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| Jeff Davis kicks the game-winning field goal as time expires in Miami's 1983 game with Florida State. |
But there is a successful field goal in the final seconds of the game between these two intra-state rivals that not only decided the game but also paved the way for a national championship.
In 1983, the 9-1 Hurricanes traveled to Tallahassee to take on the 7-2 Seminoles in a game which could determine where Miami was going to play in the postseason.
Since Miami was not affiliated with a conference in 1983, they could almost play anywhere in the country like the Cotton Bowl in Dallas or the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.
But the Hurricanes had their sights set on home as an invitation to the Orange Bowl to take on the Big 8 champion Nebraska Cornhuskers seemed possible if the Hurricanes could knock off the Seminoles in Tallahassee.
The Hurricanes had come a long way from their embarrassing 28-3 loss to the Florida Gators in the first game of the regular season to win nine games in a row as they were led by head coach Howard Schnellenberger and redshirt freshman Bernie Kosar at quarterback.
But the biggest reason for the Hurricanes' winning streak and their #6 ranking entering the FSU game was their defense which had given up only 62 points during their nine-game winning streak, which averaged out to under a touchdown per game.
If the Hurricanes were going to beat the Seminoles, they would need their defense to stop the Seminoles' rushing attack which had running backs Greg Allen, Cletis Jones, and Roosevelt Snipes combine to rush for over 2,000 yards amongst the three players during the 1983 season.
Florida State was coached by Bobby Bowden, who was in his eighth season in Tallahassee and had the Seminoles on a four-game winning streak entering the Miami game.
The Hurricanes got the ball to start the game as they began their first drive of the game from their 38-yard-line following a 29-yard-return by Daryl Oliver on the opening kickoff.
Kosar would hit tight end Glenn Dennison for 17 yards on the game's first play, then after a six-yard run by Albert Bentley, connected with Eddie Brown for 19 yards to put Miami at the FSU 20-yard-line.
Then on 3rd & 9 from the 19-yard-line, Kosar fired a pass for Stanley Shakespeare in the end zone, only to have Seminoles safety Brian McCrary interfere with Shakespeare on the play to give Miami a 1st & goal at the one-yard-line.
That is when Kosar handed the ball off to Bentley, who busted through for the one-yard touchdown to give the Hurricanes a 7-0 lead just 2:01 into the game.
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| FSU"s David Ponder blocks Rich Tuten's punt for a safety late in the first quarter. |
After forcing Florida State to punt on their opening possession of the game, the Hurricanes got the ball at their 30-yard-line as Kosar lead the Miami offense to the Seminoles' 29-yard-line, thanks to a seven-yard pass to Bentley on 3rd & 6 from the Canes 36-yard-line, then connected with Brown on a 21-yard completion.
But at the 29-yard-line where he was facing 3rd & 3, Kosar was picked off by McCrary to stop the Hurricanes' drive and give FSU the ball at their one-yard-line.
The Seminoles would flip the field position as they drove to midfield before punting the ball back to Miami who took over at their three-yard-line and only gained three yards on three plays before calling on Rich Tuten to punt the ball back to the Seminoles.
But Tuten never got the kick away as FSU defensive tackle David Ponder, father of future FSU quarterback Christian and father-in-law to future ESPN broadcaster Samantha, blocked the punt which went into the back of the end zone for a safety to give the Seminoles two points and the ball as the Hurricanes would kick off from their 20-yard-line with 57 seconds left in the first quarter.
The Seminoles would get the ball at their 47-yard-line but would go no further as they went three-and-out to end the first quarter trailing 7-2.
Following the FSU punt, the Hurricanes would get the ball at their 31-yard-line and drive to the Seminoles' 30-yard-line as Kosar hit his first three passes on the drive for 34 yards.
The drive would stall at the 30-yard-line as Kosar threw three straight incomplete passes, forcing the Hurricanes to settle for a 46-yard field goal attempt by Jeff Davis which he missed giving the ball back to the Seminoles at their 30-yard-line.
From there, the Seminoles would drive 70 yards in 12 plays, culminating in an three-yard touchdown run by Allen on the ninth straight running play of the drive, to give the Seminoles a 9-7 lead midway through the second quarter.
