College Football Old School Game of the Week: Kosar Leads Miami to Win over Florida in Furious Finish

Bernie Kosar completed 25 of 33 passes for 300 yards and threw one touchdown in the Hurricanes' win over the Gators.

 Anytime the Miami Hurricanes and Florida Gators play each other, emotions are always high as the two intra-state schools vie for superiority in the Sunshine State.

But their 1984 meeting had emotions ramped up for different for the two schools as they meet in Tampa Bay to play in Tampa Stadium on September 1, 1984.

The Hurricanes entered the game ranked #10 in the country having played a game already as they defeated the Auburn Tigers 20-18 in the Kickoff Classic in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

The Hurricanes were the defending national champions following their legendary 31-30 upset win over  the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Orange Bowl led by quarterback Bernie Kosar and head coach Howard Schellenberger.

However, Schellenberger would resign as Miami head coach to become the president and head coach of a Miami franchise in the USFL, which never materialized, and was replaced by Oklahoma State head coach Jimmy Johnson.

Despite the chance at head coach, the Hurricanes hoped to repeat as national champions and defeat the Gators for the first time since 1981 as Florida handed Miami its only loss of the 1983 season, a 28-3 drubbing in Gainesville.

Things were not so sunny in Gainesville as the Florida Gators football program was in turmoil as the NCAA was investigating the team for violations such as paying players and spying on other teams' practices.

Shortly before the start of the season, head coach Charley Pell announced that he would step down at the end of the 1984 season as Florida was prepared to get its season underway when four days before their first game, quarterback Dale Dorminey, who was set to be the team's starting quarterback, suffered a serious knee injury and was lost for the season.

This led to Pell to call on redshirt freshman Kerwin Bell to be inserted as the Gators quarterback as he would lead an offense which featured future NFL running backs Neal Anderson, Lorenzo Hampton, and John L. Williams as well as offensive tackle Lomas Brown, anchoring the offensive line which was nicknamed the "Great Wall of Florida".

The Gators would get the ball to start the game but they would mishandle the opening kickoff as  Hampton would take it out from four yards deep in the end zone only to be tackled at the Florida five-yard-line.

The Gators would go three-and-out to punt the ball to the Hurricanes who would take over at the Florida 43-yard-line and drive 31 yards in six plays to set up a 29-yard field goal by Greg Cox to give Miami a 3-0 lead with 9:59 left in the first quarter.

Following an exchange of punts, the Gators got the ball at their 29-yard-line as Bell would complete his first pass of his collegiate career on the drive, a nine-yard pass to Anderson, on a drive which saw Anderson run for 22 yards and Bell complete a 14-yard pass to Ricky Nattiel to give Florida a 1st & goal at the Miami three-yard-line.

However, the Gators would go backwards as a clipping penalty and a quarterback sack by Hurricanes defensive lineman Joe Kohlbrand would push Florida back to the Miami 27-yard-line as Bobby Raymond would come to on to kick a 44-yard field goal to tie the game 3-3 as the first quarter came to an end.

The Hurricanes would go three-and-out on their ensuing possession to give the ball back to the Gators at their 36-yard-line when Hampton took a handoff from Bell to the left side of the field with the help of some great blocking, ran untouched for a 64-yard touchdown to give Florida a 10-3 lead just 71 seconds into the second quarter.

The Hurricanes would respond by driving down to the Florida three-yard-line as Kosar completed five consecutive passes until he threw an incomplete pass on 3rd & goal forcing the Canes to settle for a 20-yard field goal by Cox that cut the Gators' lead to 10-6 with 9:46 left in the second quarter.

The Miami defense would force the first turnover of the game on the Gators' next offensive possession as Hurricanes linebacker John McVeigh knocked the ball loose from Bell when the freshman quarterback was trying to scramble, leading to a fumble recovery by fellow Miami linebacker Bruce Fleming at the Florida 45-yard-line.

Five plays later, the Hurricanes were in the end zone as running back Daryl Oliver took a pitchout to the right side and broke three tacklers on his way to a 21-yard touchdown to give Miami a 13-10 lead with 6:37 to go in the second quarter.

After another Florida punt, the Hurricanes would again drive down the field on the right arm of Kosar as he completed five passes in a row during the 10-play, 80-yard drive which culminated with another Cox Field goal, this one from 27 yards out with 16 seconds left before halftime to increase the Miami lead to 16-10.

In his first collegiate start, Florida quarterback Kerwin Bell completed 15 of 30 passes for 159 yards.

The Hurricanes would get the ball to start the second half as they drove from their eight-yard-line to the Gators' two-yard-line thanks in large part to four Florida penalties for 30 yards where they had a 3rd & goal when Kosar was sacked by Florida defensive end Patrick Miller, forcing Miami to settle for another Cox field goal, a 25-yarder which increased the Hurricanes' lead to 19-10.

Having giving up 16 unanswered points, the Gators' offense needed to respond which they did as they relied on their running game to drive down the field on its next possession as Anderson and Williams combined to run for 45 of the 59 yards on the 17-play drive which ended with a 30-yard field goal by Raymond to cut the Miami lead to 19-13 with 46 seconds left in the third quarter.

Following a Miami punt, the Gators would drive to the Hurricanes' 27-yard-line as Bell completed a 16-yard pass to wide receiver Frankie Neal and Williams ran twice for 17 yards to put Florida in position to retake the lead with a touchdown and an extra point.

