1986 Miami Hurricanes football team

1986 Miami Hurricanes football
Fiesta Bowl, L 10–14 vs. Penn State
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 2
AP	No. 2
Record	11–1
Head coach	Jimmy Johnson (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Gary Stevens (4th season)
Offensive scheme	Pro-style
Defensive coordinator	Dave Wannstedt (1st season)
Base defense	4–3
MVP	Vinny Testaverde
Home stadium	Miami Orange Bowl
Seasons ←  1985 1987  →

1986 NCAA Division I-A independents football records

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 1 Penn State		–		–				12	–	0	–	0
No. 2 Miami (FL)		–		–				11	–	1	–	0
No. 20 Virginia Tech		–		–				9	–	2	–	1
No. 19 Boston College		–		–				9	–	3	–	0
Tulsa		–		–				7	–	4	–	0
Florida State		–		–				7	–	4	–	1
Army		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Southwestern Louisiana		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Southern Miss		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Temple		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Pittsburgh		–		–				5	–	5	–	1
Rutgers		–		–				5	–	5	–	1
Cincinnati		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Notre Dame		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Syracuse		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
South Carolina		–		–				3	–	6	–	2
Tulane		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
West Virginia		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
Louisville		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
Navy		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
Wichita State		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
East Carolina		–		–				2	–	9	–	0
Northern Illinois		–		–				2	–	9	–	0
Memphis State		–		–				1	–	10	–	0
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1986 Miami Hurricanes football team represented the University of Miami as an independent during the 1986 NCAA Division I-A football season. It was the Hurricanes' 61st season of football. The Hurricanes were led by third year head coach Jimmy Johnson and played home games at the Miami Orange Bowl in Miami. Miami outscored their opponents 420–136, including a 28–16 victory against the Oklahoma Sooners, who were the defending national champions and ranked No. 1 at the time. At 11–0, it was Miami's first undefeated regular season, which they finished ranked No. 1. They were invited to the Fiesta Bowl. Miami lost, 14–10, to No. 2 Penn State, also undefeated.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
August 30	at South Carolina	No. 3	Williams–Brice Stadium Columbia, SC	ESPN	W 34–14	73,500	[1]
September 6	at No. 13 Florida	No. 3	Florida Field Gainesville, FL (rivalry)		W 23–15	74,875	[2]
September 13	Texas Tech	No. 2	Orange Bowl Stadium Miami, FL	KJTV	W 61–11	41,925	[3]
September 27	No. 1 Oklahoma	No. 2	Orange Bowl Stadium Miami, FL	CBS	W 28–16	71,451	[4]
October 4	Northern Illinois	No. 1	Orange Bowl Stadium Miami, FL		W 34–0	33,905	[5]
October 11	at West Virginia	No. 1	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV	ABC	W 58–14	63,500	[6]
October 18	at Cincinnati	No. 1	Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH	Raycom	W 45–13	29,546	[7]
November 1	No. 20 Florida State	No. 1	Orange Bowl Stadium Miami, FL (rivalry)	CBS	W 41–23	62,834	[8]
November 8	at Pittsburgh	No. 1	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA	ABC	W 37–10	55,338	[9]
November 15	Tulsa	No. 1	Orange Bowl Stadium Miami, FL		W 23–10	51,110	[10]
November 27	East Carolina	No. 1	Orange Bowl Stadium Miami, FL		W 36–10	30,202	[11]
January 2	vs. No. 2 Penn State	No. 1	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ (Fiesta Bowl)	NBC	L 10–14	73,098	[12]
Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game Source: [13]

