| 1995 FedEx Orange Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Bowl Coalition national championship game 61st Orange Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | January 1, 1995 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1994 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Miami Orange Bowl | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Miami, Florida | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Nebraska QBTommie Frazier and Miami WRChris T. Jones | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Miami by 1 (37)[1][2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Ron Winter (Big Ten) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 81,753 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Network | NBC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Tom Hammond,Cris Collinsworth, andJohn Dockery | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nielsen ratings | 18.9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The1995 Orange Bowl was a college football bowl game played on January 1, 1995, as the 61st edition of the Orange Bowl and the national championship game for the1994 season. It featured theNebraska Cornhuskers of theBig Eight and theMiami Hurricanes of theBig East. The game was a rematch of the historic1984 Orange Bowl. As of 2020, the 1995 Orange Bowl holds the record for Orange Bowl attendance at 81,753.
Although this was theBowl Coalition's National Championship Game, it was a match-up of the first and third-ranked teams in the country, as second-rankedPenn State was obligated to play in the1995 Rose Bowl as theBig Ten champion.
Nebraska came into the game with a 12–0 record and No. 1 ranking in theAP Poll.
Miami entered the game with 10–1 record and had the AP's No. 3 ranking.
Miami placekicker Dane Prewitt scored the first points of the game with a 44-yard field goal to open up a 3–0 Miami lead. Miami quarterbackFrank Costa fired a 35-yard touchdown pass to Trent Jones for a 10–0 Miami lead. Nebraska quarterbackBrook Berringer threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to tight end Mark Gilman before halftime, to close the deficit to 10–7. In the third quarter, Costa threw a 44-yard touchdown pass to Jonathan Harris, to open a 17–7 lead.
Nebraska outside linebacker Dwayne Harris sacked Costa in the end zone for asafety before the end of the third quarter, and Miami led 17–9. FullbackCory Schlesinger scored on a 15-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to trim the lead to 17–15.Tommie Frazier then found tight end Eric Alford in the back of the end zone to tie the game, 17–17. A 14-yard touchdown run by Schlesinger gave Nebraska a 24–17 lead, and the defense held on to win the national championship.
| Quarter | Time | Team | Detail | NU | MIA |
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| 1 | 7:54 | MIA | Dane Prewitt 44-yd field goal | 0 | 3 |
| 0:04 | MIA | Trent Jones 35-yd pass fromFrank Costa (Dane Prewitt kick) | 0 | 10 | |
| 2 | 7:54 | NU | Mark Gilman 19-yd pass fromBrook Berringer (Tom Sieler kick) | 7 | 10 |
| 3 | 13:19 | MIA | Jonathan Harris 44-yd pass from Frank Costa (Dane Prewitt kick) | 7 | 17 |
| 11:35 | NU | Frank Costa sacked in end zone by Dwayne Harris | 9 | 17 | |
| 4 | 7:38 | NU | Cory Schlesinger 15-yd rush (Eric Alford pass from Tommie Frazier) | 17 | 17 |
| 2:46 | NU | Cory Schlesinger 14-yd rush (Tom Sieler kick) | 24 | 17 |
Nebraska finished the season with a 13–0 record, and won the national championship (The program's third of five). Miami finished the season ranked sixth, with a 10–2 record. It was Nebraska's first bowl win since the1987 Sugar Bowl.
Second-ranked and also undefeatedPenn State won its bowl game (the1995 Rose Bowl), which led to much controversy after only Nebraska was crowned national champions. It was not until theBowl Championship Series (BCS) was formed in 1998 that theBig Ten andPac-10 would allow their champions to compete in national championship games outside theRose Bowl Game.
Less than two weeks after the game,Dennis Erickson departed the Hurricanes to take the head coaching position with theNational Football League'sSeattle Seahawks. Miami hiredDallas Cowboys defensive coordinatorButch Davis as Erickson's successor.