
- Tennessee – Jeff Powell 60-yard run (Reveiz kick)
- Fourth quarter
- Tennessee – Charles Wilson 6-yard run (Reveiz kick)
- Source:[4]
Statistics
Statistics Miami Tennessee First Downs 22 16 Rushes–yards 30–22 43–211 Passing yards 237 131 Passes (C–A–I) 23–44–4 15–25–1 Total Offense 74–259 68–342 Return yards 34 105 Punts–average 6–38 6–39 Fumbles–lost 5–2 2–1 Turnovers 6 2 Penalties–yards 15–120 11–125 Time of possession 28:59 31:01 - Source:[4]
The 245 yards of penalties set a new Sugar Bowl record.[5]
Aftermath
Tennessee climbed to fourth in the final AP poll, while Miami fell to ninth.
References
- "The latest line". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. January 1, 1986. p. 36.
- "Today's bowl games: Sugar". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). January 1, 1986. p. 5C.
- Calabria, Pat (January 2, 1986). "This win is a Tennessee waltz". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Newsday. p. 3B.
- "Vols shatter Miami's bid". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). Associated Press. January 2, 1986. p. 23.
- Halvonik, Steve (January 2, 1986). "Tennessee buries Hurricames, 35-7". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 20.
- Holbreich, Curt (January 2, 1986). "Tennessee crushes Miami's No. 1 hopes". Pittsburgh Press. p. D1.
- Holbreich, Curt (January 1, 1986). "Miami, howevers says it has earned consideration for top ranking". Pittsburgh Press. p. C12.
- ESPN College Football Encyclopedia