Rankings

See also: 1986 NCAA Division I-A football rankings

Personnel

1986 Miami Hurricanes football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class G 73 David Alekna Sr OT 56 Chris Bell Fr WR 9 Brian Blades Jr RB 5 Melvin Bratton Jr WR 83 Andre Brown So OT 53 Rob Canei Jr TE 84 Rob Chudzinski Fr OL 59 Luis Cristabol Fr OT 70 Ed Davis Sr C 50 Bobby Garcia Fr FB 26 Cleveland Gary So FB 41 Eric Ham Jr TE 82 Charles Henry Jr FB 30 Alonzo Highsmith Sr WR 17 Rodney Hill So C 64 Roderick Holder Fr TE 80 John Hunt Fr WR 47 Michael Irvin So QB 8 Greg Jones Fr OT 72 Marcus Kinlaw Fr Sr 11 David Kintigh Sr G 61 Maurice Maddox Jr OL 52 Jose Montalvo So G 77 Paul O'Connor Sr OT 37 Darryl Oliver Sr FB 75 John O'Neill So G 68 Barry Panfil Fr OT 71 Matt Patchan Jr RB 21 J.C. Penny Jr WR 33 Brett Perrriman Jr OT 69 Mike Pigza So G 76 Scott Provin Jr C 74 Gregg Rakoczy Sr TE 87 Alfredo Roberts Jr G 65 Steve Rosinski Fr OT 78 Bill Schaefer TE 81 Brian Smith So RB 44 Steve Staffier Jr OL 67 Mike Sullivan Fr QB 14 Vinny Testaverde Sr RB 16 Robert Thomas So QB 13 Geoff Torretta Sr QB 7 Bill Turkowski Fr FB 34 Tracy Waiters So QB 1 Steve Walsh Fr RB 24 Warren Williams Jr WR 23 Percy Wilson Fr	Defense Pos. # Name Class CB 18 Tolbert Bain Jr DB 6 Kenny Berry Fr S 36 Bennie Blades Jr DT 98 Jerome Brown Sr S 32 Selwyn Brown Jr LB 91 Rod Carter So LB 57 Bernard Clark Fr DB 29 Don Ellis So CB 19 Darrell Fullington Jr DL 60 David Guest Fr DL 49 Darren Handy Fr DB 39 Bobby Harden Fr LB 85 Kevin Harris Fr DE 54 Bill Hawkins So DB 15 Jason Hicks Fr LB 31 Freddy Highsmith So DE 99 Jeff Howard Fr LB 40 Sandy Jack Fr DB 27 Michael Johnson Fr DT 86 Derwin Jones Jr DE 63 Jimmie Jones Fr LB 51 Bukasa Kalombo Fr DE 88 Dennis Kelleher Fr DT 62 Gary Mahon So LB 55 Danny Mariscal So DE 94 Greg Mark Fr DL 79 Russell Maryland Fr DB 28 Kevin McCutcheon Sr DB 48 Bubba McDowell So CB 43 Doug McFadden Sr LB 45 George Mira Jr. Jr LB 90 Victor Morris Sr LB 92 Winston Moss Sr DT 97 Ernie Parish So LB 58 Willis Peguese Fr S 2 Basil Proctor Fr LB 22 Randy Shannon So DT 93 Dan Sileo Jr CB 35 Tim Sims Sr DE 96 Dan Stubbs Jr DT 95 Brad Stunkel Fr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 25 Greg Cox Jr P 38 Jeff Feagles Jr P 20 Steve Kazdin Sr P 12 Kirk Sandifer So K 3 Mark Seelig Sr P 17 David Lewis  Jr	Head coach Jimmy Johnson Coordinators/assistant coaches Hubbard Alexander (WR) Joe Brodsky (RB) Butch Davis (DL) Bill Foran (Str+Cond) John Fontes (Volunteer) Steve Hoffman (GA) Art Kehoe (OL) Carlos Mainord (DB) Ron Meeks (GA) Chuck Pagano (GA) Stewart Rogers (GA) Don Soldinger (TE) Gary Stevens (OC/QB) Tommy Tuberville (GA) Dave Wannstedt (DC/LB) Tony Wise (OL) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster Last update: 2016-10-05

Season summary

At South Carolina

Miami (FL) at South Carolina

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
•No. 3 Hurricanes	14	3	17	0	34
Gamecocks	0	0	0	14	14

• Date: August 30
• Location: Williams–Brice Stadium

Scoring summary

Q1		MIA	Bratton 34-yard run (Seelig kick)	MIA 7–0
Q1		MIA	Bratton 12-yard run (Seelig kick)	MIA 14–0
Q2		MIA	Seelig 45-yard field goal	MIA 17–0
Q3		MIA	Bratton 2-yard run (Seelig kick)	MIA 24–0
Q3		MIA	Seelig 49-yard field goal	MIA 27–0
Q3		MIA	A. Highsmith 17-yard pass from Testaverde (Seelig kick)	MIA 34–0
Q4		SCAR	H. Brown 4-yard pass from Ellis (Hagler kick)	MIA 34–7
Q4		SCAR	Sharpe 29-yard pass from Ellis (Hagler kick)	MIA 34–14

See also: 1986 South Carolina Gamecocks football team

• Melvin Bratton 10 Rush, 105 Yds
• Michael Irvin 6 Rec, 101 Yds

^[14]

At Florida

Miami (FL)

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
•No. 3 Hurricanes	7	0	9	7	23
Gators	0	9	0	6	15

• Date: September 6
• Location: Florida Field

Scoring summary

Q1		MIA	Bratton 24-yard run (Seelig kick)	MIA 7–0
Q2		FLA	Dawson 32-yard field goal	MIA 7–3
Q2		FLA	Dawson 38-yard field goal	MIA 7–6
Q2		FLA	Dawson 41-yard field goal	FLA 9–7
Q3		MIA	Bratton 20-yard run (pass failed)	MIA 13–9
Q3		MIA	Seelig 35-yard field goal	MIA 16–9
Q4		MIA	Irvin 15-yard pass from Testaverde (Seelig kick)	MIA 23–9
Q4		FLA	Jones 1-yard pass from Bell (pass failed)	MIA 23–15

