| Year Game Played: | 1989 |
| Title Sponsor: | Federal Express |
| Game Name: | Orange Bowl |
| Subheader: | 55th Orange Bowl |
| Football Season: | 1988 |
| Visitor Name Short: | Miami |
| Visitor Nickname: | Hurricanes |
| Visitor School: | University of Miami |
| Home Name Short: | Nebraska |
| Home Nickname: | Cornhuskers |
| Home School: | University of Nebraska |
| Visitor Record: | 10–1 |
| Visitor Conference: | Independent |
| Home Record: | 11–1 |
| Home Conference: | Big 8 |
| Visitor Coach: | Jimmy Johnson |
| Home Coach: | Tom Osborne |
| Visitor Rank Ap: | 2 |
| Visitor Rank Coaches: | 2 |
| Home Rank Ap: | 6 |
| Home Rank Coaches: | 6 |
| Visitor 1Q: | 7 |
| Visitor 2Q: | 13 |
| Visitor 3Q: | 0 |
| Visitor 4Q: | 3 |
| Home 1Q: | 0 |
| Home 2Q: | 0 |
| Home 3Q: | 3 |
| Home 4Q: | 0 |
| Date Game Played: | January 2 |
| Stadium: | Orange Bowl |
| City: | Miami, Florida |
| Mvp: | Steve Walsh (Miami QB) Charles Fryer (Nebraska CB) |
| Odds: | Miami by 6½ points [1] |
| Referee: | Jimmy Harper (SEC) |
| Attendance: | 79,480 |
| Us Network: | NBC |
| Us Announcers Link: | List of announcers of major college bowl games |
| Us Announcers: | Don Criqui and Bob Trumpy |
The 1989 Orange Bowl was the 55th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, on Monday, January 2. Part of the 1988–89 bowl game season, it matched the independent and second-ranked Miami Hurricanes and the #6 Nebraska Cornhuskers of the Big Eight Conference. Favored Miami won 23–3.[2] [3] [4]
It was a rematch of the 1984 game, in which Miami had won its first national championship. Despite the high rankings of the game was not determining of the national title since top-ranked and undefeated Notre Dame (which had defeated Miami by one point earlier in the season) convincingly won the Fiesta Bowl in Arizona earlier
This was the first Orange Bowl that had an official corporate sponsor, Federal Express (now FedEx), who continued to sponsor the bowl until 2010.
The rematch did not turn out to be as close as the 1984 game, and Miami led at halftime. Nebraska finally scored with a 50-yard field goal in the third quarter, but Miami responded with its own in the fourth.[2] Hurricanes quarterback Steve Walsh also set a new Orange Bowl record with 44 attempted passes, with 21 completions, and was named the game's MVP on offense.
| Statistics | Miami | Nebraska | |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Downs | 20 | 10 | |
| Rushes–yards | 28–69 | 38–80 | |
| Passing yards | 285 | 55 | |
| Passes (C–A–I) | 23–48–3 | 8–22–3 | |
| Total Offense | 76–354 | 60–135 | |
| Return yards | 47 | 31 | |
| Punts–average | 4–40 | 9–37 | |
| Fumbles–lost | 1–0 | 0–0 | |
| Turnovers< | -- by--> | 3 | 3 |
| Penalties-yards | 7–60 | 5–45 | |
| Time of possession | 30:16 | 29:44 |
Miami retained its #2 ranking in the final AP poll and Nebraska fell
Nebraska and Miami have since faced off again in the post-season three times, twice in the Orange Bowl in 1992 and 1995, and once in the Rose Bowl in 2002.