1985 Miami Hurricanes football team

American college football season

1985 Miami Hurricanes football

Sugar Bowl, L 7–35 vs. Tennessee
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 8
AP	No. 9
Record	10–2
Head coach	Jimmy Johnson (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Gary Stevens (3rd season)
Offensive scheme	Pro-style
Defensive coordinator	Paul Jette (1st season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Miami Orange Bowl
Seasons ← 1984 1986 →

1985 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 3 Penn State		–		–		11	–	1	–	0
No. 9 Miami (FL)		–		–		10	–	2	–	0
Army		–		–		9	–	3	–	0
No. 15 Florida State		–		–		9	–	3	–	0
West Virginia		–		–		7	–	3	–	1
Southern Miss		–		–		7	–	4	–	0
Syracuse		–		–		7	–	5	–	0
Virginia Tech		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Pittsburgh		–		–		5	–	5	–	1
Cincinnati		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Notre Dame		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
South Carolina		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Southwestern Louisiana		–		–		4	–	7	–	0
Navy		–		–		4	–	7	–	0
Temple		–		–		4	–	7	–	0
Boston College		–		–		4	–	8	–	0
Memphis State		–		–		2	–	7	–	2
Rutgers		–		–		2	–	8	–	1
East Carolina		–		–		2	–	9	–	0
Louisville		–		–		2	–	9	–	0
Tulane		–		–		1	–	10	–	0

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1985 Miami Hurricanes football team represented the University of Miami during the 1985 NCAA Division I-A football season. It was the Hurricanes' 60th season of football. The Hurricanes were led by second-year head coach Jimmy Johnson and played their home games at the Miami Orange Bowl. They finished the season 10–2 overall. They were invited to the Sugar Bowl, where they lost to Tennessee, 35–7.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 7	No. 5 Florida		Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL (rivalry)		L 23–35	80,227	^[1]
September 14	at Rice		Rice Stadium Houston, TX		W 48–20	15,411
September 28	at Boston College		Sullivan Stadium Foxborough, MA		W 45–10	31,864
October 5	at East Carolina		Ficklen Memorial Stadium Greenville, NC		W 27–15	34,511	^[2]
October 12	Cincinnati		Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL		W 38–0	30,164
October 19	at No. 3 Oklahoma		Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK	ABC	W 27–14	73,102
October 26	Louisville	No. 15	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL		W 45–7	31,761
November 2	at No. 10 Florida State	No. 11	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL (rivalry)	ABC	W 35–27	61,250
November 9	at Maryland	No. 8	Memorial Stadium Baltimore, MD	CBS	W 29–22	62,350	^[3]
November 23	Colorado State	No. 4	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL		W 24–3	35,035
November 30	Notre Dame	No. 4	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL (rivalry)	CBS	W 58–7	49,236
January 1	vs. No. 8 Tennessee	No. 2	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA (Sugar Bowl)	ABC	L 7–35	77,432	^[4]
Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Personnel

Roster

Player	Pos	Summary
Vinny Testaverde*	QB	216 Cmp, 352 Att, 3238 Yds, 21 TD
Geoff Torretta	QB	11 Cmp, 16 Att, 263 Yds, 3 TD
Alonzo Highsmith*	RB	117 Att, 451 Yds, 3.9 Avg
Warren Williams*	RB	89 Att, 522 Yds, 5.9 Avg
Melvin Bratton	RB	67 Att, 285 Yds, 4.3 Avg
Darryl Oliver	RB	66 Att, 264 Yds, 4.0 Avg
J.C. Penny	RB	21 Att, 181 Yds, 8.6 Avg
Todd Stanish	RB	11 Att, 31 Yds, 2.8 Avg
Steve Staffier	RB	2 Att, 8 Yds, 4.0 Avg
Michael Irvin*	WR	46 Rec, 840 Yds, 18.3 Avg
Brian Blades*	WR	30 Rec, 657 Yds, 21.9 Avg
Brett Perriman	WR	14 Rec, 263 Yds, 18.8 Avg
Kenny Oliver	WR	5 Rec, 125 Yds, 25.0 Avg
Andre Brown	WR	2 Rec, 23 Yds, 11.5 Avg
Willie Smith*	TE	48 Rec, 669 Yds, 13.9 Avg
Charles Henry	TE	4 Rec, 48 Yds, 12.0 Avg
Alfredo Roberts	TE	1 Rec, 4 Yds, 4.0 Avg
Dave Alekna*	OL
Paul Bertucelli*	OL
Ed Davis*	OL
Paul O'Connor*	OL
Greg Rakoczy*	OL
John O'Neill	OL
Matt Patchan	OL
Jerome Brown*	DL
Kevin Fagan*	DL
Derwin Jones*	DL
John McVeigh*	DL
Victor Morris	DL
Dan Sileo	DL
Daniel Stubbs	DL
Rod Carter*	LB
Bruce Fleming*	LB
Randy Shannon*	LB
Winston Moss	LB
Tolbert Bain*	DB
Selwyn Brown*	DB
Donald Ellis*	DB
Darrell Fullington*	DB
Bennie Blades	DB
Jeff Feagles	P

