January 2, 1987: The Fiesta Bowl is held at Sun Devil Stadium in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona. The University of Miami entered the game ranked Number 1 in the country. Pennsylvania State University, a.k.a. "Penn State," came in ranked Number 2. The winner would win the National Championship.
It was one of those games that, in the pregame hype, was tagged "The Game of the Century." Fortunately, it was one of those that lived up to the billing.
Miami had won the title for the 1983 season, and was going for their 2nd. Penn State thought they had teams worthy of the National Championship in 1968, 1969 and 1973, going undefeated each season. But, each time, it was awarded to another team. In the 1982 season, they were finally awarded the title.
In the 1986 regular season, Miami went 11-0, having beaten both then-Number 1 Oklahoma and then-Number 20 Florida State at home at the Orange Bowl stadium. They also won road games against South Carolina, Florida, West Virginia, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh.
Head coach Jimmy Johnson could call on that year's Heisman Trophy winner, quarterback Vinny Testaverde, who ended up playing 21 seasons in the NFL, making the Pro Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens and the New York Jets, and passing for over 46,000 yards and 275 touchdowns; receiver Brian Blades, later a Pro Bowler with the Seattle Seahawks; Brian's brother, safety Bennie Blades, later a Pro Bowler with the Detroit Lions; and defensive end Russell Maryland, a 3-time Pro Bowler and 3-time Super Bowl winner with the Dallas Cowboys.
Penn State also went 11-0, beating then-Number 2 Alabama away, and also winning away to Boston College, West Virginia and Notre Dame. The Nittany Lions were led by running back D.J. Dozier, who would go on to play in Major League Baseball as well as in the NFL; and linebacker Shane Conlan, who made 3 Pro Bowls and played in 4 Super Bowls with the Buffalo Bills.
Sports Illustrated named head coach Joe Paterno their Sportsman of the Year for 1986, citing him for showing it was possible to win big while running a "clean program." Indeed, as with the 1988 Miami-Notre Dame "Catholics vs. Convicts" game, this was seen as a contest between good, Penn State and their "clean program"; and evil, Miami and their urban, hip-hop, "thug" image, trash-talking, and wearing army-style fatigues as they got off the plane. It would be years before the general public learned just how far off the mark that really was.
Even if Miami's image had been accurate, Penn State didn't care. Linebacker Pete Giftopoulos said, "We were a team that couldn't be intimidated, and that's what Miami liked to do to other players. "How are you going to intimidate a bunch of steel-town kids from Pittsburgh, Ohio, Pennsylvania? You just can't do that."
An estimated 21.9 million people watched this game on NBC, and that is believed to be an all-time record for a college football bowl game.
The 1st quarter ended scoreless. In the 2nd quarter, Penn State fumbled, and Miami recovered at the Penn State 23. Four plays later, Melvin Bratton scored a touchdown that put the 'Canes ahead, 7-0. But it would prove to be their only touchdown of the night.
The Lions came right back, going 74 yards in 13 plays, with John Shaffer scoring from 4 yards out with 1:14 left in the half. The teams went into the locker rooms tied 7-7.
There was no scoring in the 3rd quarter. Early in the 4th quarter, Mark Seeling kicked a field goal to put "The U" back on top, 10-7. Conlan returned his 2nd interception of the game to the Miami 5-yard line, and Dozier gave the Lions their 1st lead with a touchdown run, 14-10, with 8:13 to go.
With 3:07 left, Miami began their last drive, converting a 4th down with a 31-yard pass from Testaverde to Brian Blades. With 45 seconds left, Testaverde got the 'Canes to the Penn State 5. But he got sacked on 2nd & goal, and threw incomplete on 3rd down. With 18 seconds left, it was 4th & goal. Testaverde thought he had an open receiver in the end zone, but it was intercepted by Giftopoulos, his 2nd pick of the game, the 5th off Testaverde, clinching the National Championship for Penn State.
Miami rebounded the next season, winning the National Championship, and again in 1989, and again in 1991 (albeit in a split poll). But Johnson would only be there for the 1st of those. In 1989, he was hired as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, leading them to 2 Super Bowl wins, and making himself the 1st head coach ever to win both a National Championship and a Super Bowl -- the 1st since Paul Brown in 1942 and 1950 to win both an NCAA and an NFL Championship.
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January 2, 1987 was a Friday. No other bowl games were played on the day. The day before, Arizona State had beaten Michigan in the Rose Bowl, Oklahoma beat Arkansas in the Orange Bowl, Nebraska beat Louisiana State in the Sugar Bowl, Ohio State beat Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl, and Auburn beat USC in the Florida Citrus Bowl.
Baseball was out of season. There were 10 games played in the NBA that night:
* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Detroit Pistons, 129-128 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan.
* The Boston Celtics beat the Chicago Bulls, 113-99 at the Boston Garden. Larry Bird scored 37 points, and Michael Jordan scored 34.
* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Washington Bullets, 118-101 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland. Dominique Wilkens scored 30.
* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 91-84 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio.
* The Indiana Pacers beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 116-106 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.
* The Dallas Mavericks beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 117-107 at the Reunion Arena in Dallas.
* The Houston Rockets beat the Denver Nuggets, 114-111 at the McNichols Arena in Denver. Hakeem Olajuwon scored 32.
* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Utah Jazz, 104-99 at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City. Charles Barkley scored 30.
* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Phoenix Suns, 155-118 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California. Despite the huge total, no Laker scored more than Magic Johnson's 32.
* The Golden State Warriors beat the Sacramento Kings, 115-109 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena. Joe Barry Carroll, often mocked as "Joe Barely Cares," scored 35.
And there were 4 games played in the NHL:
* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Boston Bruins, 7-2 at the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands.
* The Winnipeg Jets beat the Buffalo Sabres, 6-3 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.
* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Minnesota North Stars, 2-1 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.
* And the Los Angeles Kings and the Vancouver Canucks played to a 3-3 tie at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.
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