It looked like the Gators were going to get that touchdown when Bell completed a 22-yard pass to Gary Rolle only to have Calhoun strip the ball loose as Darrell Fullington would recover the fumble at the Miami one-yard-line to end the Florida scoring threat with 11:50 left in the fourth quarter.

The Hurricanes would drive to their 31-yard-line until they were forced to punt when disater struck as punter Rich Tuten dropped the snap and tried to run for the first down to only be knocked out of bounds at the Miami 29-yard-line to give the Gators a golden opportunity.

However, the Miami defense would not allow a yard on the next three plays, leading Pell to call on Raymond to attempt a 46-yard field goal that cut the six-point in half to three.

But Raymond's kick was short which kept the score at 19-13 in favor of Miami with 6:09 remaining in the game.

The Florida defense would force the Hurricanes to punt on their ensuing possession to give their offense the ball at their 48-yard-line with 4:27 left in the game with a chance to drive down for the winning score..

After a false start penalty pushed the Gators back five yards, Bell completed a 16-yard pass to Ray McDonald to give Florida a 1st down at the Miami 41-yard-line.

Bell would then hand the ball off to Williams who picked up six yards to set up 2nd & 4 when Anderson was stopped for no gain which was followed by an incomplete pass to set up 4th & 4 when Bell connected with McDonald again this time for eight yards to give the Gators a fresh set of downs at the Miami 27-yard-line.

A holding penalty on the Hurricanes would give Florida 10 free yards to the Miami 17-yard-line as a five-yard run by Anderson and two incomplete passes later would force a 4th & 5 situation when Bell kept the ball himself and seven yards for the 1st down as the Gators would have a 1st & goal situation at the Miami five-yard-line.

That is when Bell lofted a pass to the right corner of the end zone where a wide open Neal made the catch for the touchdown to tie the game at 19 as Raymond would come on to kick the go-ahead extra point to give Florida a 20-19 lead with 41 seconds to play in the game.

Oliver would return the ensuing kickoff 16 yards to the Miami 28-yard-line as Kosar and the Hurricane offense came onto the field with 36 seconds left on the clock and all three timeouts in their pockets.

The drive would begin with Kosar finding tight end Willie Smith for 36 yards as he was able to get out of bounds with 28 seconds left after catching his 11th pass of the game to put the Hurricanes at the Florida 36-yard-line.

Kosar would then hit Eddie Brown for 17 yards as the Hurricanes would spend their first timeout with 22 seconds remaining.

Then, Kosar would complete a short four-yard pass to Oliver, who stepped out of bounds at the 15-yard-line with 17 seconds to go, then carried for three more yards to set up 3rd & 3 at the Florida 12-yard-line when Miami spent its second timeout with 12 seconds remaining.

It seemed like that the Hurricanes were just going to run the ball one more time, then call timeout and call on Cox to win the game with a last-second field goal.

However, Kosar convinced his coaches on the sidelines to try and score the winning touchdown with a pass into the end zone.

The Miami coaches complied as Kosar would throw a pass toward the left corner of the end zone for Brown who made the catch for the 12-yard touchdown to complete the stunning five-play, 72-yard drive in 29 seconds as the Hurricanes took a 26-20 lead with seven seconds to go.

Florida would get one last play at the end of the game but Bell's desperation pass was picked off by Tolbert Bain who would return the interception for a 59-yard touchdown as time expired to make the final margin of victory a little deceiving of how close the game really was and Miami came away with the 32-20 win.

Pell would not survive until the end of the season as he hoped as he was fired following the third game of the season after the NCAA announced that the Gators had committed 107 infractions.

Pell was replaced by offensive coordinator Galen Hall who led the Gators to an eight-game winning streak as Florida would finish the regular season as SEC Champions with a 9-1-1 overall record.

However, the Gators would be ineligible to play in that year's Sugar Bowl and to make matters worse would have to vacate the SEC title a few months later as it would not be until 1991 when Florida officially won its first SEC championship with Spurrier as the head coach.

Meanwhile in Miami, the Hurricanes would vault from #10 to #1 in the country following their win over Florida, only to lose the following week to the Michigan Wolverines 22-14, the first of what would be five losses in the season which included a 42-40 loss to Maryland after blowing a 31-0 halftime lead and a 47-45 loss to Boston College in the famous "Hail Flutie" game.

Kosar would finish the season with 3,642 yards and 25 touchdowns as he would finish 4th in the Heisman Trophy race as Bernie would be selected by the Cleveland Browns in the 1985 NFL supplemental draft where he led the Browns to three AFC Championship game appearances in four years.

As for the series between the Gators and the Hurricanes, their annual matchup would end following the 1987 season as the two teams have played seven times since then as of 2024.

College Football Old School Game of the Week: Miami Preserves Title Hopes With Walk-off FG Win over FSU

Jeff Davis kicks the game-winning field goal as time expires in Miami's 1983 game with Florida State.

When it comes to field goals in the rivalry between the Florida State Seminoles and the Miami Hurricanes, what is remembered most by college football fans and experts are the missed field goals by Florida State in the final seconds of numerous games with the "Wide Right" trilogy where the Seminoles lost on last-second field goals that went wide right in the 1991, 92, and 2000 games, which is followed by a wide-left miss on the final play of their 28-27 loss in 2002.
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.

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.

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.