1985 Miami Hurricanes football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
QB	`14`	Vinny Testaverde	Jr
RB	`5`	Melvin Bratton	So
RB	`43`	Cleveland Gary	Fr
RB	`30`	Alonzo Highsmith	Jr
RB	`24`	Warren Williams	So
WR	`9`	Brian Blades	So
WR	`83`	Andre Brown	Fr
WR	`47`	Michael Irvin	Fr
WR	`33`	Brett Perriman	So
OL	`52`	Darren Bruce	Fr
OL	`75`	John O'Neill	Fr
TE	`87`	Alfredo Roberts	So

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
LB	`91`	Rod Carter	Fr
DB	`19`	Darrell Fullington	So
LB	`22`	Randy Shannon	Fr
DB	`36`	Bennie Blades	So
LB	`45`	George Mira Jr.	So
DE	`96`	Daniel Stubbs	So
DL	`93`	John McVeigh	Sr
DT	`95`	Kevin Fagan	Sr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
K	`25`	Greg Cox	So
P	`38`	Jeff Feagles	So

Head coach

Jimmy Johnson

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Recruits

Jimmy Johnson and his staff had the key recruit in the 1985 class QB Steve Walsh Jimmy also continued collecting talent from Florida, "Ten of the 19 signees are from Florida. Last year, 18 of the 25 high school players who signed letters were from Florida (11 from Dade and Broward), and 19 of 26 who signed in 1983 were from Florida (nine from Dade and Broward)."^[5]

Coaching staff

Name	Position	Seasons	Alma mater
Jimmy Johnson	Head coach	2nd	Arkansas (1965)
Gary Stevens	Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks	6th	John Carroll (1965)
Paul Jette	Defensive Coordinator/defensive backs	1st	Texas (1977)
Hubbard Alexander	Wide receivers	7th	Tennessee State (1962)
Joe Brodsky	Running backs	8th	Florida (1956)
Butch Davis	Defensive line	2nd	Arkansas (1973)
Art Kehoe	Assistant offensive line	1st	Miami (1982)
Don Soldinger	Tight ends	2nd	Memphis (1967)
Tony Wise	Offensive line	1st	Ithaca (1972)
Mike Knoll	Linebackers	2nd	Missouri Western State (1975)

Support staff

Name	Position	Seasons	Alma mater
Bill Foran	Strength & conditioning	1st	Central Michigan (1977)
Tom Ciskowski	Volunteer assistant
Mark Gibson	Volunteer assistant

^{[citation needed]}

Rankings

Game summaries

No. 5 Florida

At Rice

At Boston College

At East Carolina

Cincinnati

at No. 3 Oklahoma

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Hurricanes	7	7	13	0	27
No. 3 Sooners	7	0	0	7	14

Date: October 19
Location: Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, Norman, Oklahoma
Game weather: Overcast
TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson, Frank Broyles, and Tim Brant

Scoring summary

1	8:44	Miami (FL)	Michael Irvin 56-yard pass from Vinny Testaverde (Greg Cox kick)	Miami (FL) 7-0

1	6:34	OU	Derrick Shepard 14-yard pass from Troy Aikman (Tim Lashar kick)	Tied 7-7

2	14:16	Miami (FL)	Testaverde 3-yard run (Cox kick)	Miami (FL) 14-7

3	8:49	Miami (FL)	Cox 20-yard field goal	Miami (FL) 17-7

3	4:06	Miami (FL)	Brian Blades 35-yard pass from Testaverde (Cox kick)	Miami (FL) 24-7

