No Question, Oklahoma Is No. 1--Thanks to Tennessee : Miami Sees Its Hopes Go Down With Testaverde in 35-7 Rout

Penn State didn’t want it. Iowa didn’t want it. Miami didn’t want it.

Volunteers for No. 1?

No, thank y’all just the same, Johnny Majors drawled after the team he coaches did a number on Miami, 35-7, in a Tennessee waltz Wednesday night at the Sugar Bowl.

“I’m not campaignin’ for No. 1,” Majors said.

But, like his team, it only took him a few minutes to get rolling.

“One thing I’d like to say is that I’m so dadgum proud of this football team, I could talk about ‘em for hours and hours,” Majors said, his voice getting louder by the second. “I have never seen a team play so well in a big game, anywhere at anytime, and I don’t think there’s a better team in the country at this time!”

And on he went.

About that Tennessee defense, which sacked Miami quarterback Vinny Testaverde eight times and forced him to fumble three times and throw three interceptions: “That was the most fantastic feat I’ve ever seen in football in any phase of coaching!” Majors shouted.

About quarterback Daryl Dickey, who outplayed Testaverde and was voted the game’s most valuable player: “What else can you say about this young man! He’s one of the most fantastic stories in college football of all time! A great team player! An unselfish performer! This team just loves to play for him!”

And about those Volunteers of his in general, who were supposed to roll over and play dead for a Miami bunch that still had a shot at the national championship: “I’ll say it again!” Majors ya-hooed. “I think today this football team is as fine a team as the nation has!”

So, should Tennessee be ranked No. 1?

“Naw, like I was tellin’ y’all, I’m not campaignin’ for No. 1,” Majors said.

So, where should they be ranked?

“Darn high,” Majors said.

Would No. 2 satisfy you?

“I’d rather be first,” he said.

OK, call them No. 1 1/2. The Volunteers (9-1-2) looked like world-beaters against the slap-happy Hurricanes (10-2), who now know how Notre Dame feels.

It was only a few weeks ago that Miami closed out its regular season by stomping on the Fighting Irish, 58-7. The much-criticized greed of Coach Jimmy Johnson’s team agitated more than one person, including the friends of Tennessee’s 250-pound junior fullback, Sam Henderson of South Bend, Ind., who scored one of Wednesday’s touchdowns.

“Oh, I got talked to about that a lot before I left home (before Christmas),” Henderson said. “A lot of folks were unhappy with the way Miami, you know, just went out and drilled Notre Dame. I’m sure this makes them feel a little better.”

Miami haters must have gulped when the Hurricanes scored first, on Testaverde’s perfect 18-yard pass to freshman Mike Irvin. It was a touchdown set up by a fake punt, with single back Melvin Bratton taking a short snap and chugging 25 yards to the Tennessee 18.

But Tennessee seemed to have everything going for it after that, including high-volume fans who must have formed seven-eighths of the crowd of 77,432 at the Louisiana Superdome. That touchdown pass was Testaverde’s only super throw of the night, and that fake punt was Miami’s best weapon, to the point that it was hauled out again in the fourth quarter.

By then, the game and the No. 1 ranking were both long gone, and so was Testaverde, who was relieved by junior Geoff Torretta of Pinole, Calif., for the final few minutes.

Although his statistics are deceiving--20 of 36 passing--Testaverde did almost nothing right. He was supposed to be able to scramble better than his Miami predecessor, Bernie Kosar, could, but instead he was sacked eight times in the first three periods alone, offering little resistance.

It didn’t help Miami any that the team was slapped with 120 yards in penalties, tying a 34-year Sugar Bowl record. As alibis go, though, it is inadequate. Tennessee had 125 yards in penalties, breaking the record.

Testaverde said: “The crowd noise was a factor, the penalties hurt and our lack of execution kept us from sustaining anything on offense.” All true. But the blitzing Volunteer defense was the biggest factor of all, making hash of Testaverde’s pregame comment that if Tennessee tries to blitz, “they’d better be prepared to get burned.”

It was that sort of attitude that the Tennessee players sensed. “We were all over them all night long, and Testaverde and the rest of them didn’t have a clue what to do,” senior wide receiver Eric Swanson from San Bernardino said. “I honestly think they didn’t think we would even give them a game.”

As soon as the Vols recovered from the fake punt and Testaverde’s touchdown pass to Irvin, they ran away with the game. Literally ran away with it, because after Dickey’s six-yard pass to tight end Willie Smith tied the score, Tennessee tacked on four straight rushing touchdowns, by four different players.

Well, one of them was sort of a rushing touchdown. The score that put Tennessee on top, 14-7, at halftime actually came when running back Jeff Powell carried the ball from the Miami nine and fumbled just before he got to the goal line. Wide receiver Tim McGee fell on it for a touchdown.

“If we get to the ball first, maybe we turn the game around and we’re the national champions right now,” Miami’s Johnson said.

Whatever the coach said to his team at halftime, he should have said something else. Testaverde spent the entire third period fumbling (three times) or getting sacked (also three times). Not once did he scramble out of danger.

Tennessee’s defense kept putting the offense in good position. A Testaverde fumble, recovered at the Miami 31, led to the first appearance of the night by Henderson, the Volunteer short-yardage refrigerator. It took him two tries to crack over.

Less than two minutes later, Testaverde fumbled again. The Hurricanes recovered this one, but it was fourth down, they punted, and on the first Tennessee play from scrimmage, Powell--a track man who was fourth in the NCAA 110-meter high hurdles indoors--sprinted 60 yards on a simple off-tackle play to make it 28-7.

That’s the sort of night it was for Miami--giving up a 60-yard run to a guy who rushed for 235 yards all season.

Testaverde was intercepted twice more, once at the Tennessee 28 and later throwing it right into linebacker Darrin Miller’s hands at the two. The coach could watch his 1986 Heisman Trophy candidate suffer no more. He put in Torretta--who played one series and was intercepted himself.

It was a near-perfect performance by Tennessee, which, like Miami, had lost only to Florida before the Sugar Bowl. The Vols also were tied by UCLA and Georgia Tech, encouraging Majors to say, “I ain’t pushing for No. 1, but I sure do wish we had a couple of them games back.”

Johnny Majors. Dadgum proud! An unselfish performer! His team just loves to play for him!