The Miami Herald from Miami, Florida • 318

ORANGE BOWL UM 22 NEBRASKA 0 THURSDAY JANUARY 2 1992 A THE MIAMI HERALD BILL FRAKES Miami Herald Staff THE ALUMNI ARRIVE Former Hurricane football players turned out en masse on UM's sideline to root for the Canes during the OB Classic the first two on the left are Melvin Bratton and Jerome Brown 9 0-22 0 13 0 0 0 MIAMI NEBRASKA UM offense sputters stutters FIRST QUARTER UM: Williams 8 pass from Torretta (Huerta kick) Time: 11:44 left Drive: Five plays 51 yards Key play: Torrer'a passes 34 yards to Williams at Nebraska nine UM 7 Nebraska 0 UM: FG Huerta 24 Time: 504 left Drive: Nine plays 60 yards Key play: Lamar Thomas 38-yard catch of Torretta pass to Nebraska 12 UM 10 Nebraska 0 UM: FG Huerta 24 Time: 4:02 left Drive: Five playv 8 yards Key play: McNeil recovers fumbled pltchout at at Nebraska 14 UM 13 Nebraska 0 7 was just trying to run with the ball before I had it I wanted to get to the end zone every time I touched the ball THIRD QUARTER WIDE RECEIVER DARRYL SPENCER on Miami's offensive woes UM: Jones I run (pass failed) Time: 11 19 left Drive: 10 plays 66 yards Key play: Jones runs of four seven eight and five UM 19 Nebraska 0 UM: FGHuertaS4 Time: 2:33 left Drive: Four plays 0 yards Key play: Torretta pass to Williams for 16 yards UM 22 Nebraska 0 Attendance: 77747 Team receivers and Torretta were totally unspectacular Thomas set up the first field goal by leaping over Cotton for a 38-yard catch And Torretta opened the next possession by scrambling away from pressure to hit Thomas who had about three toes inbounds for a seven-yard gain that looked impossible even on replay Still there were all those overthrows drops and miscommunica-tions Spencer said of the drops "We were looking at the score and it was only 22-0 so we were trying to make something happen Myself I was just trying to run with the ball before I had it I wanted to get to the end zone every time I touched the ball" "We were so worried about the rain we were overcatching the ball" Thomas said "The two passes I dropped it looked like I was fighting the ball Those were easy passes that I can catch in my sleep "They Nebraska got lucky It could've been a lot worse" By DAVID NEAL Herald Sports Writer On the University of Miami's second offensive play of Wednesday night's Orange Bowl wide receiver Kevin Williams lost companion Curtis Cotton when the Nebraska defensive back slipped to the turf Williams was suddenly streaking down the right sideline by his lonesome but when he caught the pass from quarterback Gino Torretta he stumbled out of bounds "The ball led me out of bounds" Williams said The 36-yard gain was a harbinger for the kind of evening UM's quarterback and receivers would have good but not all that it could have been Torretta threw for 257 yards but only completed 19 of 41 attempts and had two interceptions His receivers the consensus choice as the best group in the nation helped him stay under 50 percent by dribbling more balls Wednesday night than Sherman Douglas has all year What all this did was keep yardage UM had to punt three plays later Hurlie Brown's interception return which gave UM the ball on the Nebraska nine was wasted on a loss two incompletions and a missed field goal "I know we should' ve scored more than 22 points" Torretta said He isn't the only one that felt that way NBC's Paul Maguire was talking about 50 points if the offense executed "We didn't really click as well as we could have" wide receiver Dar-ryl Spencer said "I think the defense really won the game" It wouldn't be fair to say that the Nebraska in the game as much as the Cornhuskers were ever in the game In the first half UM twice had to settle for field goals instead of touchdowns after getting inside the Nebraska 10-yard line On another possession Nebraska's Tyrone Legette picked off a pass at the Cornhusker one The score could have been 28-0 at the half instead of 13-0 and the offense could have spent the second half planning which guys got to sit together during the national championship parade The second half was more of the same Williams had a first down but lost it when he tried to get more Miami Nebraska First downs -total 2S First downs rushing 14 6 First downs passing 9 3 First downs by penalty 2 0 Third-down efficiency 3-15 4-15 Total net yards 439 171 Total offensive plays 85 57 Avg gain per play 52 30 Net yards rushing 182 82 Rushing plays 44 38 Avg gain per rush 42 22 Net yards passing 257 89 Times caught aft pass 1 5 Yards lost att pass 1 30 Passes attempted 41 19 Passes completed 19 7 Interceptions suffered 2 2 Puntsaverage 5-330 9-386 Had blocked 0 0 Total return yardage 64 3 Punt returns-yards 6-24 1-0 Klckoff returns-yards 1-28 3-53 Int returns-yards 2-42 2-3 Penalties-yards 12-143 6-36 Fumbles-lost 3-0 3-2 FG made-attempts 3-4 0-1 Time of possession 