3	2:34	Miami (FL)	Cox 36-yard field goal	Miami (FL) 27-7

4	10:28	OU	Lydell Carr 1-yard run (Lashar kick)	Miami (FL) 27-14

^[6]

Louisville

^[7]

at No. 10 Florida State

#11 Miami (FL) at #10 Florida State

	1	2	3	4	Total
• No. 11 Hurricanes	14	0	7	14	35
No. 10 Seminoles	14	10	0	3	27

Date: November 2
Location: Doak Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee, Florida
Game attendance: 61,250
TV announcers (ABC): Tim Brant

Scoring summary

1	10:04	FSU	Hassan Jones 8-yard pass from Chip Ferguson (Schmidt kick)	FSU 7-0

1	7:23	Miami (FL)	Brian Blades 10-yard pass from Vinny Testaverde (Cox kick)	Tied 7-7

1	7:06	Miami (FL)	Blades 38-yard pass from Testaverde (Cox kick)	Miami (FL) 14-7

1	0:25	FSU	Brian Davis blocked punt recovery in end zone (Schmidt kick)	Tied 14-14

2	6:52	FSU	Derek Schmidt 37-yard field goal	FSU 17-14

2	2:39	FSU	Pat Carter 26-yard pass from Chip Ferguson (Schmidt kick)	FSU 24-14

3	8:15	Miami (FL)	2-yard fun (Cox kick)	FSU 24-21

4	11:07	FSU	Derek Schmidt 44-yard field goal	FSU 27-21

4	9:55	Miami (FL)	Michael Irvin 30-yard pass from Testaverde (Cox kick)	Miami (FL) 28-27

4	3:06	Miami (FL)	Brett Perriman 2-yard pass from Testaverde (Cox kick)	Miami (FL) 35-27

Despite being sacked seven times, Vinny Testaverde passed the Hurricanes to victory with 339 yards and four touchdowns.^[8]

at Maryland

Miami (FL) at Maryland

	1	2	3	4	Total
• No. 8 Hurricanes	0	13	7	9	29
Terrapins	10	3	9	0	22

Date: November 9
Location: Baltimore Memorial Stadium, Baltimore, MD
Game attendance: 62,350
TV announcers (CBS): Brent Musburger (play-by-play), Ara Parseghian (analyst), and Pat O'Brien (sideline)

^[9]

Colorado State

Colorado State at Miami (FL)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rams	0	0	3	0	3
• No. 4 Hurricanes	0	3	7	14	24

Date: November 23
Location: Miami Orange Bowl, Miami
Game attendance: 35,035

Scoring summary

2	MIA	Greg Cox 25-yard field goal	MIA 3-0

3	CSU	DeLine 44-yard field goal	Tied 3-3
3	MIA	Highsmith 3-yard run (Greg Cox kick)	MIA 10-3

4	MIA	Bratton 1-yard run (Greg Cox kick)	MIA 17-3
4	MIA	Oliver 5-yard run (Greg Cox kick)	MIA 24-3

Notre Dame

Notre Dame at Miami (FL)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Fighting Irish	0	7	0	0	7
• No. 4 Hurricanes	13	14	10	21	58

Date: November 30
Location: Miami Orange Bowl, Miami
TV announcers (CBS): Brent Musburger (play-by-play), Ara Parseghian (analyst), and Pat O'Brien (sideline)

Scoring summary

1		MIA	Greg Cox 39-yard field goal	MIA 3-0

1		MIA	W. Williams 6-yard run (Greg Cox kick)	MIA 10-0

1		MIA	Greg Cox 47-yard field goal	MIA 13-0

2		MIA	Bennie Blades 61-yard interception return (Cox kick)	MIA 20-0

2		ND	Allen Pinkett 3-yard run (John Carney kick)	MIA 20-7

2		MIA	Melvin Bratton 7-yard pass from Vinny Testaverde (Cox kick)	MIA 27-7

3		MIA	Greg Cox 48-yard field goal	MIA 30-7

3		MIA	Michael Irvin 15-yard pass from Vinny Testaverde (Greg Cox kick)	MIA 37-7

4		MIA	Vinny Testaverde 1-yard run (Greg Cox kick)	MIA 44-7

4		MIA	Andre Brown 17-yard pass from Geoff Torretta (Seelig kick)	MIA 51-7

4	4:44	MIA	Bill Hawkins recovered blocked punt in end zone (Greg Cox kick)	MIA 58-7

