The 13th ranked University of Miami Hurricanes defeated the defending national champions and 3rd ranked Florida State Seminoles 34-20 in front of sellout Orange Bowl crowd of 77,010 and an ESPN record national television audience ! The key play may have been Carlos Jones 16 yard interception return of a Danny Kanell pass late in the 3rd quarte...r that put Miami ahead 31-17 ! The 2 teams traded field goals in the final quarter and Miami came away with the win !
The Canes offense was led by James Stewart, who rushed for 95 yards and 2 TD's...and quarterbacks Frank Costa and Ryan Collins who shared the QB duties...the Canes offense tallied 363 total yards. The Miami defense, led by consensus All-American and 1994 Lombardi Trophy winner Warren Sapp, Ray Lewis and Rohan Marley held the high-powered FSU offense to 219 total yards, and forced Kanell into 4 interceptions ! The 'Noles offense struggled mightily under the relentless pressure...so much so that FSU coach Bobby Bowden even sent in 3rd string quarterback Thad Busby to try to get things going ! It didn't work.
The game drew a 7.7 ratings and nearly 5 million viewers...then the highest rating ever for a regular season college football game on ESPN ! (note...the game has since been eclipsed by 6 other games in total viewers, including 3 other Miami games, but the 7.7 ratings is still tops) The Canes went on to a 10-2 record and a loss in the Orange Bowl game to Nebraska...possibly another championship with a victory...the Noles finished 10-1-1 and beat the gator in a rematch in the Sugar Bowl, after a 31-31 regular season tie.
But on October 8th, 1994...the Miami Hurricanes defeated the Florida State Seminoles...and in the Magic City...Life was Good !
 Ray Lewis |  Rohan Marley |
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