34:29 25:31 Individual MIAMI Avg Long TD Rushing Jones Att Yds 30 144 48 29 22 Marucci 8 Torretta JJ Spencer 1 23 II 4 Att 41 Deciding No 1 "What does Miami have to do to prove that it's the No 1 team in the nation? We beat FSU Who did Washington beat?" Benny Fernandez Miami "Trivia-Quiz: Who is the only team in history to be awarded the co-national championship playing a pure patsy schedule including a team that no longer even has a football program Long Beach State Answer: Of course it's Miami They hold the patent on patsy schedules" Mike Tambureau Plantation "Miami should be No 1 since they defeated the-then No 1 team in the nation FSUJ on its home turf I don't think it would be fair for Miami to be No 2" Sue Tauber Miami Beach "I think Washington should be No 1 They're a better style of team than Miami They're more solid Washington has played tougher opponents than Miami" Dean Casey Fort Lauderdale "In comparing Miami to Washington at least Miami gave Nebraska a goose egg" Victor Calero Homestead "Washington is the sole national champion If they are not the polls should be abolished" Michael Canella Hollywood "I'm sure that after they beat Nebraska Miami would love to play Washington to decide the title Miami should play Washington" Kevin Shoemaker Miami On UM's victory "Paul Maguire during half-time made the comment that Miami celebrated too much after Lamar Thomas made the leaping catch early in the game Let's see him Maguire jump seven feet off the ground" Luke Oneal Miami "I'm just happy that the Hurricanes are not embarrassing their coach like last year" Chris Fulmer Homestead "Right now Miami is a no-win situation If they run up the score they'd be accused of running up the score So the only thing they can do is hold them to zero yardage" 40 Yds 257 Passing Torretta TD Int 1 2 Com 19 Former players turn out to root the Canes home By KEN RODRIGUEZ Herald Sports Writer Melvin Bratton former Hurricane fullback was in full throttle inside the University of Miami locker room two hours before kickoff He read negative newspaper quotes to select Hurricanes teased other players and reminded everyone of the UM national-championship tradition that began in 1983 Yds Long TD 126 34 38 73 Receiving No Williams 8 Thomas 5 Bell 2 Marucci 1 Spencer 1 Jones 1 Copeiand 1 1 10 9 6 5 10 5 Avg Lg 330 41 Long TD 12 0 Yds 165 Yds 24 Punting No Snyder 5 Punt returns No Williams 6 KkkoH returns No Williams 1 Interceptions No Brown i Williams 1 "You're No Bratton said "You're No Joining Bratton a former running back with the Denver Broncos were nearly a dozen former UM players: defensive linemen Jerome Brown Cortez Kennedy and Willis Peguese linebackers Bernard Clark and Richard Newbill wide Yds Long TD 28 28 0 Yds Long TD 42 42 0 0 0 0 11 Assist Total 4 10 2 8 2 6 1 5 2 5 Leading tacklers solo Barrow 1 Williams James AAcdwrls 4 Pharms SMku Medearls4-23 Hamlet 1-7 NEBRASKA Avg Long TD a 17 Rushing Att Jones 15 Josepn Lewis 7 Brown 5 McCant 5 Yds 69 II 17 HI -32 90 24 20 -34 4 4 4 Att Yds Passing Com McCant 6 3 3: TD Int 0 2 0 0 Jo soph 1 1 Recolvlng No Mitchell 3 Mufiwnnrd 1 Hawkins 1 Washington 1 Bosttcfc 1 Yds Long TD 57 32 0 M0 9 6 4 0 1 1 0 receivers Brian Blades and Eddie Brown defensive backs Darrell Fulling-ton Tolbert Bain and Bobby Harden and running back Aionzo Highsmith After leaving the locker room Bratton mugged for television cameras on the sideline Hurricanes kept in the dark Many of the top-ranked Hurricanes took the field for the Orange Bowl apparently unaware that No 2 Washington was thumping Michigan in the Rose Bowl Several players an assistant coach and the team chaplain all said the Hurricanes did not know Washington was on the way to a 34-14 victory When injured Miami running back Stephen McGuire was asked if the team was aware of the Rose Bowl score he said "Not at all" Others had a similar response Miami Coach Dennis Erickson had been concerned that his players would be thinking about the Rose Bowl rather than their Orange Bowl game against Nebraska When Enckson walked into the locker room at the Orange Bowl Tuesday and found two television sets he ordered them removed Also unaware of the progress of the Rose Bowl was UM President Edward Foots IL When told Washington had a big lead Foote said: "They're a great No 2 team" The Rose Bowl final was announced by the Orange Bowl public address announcer with 5: 10 left in the first quarter Yds Avg 309 38 6 Lg 46 Punting No Stigge I Punt returns No Dtxon 1 KkkoH returns No Yds Long TD 0 0 0 Yds Long TD 44 32 0 9 9 0 Hughes 2 Turner No Yds Long TD 3 0 Interceptions -2 l- Leading tacklers Sclo Assist Total Petko 0 9 Stewart 1 I Byrd i Parrtll 1 7 Cartner 4 2 4 Sacks: Jones 1-1 BRIAN SMITH Miami Herald Staff TOUGH TORRETTA: Gino Torretta completes a pass despite wearing Nebraska linebacker Mike Petko on his left shoulder.