Miami scored the most points in a game since 1967. The Hurricanes scored on their first four possessions, the fifth was ended when time ran out at halftime, and then they scored the first four times they got the ball in the second half.^[10]

vs. No. 8 Tennessee (Sugar Bowl)

Miami (FL) vs. Tennessee

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 2 Hurricanes	7	0	0	0	7
• No. 8 Volunteers	0	14	14	7	35

Date: January 1
Location: Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana
Game attendance: 77,432
Game weather: Indoors
TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson, Frank Broyles, and Tim Brant

Scoring summary

1	Miami (FL)	Michael Irvin 18-yard pass from Vinny Testaverde (Greg Cox kick)	Miami 7-0

2	Tennessee	Jeff Smith 6-yard pass from Daryl Dickey (Fuad Reveiz kick)	Tied 7-7

2	Tennessee	Tim McGee fumble recovery in end zone (Reveiz kick)	Tennessee 14-7

3	Tennessee	Henderson 1-yard run (Reveiz kick)	Tennessee 21-7

3	Tennessee	Jeff Powell 60-yard run (Reveiz kick)	Tennessee 28-7

4	Tennessee	Charles Wilson 6-yard run (Reveiz kick)	Tennessee 35-7

^[11]^[12]

1986 NFL Draft

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Kevin Fagan	Defensive tackle	4	102	San Francisco 49ers
Reggie Sutton	Defensive back	5	115	New Orleans Saints
Willie Smith	Tight end	10	265	Cleveland Browns
John McVeigh	Linebacker	12	321	Seattle Seahawks

^[13]

References

^ "Bell passes Gators over Hurricanes". St. Lucie News Tribune. September 8, 1985. Retrieved November 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Terrific, terrible Testaverde propels Hurricanes, 27–15". The Miami Herald. October 6, 1985. Retrieved March 5, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "No miracles; Terps left with 'what if?'". The Baltimore Sun. November 10, 1985. Retrieved January 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Orange crush, but Tennessee, not Miami, does the damage". The Shreveport Journal. January 2, 1986. Retrieved November 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Um Gets 10 Floridians, Goes Out Of State For Qbs - Sun Sentinel". Archived from the original on July 20, 2014.
^ "MIAMI BEATS SOONERS, 27-14". The New York Times. October 20, 1985. Retrieved October 12, 2017.
^ "UM Pummels Louisville, 45-7". Sun Sentinel. October 27, 1985. Retrieved December 10, 2023.
^ "Miami's Come-From-Behind Victory Really 'Special'". The Palm Beach Post via newspapers.com. November 3, 1985. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
^ "MIAMI DEFEATS TERPS, 29-22". The New York Times. November 10, 1985. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
^ "FAUST ERA AT NOTRE DAME ENDS IN 58-7 HUMILIATION". The New York Times. December 10, 1985. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
^ "52nd Annual Sugar Bowl Classic ~ January 1, 1986". Sugar Bowl. January 1, 1986. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
^ "SUGAR BOWL; MIAMI SURPRISED BY TENNESSEE, 35-7". The New York Times. January 2, 1986. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
^ "1986 NFL Draft". pro-football-reference.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2007. Retrieved August 23, 2019.

v t e Miami Hurricanes football
Venues	Miami Orange Bowl (1937–2007) Hard Rock Stadium (2008–present)
Bowls and rivalries	Bowl games Florida Florida State Nebraska Virginia Tech
Culture and lore	1998 UCLA game 2011 athletics scandal Band of the Hour Catholics vs. Convicts FIU–Miami brawl Florida Cup Hail Flutie Miami 4–3 defense Quarterback U Sebastian the Ibis Whammy in Miami Wide Right I Wide Right II Confusion Bowl 2023 Georgia Tech game
Documentaries	Catholics vs. Convicts The U
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Early years (1926 to 1978)	Miami Hurricanes football (1926 to 1978)
Seasons	1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold