1991 Orange Bowl

NCAAFootballSingleGameHeader
Name=1991 Orange Bowl


Date=January 1, 1991
Year=1990
Visitor School=University of Notre Dame
Visitor Name Short=Notre Dame
Visitor Nickname=Fighting Irish
Visitor Record=9-2
Visitor

Visitor Coaches=6
Visitor Coach=Lou Holtz
Visitor1=0
Visitor2=6
Visitor3=3
Visitor4=0
Visitor Total=9
Home School=University of Colorado
Home Name Short=Colorado
Home Nickname=Buffaloes
Home Record=10-1-1
Home

Home Coaches=1
Home Coach=Bill McCartney
Home1=0
Home2=3
Home3=7
Home4=0
Home Total=10
MVP=Colorado QB Charles S. Johnson and Notre Dame NG Chris Zorich
Attendance=77,062
Type=bg
Stadium=Miami Orange Bowl
City=Miami, Florida
US Network=NBC
US Announcers=Dick Enberg and Bill Walsh

The 1991 Orange Bowl was a 1990-1991 college football bowl game that was played on January 1, 1991, for the national championship. The 57th edition of the Orange Bowl featured the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, and the Colorado Buffaloes. Colorado came into the game with a 10-1-1 record and #1 AP ranking, whereas Notre Dame came into the game with a 9-2 and #5 AP ranking. The game was a rematch of the 1990 matchup, in which #3 Notre Dame took a National Championship away from #1 Colorado, 21-6. The win gave the Buffaloes its first and (to date) only National Championship.

Setup

Colorado came into the Orange Bowl 10-1-1, but needed some luck to get to that point. In their first game, the Tennessee Volunteers came back from 21 points out, but Tennessee decided to kick the extra point to hold a 31-31 tie. More than one month later, backup quarterback Charles S. Johnson just got the ball in the end zone to beat the Missouri Tigers 33-31, in a very controversial game in which Colorado was allowed to have a 5th down. The winning touchdown was scored on that play, and it was allowed to stand. That game is often referred to as the "5th down game". One reason for the Buffaloes number 1 ranking was that they had the toughest schedule of any team. Another was quarterback Darian Hagan and half back Eric Bieniemy, who finished 3rd in the Heisman voting. A victory would guarantee at least a share of the championship, but the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets weren't far behind with their number 2 ranking in both polls, and were 10-0-1 going into New Year's Day.

The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame, meanwhile, were 9-2, but the two losses were unfortunate. Both losses occurred when they were number 1 in the polls, and at home. The first was a 36-31 loss to 1-3 Stanford on October 6, then gave the ranking to Colorado on Craig Fayak's 34 yard field goal on a 24-21 loss to Penn State. Sophomore quarterback Rick Mirer passed for 1824 yards and 8 touchdowns, while "The Rocket" accounted for 1726 all-purpose yards, putting him on the All-American team as a wide receiver.

The Game

After a scoreless first quarter, Colorado struck first blood, as Jim Harper kicket a 22 yard field goal to give the first points of the game. A few minutes later, on 2nd and goal, tailback Ricky Watters plunged in from 2 yards to give the Fighting Irish the lead. But when Ronnie Bradford blocked Craig Hentrich's PAT attempt, the score remained 6-3. This cost Hentrich his 73 straight successful PAT attempts, a school record. Things would turn sour for the Buffaloes, however, as Hagan ruptured his tendon in his left knee just before the half, where the score remained the same.

External links

* [http://www.orangebowl.org/ Official website of the Orange Bowl]