Following a Miami punt, the Seminoles would get the ball back at their nine-yard-line with 1:52 left before halftime when they began a drive which went 63 yards in seven plays with Snipes carrying the ball four times on the drive and running for 50 yards to set up a 44-yard field goal attempt by Phil Hall with only a few seconds to go.
Hall would miss the kick only to get a retry as Miami was offsides, giving Hall another chance and five yards closer to make the field goal.
But Hall could not take advantage of the second chance as his 39-yard attempt was no good as the first half came to a close with the Seminoles clinging to a 9-7 lead.
After the Seminoles went three-and-out on their opening possession of the second half, the Hurricanes would drive 39 yards in 11 plays to set up a potential go-ahead field goal by Davis from 41 yards out.
However, Davis' kick would be no good, keeping the Seminoles in the lead at 9-7.
Following the missed field goal, the Seminoles put together a 12-play, 76-yard drive that was capped off with an one-yard touchdown run by quarterback Bob Davis to extend the FSU lead to 16-7 with 3:23 left in the third quarter.
Now facing their biggest deficit since the loss to Florida, the Hurricanes responded with a seven-play, 64-yard drive that was capped off with a 37-yard touchdown pass from Kosar to Brown which cut the FSU lead to 16-14 with 31 seconds left in the third quarter.
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| Miami quarterback Bernie Kosar would complete 21 of 35 passes for 243 yards and throw one touchdown as well as an interception. |
The Seminoles would begin the 4th quarter with a 15-play, 50-yard drive which saw the Seminoles travel from their 20-yard-line to the Miami 30-yard-line before calling Hall on to attempt a 47-yard field goal.
But for the third time in the game, Hall could not connect as his 47-yard attempt fell short, keeping it a 16-14 game with over 10 minutes to go in the game.
The two teams would trade punts until the Hurricanes got the ball at the Seminoles' 49-yard-line following a 19-yard return by Brown on the punt to give Kosar and the offense a short field as they had 2:12 to drive into field goal range.
The drive would began with a 10-yard pass from Kosar to Shakespeare followed by another 10-yard pass to Shakespeare to put Miami at the FSU 29-yard-line.
That is when the Hurricanes crossed up the Seminoles with a draw play as Keith Griffith took an handoff from Kosar and proceeded to run 20 yards to the FSU nine-yard-line to give Miami a 1st & goal.
From there, Schnellenberger kept it conservative as he had his offense ran the ball three straight times, picking up seven more yards, before calling on Davis to attempt a 19-yard field goal with three seconds left.
Bowden called timeout in hopes of icing the kicker but it was to no avail as Davis calmly sank the 19-yard field goal as time expired to give Miami a 17-16 victory and extend their winning streak to 10 wins in a row.
The Seminoles had three weeks to stew over the Miami loss before playing their regular season finale where they were crushed by the Florida Gators 53-14.
Despite their 7-4 record, the Seminoles would be invited to the Peach Bowl where they easily took care of the North Carolina Tar Heels with a 28-3 win as they ended the 1983 season on a positive note.
As for the Hurricanes, they would be invited to play in the Orange Bowl where they would take on the #1 Nebraska Cornhuskers, who came into the game averaging 52 points per game.
But thanks to a 300-yard, two-touchdown performance from Kosar, the Hurricanes, who were a 10 1/2 point underdog, took a 31-17 lead into the fourth quarter when the Cornhuskers scored two touchdowns to draw within a point at 31-30 with 48 seconds left when Nebraska head coach Tom Osborne decided to go for two instead of a tie.
That is when Miami defensive back Kenny Calhoun deflected Nebraska quarterback Turner Gill's pass intended for Jeff Smith to preserve the 31-30 victory for the Hurricanes.
With their monumental upset of the Cornhuskers along with losses by #2 Texas in the Cotton Bowl and #4 Illinois in the Rose Bowl and a lackluster performance by #3 Auburn in a 9-7 win over Michigan in the Sugar Bowl, the Hurricanes were voted #1 in the final AP and UPI polls to give the Hurricanes their first national title.
But while the stop on the two-point conversion in the Orange Bowl is what remembered most for the Hurricanes winning the national championship in 1983, it wouldn't have been possible if not for Jeff Davis' heroics against Florida State.
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