Orange Bowl Memories

Miami 31, Nebraska 30 (1984 Orange Bowl): "I love telling this story because this was the first college football game I ever attended. My dad took me when I was 12 years old. Going to the Orange Bowl was a big deal, especially since the local team was taking on the No. 1-ranked team in the country. At the time I didn't know how important the game was, I was just happy to go to a game on New Year's Day! My mom actually got two free tickets from her boss and gave them to my dad and me for Christmas. All my friends were big Hurricane fans, so they were jealous I got to go. I remember walking inside the stadium and noticing how old it looked. Climbing up to our seats, the whole stadium was shaking, but when we sat down at our seats (50-yard line, like row 60 in the lower bowl), I was amazed. It was nothing like watching a game on TV. The seats were wooden bleachers, and we were crammed in like sardines, but it didn't matter because I was in such awe to be at game. My mom was watching the game at home (mostly because she loved the halftime shows), so I kept thinking she might get to see me on TV. My dad bought me a big foam finger (orange, of course), program and pennant, all of which I still have to this day. Since they played the game in the real Orange Bowl instead of Dolphin Stadium, parking was a disaster, so we left with about five minutes remaining (yes, before the famous two-point conversion). It was late and there was no way my dad was going to fight the traffic for two hours and get home at 3 a.m. I had my little five-inch, black-and-white television and can remember watching the famous play in the car on the way home. Every time I see highlights of Kenny Calhoun knocking away the pass, I remember watching it, telling my dad 'Miami won!', turning off the TV and going to sleep for the rest of the ride home." -- J. Darin Darst, CBSSports.com producer

Who can foget Xavier Beitia's miss against Miami in 2002? (Getty Images)

Miami 49, UCLA 45 (Dec. 5, 1998): "My buddy called me that morning offering me a chance to work the game for ESPN and said I might get a chance to be on the field. I had to work that night, but I said to myself 'I can't pass up this chance.' So when I arrived at the stadium, I got picked to work with a camera man on the UCLA sideline. I was so excited just to be there. As soon as I came out from under the bleachers and entered the stadium I actually felt in AWE. You could feel the history of the stadium. By the fourth quarter, the crowd was in a frenzy -- it was deafening on the sidelines. Edgerrin James became Superman, scoring touchdown after touchdown. Next thing I knew, I was counting down the clock with all the UM fans and rushed the field as everybody wants to do once in his lifetime. I ran into Al Blades at the center of the field and shook his hand. I can't believe it was one of the last times he would ever play football again (editor's note: Blades died in a car accident in 2003). I said this was my moment to feel and absorb the love of one of the greatest teams and home-field advantages ever built in the history of sports. I will truly miss the one and only Orange Bowl." -- Larry Rabinowitz, lifelong Hurricanes fan

Miami 27, Notre Dame 10 (Nov. 25, 1989): "Notre Dame came in ranked No. 1 after just having accepted a bid to play Colorado in the Orange Bowl a few days earlier (every time I complain about the BCS, I just think back to this year and get over it). Miami was a little bit upset having to play Alabama in the Sugar Bowl instead, Notre Dame beating Miami the year before and all those "Catholics vs. Convicts" T-shirts. Miami totally dominated the game, but the best play I ever saw was Miami converting a third-and-44 from its own 3 on a Craig Erickson-to-Randall Hill bomb. Even though it wasn't a great game, it is the best game I ever attended." -- Tony Fernandez, CBSSports.com Vice President of Technology

Trev Alberts' memories aren't happy ones as he lost to Miami 22-0 in 1992. (Getty Images)

Miami 27, Florida State 24 (Oct. 7, 2000): "It was as hot as it gets in Miami. The brutal South Florida sun pouring down on 80,000 fans in the Orange Bowl. Perfect weather for Miami–Florida State. The O.B. actually ran out of water by halftime, but nobody cared. We were fixated on the field. In 2000, the rivalry felt like it was finally back. The 'Canes suffered through probation several years earlier, but now both teams were national championship contenders again, and the fans were ready for an inevitable classic. Miami made it look easy by jumping out to a big halftime lead, but Chris Weinke and the Seminoles stormed back. The 'Noles took a four-point lead late in the fourth quarter. It set up a drive that would make UM's Ken Dorsey and Jeremy Shockey Miami legends forever. Dorsey found Shockey in the end zone to put Miami up 27-24. It looked like FSU had no chance. But Weinke wasn't done. He quickly drove FSU down the field and set up Matt Munyon for the game-tying field goal. Surely, the past failures of Florida State kickers were on Munyon's mind. They were on 80,000 other people's minds. The kick was up. It had the distance. But ... WIDE RIGHT III! A perfect ending to a perfect day in the best football stadium in the country. -- Adam Aizer, CSTV Radio

Miami 38, Florida 33 (Sept. 6, 2003): "There is nothing quite like a night game in the Orange Bowl. Anyone will tell you that. Add in the fact that the Florida Gators were in Little Havana on September 6, 2003 for an 8:00 p.m. start, and the place was just raucous. I’ll never forget when Devin Hester headed out to the closed end zone to take the opening kickoff. It was his freshman season and after all of the hype, we finally got a glimpse of what he would be all about. With the crowd going crazy and the usual rap music blasting out of the speakers at the O-Bowl, Hester danced around the end zone pumping up the crowd of more than 80,000 people. And when Hester fielded the kickoff, it became absolute pandemonium. Hester cut to the left, and back to the right, and outran the whole Florida team to the end zone. The Orange Bowl was literally shaking. The stands were bouncing up and down. Hester took off his helmet after reaching the end zone for a touchdown which received a penalty, but none of that mattered. That would be a great moment on its own, but then came a 33-10 Florida lead with 6:10 to play in the third quarter. People were stunned. And then came the greatest 21 minutes of Brock Berlin’s career. Four touchdowns later, Brock had beaten the team that basically gave up on him. I’ll never forget Berlin mocking the Gators fans in the open end zone with a taste of their own medicine, doing the famous Chomp in the open end zone. Miami had won 38-33, in a game that I’ll remember for the rest of my life." -- Douglas Kroll, CSTV.com