By April Lowry
online@du2.byu.edu
September 10, 1990 - The BYU Cougars shocked the nation, shocked No. 1 Miami Hurricanes, shocked some their fans, but did not shock themselves in their thrilling 28-21 victory Saturday night.
What was billed as a showdown for two Heisman candidates ended up being a showcase for quarterback Ty Detmer, and a show place for the Cougar defense.
Going into the game they were picked as 18 to 20 point underdogs, and doubt shadowed the 16th ranked BYU team's chances of taking the upper hand in the confrontation. But Detmer led the Cougars to defeat Miami in the 'Canes third loss in their last 55 regular season games. As he scrambled, found the open men and got the completions, Detmer impressed ever the Ericksons of Miami.
'Ty to me was unbelievable. He's a great, great quarterback and he showed it tonight. He made the plays and throws and did it under a lot of pressure,' said Miami Head Coach Dennis Erickson.
The Hurricanes' quarterback Craig Erickson said Detmer's outstanding performance 'ignited the place tonight ... he came in with the game plan that he executed perfectly.'
Detmer passed 406 yards against Miami, the most since 1984 when Doug Flutie and Boston College threw for 472 yards against Miami.
The quarterback Erickson not only praised Detmer's performance, but specifically lauded the players that held him to just under 300 yards passing. 'BYU's defense could be described in a few words. They went above and beyond.' Erickson continued and said they played above the call of duty againxt a good offense, 'and we are a good offense.'
He said, 'BYU's defense had a good game plan, but it was nothing we had not prepared for.'
'I can't take anyhting from BYU, they played a great game,' Erickson said.
Coach Erickson attributed the win to a 'class-act team that plain out-played us ... and did extremely well on defense.'
Miami led the nation last season in total defense, but the Hurricanes were a mere tropical storm against the Cougar offense in the two teams' second match up.
The prior meeting was the 1988 season opener for the Miami team, in that meeting the Hurricanes came out on top with a 41-17 win in Miami.
Only 217 yards per game were allowed by the Hurricane defense last season , but Miami gave up 332 in the first half against BYU while the Miami offense gained only 134 yards.
Even though the Cougars turned the ball over five times, they still came out on top. BYU dominated the first half, but four of those turn overs came before the half and kept the score to 17-14.
Miami scored the first points of the game after recovering a fumble on their own 25 yard line.
The first touchdown for the Cougars came in the opening drive of the second period. The ball was run twice, and four passes took BYU to the 14-yard line. Detmer scrambled and avoided three sacks and connected with senior running back Matt Bellini in the end zone to tie the game up 7-7.
Humility exuded from both Detmer and Bellini in post game interviews. Both attributed the success of the play to the other's superb skills.
Bellini said, 'that was all Ty. He's a slimy little cat who moves around and makes a lot of things happen.' Detmer gave the touchdown credit to Salido also.
When asked how he developed his skill to avoid the rush Detmer said when he feels like something is going to happen, he gets out of there, like 'playing smear the queer,' in the front yard when he was growing up.
Detmer also evaded the Miami defense late in the third quarter when he was able to get a 7-yard pass off to running back Mike Salido then connect with a 2-point conversion pass to Andy Boyce that gave BYU a 28-21 lead.
Cougar kicker Earl Kauffman, 'played his best since he's been here,' Head Coach laVell Edwards said. Kauffman gave BYU two field goals and his punting average was 53.8 yards, with his longest 59 yards.
Defensively the Cougars controlled the game. Defensive back Brian Mitchell said, 'It's not like they stopped themselves on defense-We stopped them.'
Twice late in the game BYU cornerback Ervin Lee halted the Miami drive. With 6:28 left in the game Lee intercepted in the end zone, then he hit the ball away with 1:49 remaining.
Edwards said the defense was just outstanding. The Cougars went in the game more concerned about the 'Canes running than their pass, and they were successful in stopping them. Quick passes also worried the BYU defense.