| 1998 FedEx Orange Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 64th Orange Bowl "Battle by the Beach" Alliance National Championship | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | January 2, 1998 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1997 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Pro Player Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Miami, Florida | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Ahman Green (RB, Nebraska) &Jamal Lewis (RB, Tennessee) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Nebraska by 7½ points (57)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Terry McAulay (ACC) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 74,002 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Network | CBS | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Sean McDonough and Terry Donahue | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nielsen ratings | 13.3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The1998 Orange Bowl was played on January 2, 1998, and served as theBowl Alliance's designated national championship game for the1997 season. This 64th edition of theOrange Bowl featured theNebraska Cornhuskers of theBig 12 Conference and theTennessee Volunteers of theSoutheastern Conference (SEC).[2]
While this was the designated national championship game, it featured the No. 2 and No. 3 ranked teams, per theAP Poll. The top-rankedMichigan Wolverines were not a participant, as theBig Ten champion was still contractually obligated to appear in theRose Bowl against thePac-10 champion. The next season, theBowl Championship Series (BCS) was formed, allowing the Big Ten and Pac-10 champions to participate in bowl games other than the Rose Bowl.
Tennessee came into the game with an 11–1 record and the No. 3 ranking. The Volunteers had finished their regular season with a 10–1 record, their only loss having been toFlorida. Tennessee then defeatedAuburn in theSEC title game on December 6.
Nebraska came into the game with a 12–0 record and the No. 2 ranking. The Cornhuskers were 11–0 through the regular season, then defeatedTexas A&M in theBig 12 title game on December 6.
Nebraska opened up a 7–0 lead after the first quarter and led 14–3 lead at halftime. The Huskers put the game away in the opening drive of the third quarter via their power running game, driving the opening kickoff for a touchdown to push the lead to 21–3. Nebraska's lead jumped to 28–3 after a touchdown run by quarterbackScott Frost. Tennessee quarterbackPeyton Manning fired a 5-yard touchdown pass to wide receiverPeerless Price to cut the lead to 28–9. The ensuing two-point conversion failed and the lead remained at 19. Nebraska then drove 59 yards in three plays, before running backAhman Green scored on a 22-yard touchdown run to move the lead up to 35–9 going into the fourth quarter.
Frost added a 9-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to put the game away for Nebraska at 42–9 with under five minutes remaining. Tennessee's back-up quarterbackTee Martin threw a touchdown pass in the final minute, and the ensuing two-point conversion was successful, closing the final margin to 42–17.[2]
Nebraska's Green was named game MVP after rushing for an Orange Bowl record 201 yards and two touchdowns. In his final game at Tennessee, Manning completed 21-of-31 attempts for only 131 yards passing. The game was also the last for Nebraska head coachTom Osborne, who had been at the helm since1973 (and with the Husker program since1962).
| Quarter | Time | Team | Detail | NU | TEN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:10 | NU | Ahman Green 1-yd rush (Kris Brown kick) | 7 | 0 |
| 2 | 11:28 | NU | Shelvin Wiggins 10-yd rush (Kris Brown kick) | 14 | 0 |
| 8:28 | TEN | Jeff Hall 44-yd field goal | 14 | 3 | |
| 3 | 10:11 | NU | Scott Frost 1-yd rush (Kris Brown kick) | 21 | 3 |
| 5:07 | NU | Scott Frost 11-yd rush (Kris Brown kick) | 28 | 3 | |
| 1:58 | TEN | Peerless Price 5-yd pass fromPeyton Manning | 28 | 9 | |
| 0:29 | NU | Ahman Green 22-yd rush (Kris Brown kick) | 35 | 9 | |
| 4 | 4:24 | NU | Scott Frost 9-yd rush (Kris Brown kick) | 42 | 9 |
| 0:58 | TEN | Andy McCullough 3-yd pass fromTee Martin (Travis Stephens pass from Tee Martin) | 42 | 17 |
Nebraska was ranked second in the finalAP Poll, behind the also-undefeatedRose Bowl championMichigan Wolverines. The Cornhuskers did win a share of thenational championship, capturing the top spot in theCoaches Poll and receiving theAFCA National Championship Trophy.
Tennessee finished at 11–2; this was the last loss by the Volunteers until September 18,1999.
Nebraska and Tennessee met exactly two years later, in the2000 Fiesta Bowl.
RefereeTerry McAulay was hired by theNFL for the1998 season as a side judge. After working three seasons at that position, he was promoted to referee in2001 and was a crew chief for 16 seasons. He was the referee forSuper Bowl XXXIX,Super Bowl XLIII andSuper Bowl XLVIII.
VegasInsider lists Huskers as 7.5 pt favorites