| Year Game Played: | 1990 |
| Title Sponsor: | USF&G |
| Game Name: | Sugar Bowl |
| Subheader: | 56th edition |
| Football Season: | 1989 |
| Visitor Name Short: | Miami |
| Visitor Nickname: | Hurricanes |
| Visitor School: | University of Miami |
| Home Name Short: | Alabama |
| Home Nickname: | Crimson Tide |
| Home School: | University of Alabama |
| Visitor Record: | 10–1 |
| Visitor Conference: | Independent |
| Home Record: | 10–1 |
| Home Conference: | SEC |
| Visitor Coach: | Dennis Erickson |
| Home Coach: | Bill Curry |
| Visitor Rank Ap: | 2 |
| Visitor Rank Coaches: | 2 |
| Home Rank Ap: | 7 |
| Home Rank Coaches: | 7 |
| Visitor 1Q: | 7 |
| Visitor 2Q: | 13 |
| Visitor 3Q: | 6 |
| Visitor 4Q: | 7 |
| Home 1Q: | 0 |
| Home 2Q: | 17 |
| Home 3Q: | 0 |
| Home 4Q: | 8 |
| Date Game Played: | January 1 |
| Stadium: | Louisiana Superdome |
| City: | New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Mvp: | Craig Erickson (Miami QB) |
| Odds: | Miami by 9 points[1] |
| Referee: | John Nealon (Big Ten) |
| Halftime: | Million Dollar Band, Band of the Hour |
| Attendance: | 77,452 |
| Us Network: | ABC |
| Us Announcers Link: | List of announcers of major college bowl games |
| Us Announcers: | Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, and Dan Dierdorf |
The 1990 Sugar Bowl was the 56th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, on Monday, January 1. Part of the 1989–90 bowl game season, it featured the second-ranked independent Miami Hurricanes and the #7 Alabama Crimson Tide of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Favored Miami won 33–25.[2] [3]
Sponsored by the USF&G insurance company, the game was officially known as the USF&G Sugar Bowl.
See main article: 1989 NCAA Division I-A football season. Both teams entered the game with just one loss.
See main article: 1989 Miami Hurricanes football team. 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.
See main article: 1989 Alabama Crimson Tide football team. The Crimson Tide won their first ten games, but lost to Auburn in the first-ever Iron Bowl played at Jordan–Hare Stadium,[5] [6] and fell from second to seventh in the AP poll. This was Alabama's 42nd bowl game appearance, eleventh in the Sugar Bowl, but the first in ten years, when they defeated the Arkansas Razorbacks en route to the national championship.
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 Huerta extra 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]
| Statistics | Miami | Alabama | |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Downs | 24 | 17 | |
| Rushes–yards | 50–227 | 29–38 | |
| Passing yards | 250 | 214 | |
| Passes | 17–27–1 | 27–43–1 | |
| Total Offense | 77–477 | 72–252 | |
| Return yards | 13 | 34 | |
| Punts–average | 5–31.4 | 8–38.3 | |
| Fumbles–lost | 2–2 | 0–0 | |
| Turnovers< | -- by--> | 3 | 1 |
| Penalties–yards | 11–77 | 3–24 | |
| Time of possession | 30:38 | 29:22 |
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]