See also: 1986 Florida Gators football team and Florida–Miami football rivalry

^[15]

Texas Tech

See also: 1986 Texas Tech Red Raiders football team

Oklahoma

Oklahoma at Miami (FL)

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 1 Sooners	0	3	7	6	16
•No. 2 Hurricanes	0	7	21	0	28

• Date: September 27
• Location: Orange Bowl
• Game start: 3:30 p.m. EDT
• Referee: J.C. Louderback
• TV announcers (CBS): Brent Musburger and Ara Parseghian

See also: 1986 Oklahoma Sooners football team

^[16]

Northern Illinois

See also: 1986 Northern Illinois Huskies football team

^[17]

At West Virginia

See also: 1986 West Virginia Mountaineers football team

At Cincinnati

See also: Cincinnati Bearcats football

Florida State

Florida State at Miami (FL)

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 20 Seminoles	14	3	6	0	23
•No. 1 Hurricanes	14	0	7	20	41

• Date: November 1
• Location: Orange Bowl
• Game start: 12:00 p.m. EST
• Game attendance: 62,834
• TV announcers (CBS): Brent Musburger and Ara Parseghian

See also: 1986 Florida State Seminoles football team and Florida State–Miami football rivalry

^[18]

Vs. Penn State (Fiesta Bowl)

Miami (FL) vs. Penn State

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 1 Hurricanes	0	7	0	3	10
•No. 2 Nittany Lions	0	7	0	7	14

• Date: January 2
• Location: Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, AZ
• Game attendance: 73,098
• Referee: Jimmy Harper
• TV announcers (NBC): Charlie Jones, Bob Griese, and Jimmy Cefalo

Main article: 1987 Fiesta Bowl

See also: 1986 Penn State Nittany Lions football team and Game of the Century (college football)

^[19]

1987 NFL Draft

Main article: 1987 NFL draft

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Vinny Testaverde	Quarterback	1	1	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Alonzo Highsmith	Running back	1	3	Houston Oilers
Jerome Brown	Defensive tackle	1	9	Philadelphia Eagles
Gregg Rakoczy	Center	2	32	Cleveland Browns
Winston Moss	Linebacker	2	50	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Paul O'Connor	Guard	5	140	New York Giants
Darryl Oliver	Running back	11	297	Seattle Seahawks

^[20]

References

1. "It's a breeze for Hurricanes in 34–14 win". The Miami Herald. August 31, 1986. Retrieved January 31, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
2. "'Canes clean Gators' house". The Tampa Tribune. September 7, 1986. Retrieved November 11, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
3. "Second-ranked Miami canes Texas Tech, 61–11". Bryan-College Station Eagle. September 14, 1986. Retrieved April 19, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
4. "Hurricanes take the big 1". St. Petersburg Times. September 28, 1986. Retrieved April 19, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
5. "'Canes cakewalk past No. Illinois". The Orlando Sentinel. October 5, 1986. Retrieved April 19, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
6. "'Canes barely break a sweat, 58–14". The Palm Beach Post. October 12, 1986. Retrieved January 31, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
7. "Miami routs Cincinnati, 45–13". The Plain Dealer. October 19, 1986. Retrieved April 19, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
8. "Hurricane blows past gut-check". The Abilene Reporter-News. November 2, 1986. Retrieved April 19, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
9. "No. 1 Miami romps past Pitt, 37–10". The Baltimore Sun. November 9, 1986. Retrieved April 19, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
10. "Miami lackluster in 23–10 win". The Tampa Tribune-Times. November 16, 1986. Retrieved April 19, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
11. "Hurricanes win without Vinny". The Orlando Sentinel. November 28, 1986. Retrieved April 19, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
12. "Penn State's Fiesta". The Arizona Republic. January 3, 1987. Retrieved April 19, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
13. "1986 Football Schedule". University of Miami Athletic Department . Retrieved August 20, 2019.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
14. Gainesville Sun. 1986 Aug 31. Retrieved 2018-Jan-15.
15. Gainesville Sun. 1986 Sep 7. Retrieved 2018-Jan-15.
16. "MIAMI BLOWS AWAY OKLAHOMA". Chicago Tribune . September 28, 1986. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
17. "Hurricanes handle Huskies 34-0 at Orange Bowl". Daily Chronicle (Illinois) via newspapers.com. October 5, 1986. p. 11. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
18. "Testaverde Rallies No.1 Miami Past Florida State, 41-23". The Washington Post . November 2, 1986. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
19. "Penn State Picks Off Miami, 14-10". Los Angeles Times . January 3, 1987. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
20. "1987 NFL Draft". pro-football-reference.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2007. Retrieved August 23, 2019.