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39 unusual facts about Orange Bowl


1991 NCAA Division I-A football season

The Hurricanes closed the 1991 season with a 22-0 shutout over #11 Nebraska in the Orange Bowl, but their season was defined by a dramatic November victory over then-#1 ranked and perennial rival Florida State.

Alonzo Highsmith

Highsmith was a four-time letterman in college, and a member of the 1983 Hurricanes squad that won the national championship with a 31-30 victory over Nebraska in the Orange Bowl.

Alvah Chapman, Jr.

He had headed the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra, the Miami Coalition for a Drug-Free Community, Goodwill Industries of South Florida, the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, Miami Citizens Against Crime, the Orange Bowl Committee, a committee to build the Miami Performing Arts Center and the local United Way.

Armen Keteyian

He served as a reporter for CBS's coverage of the 1998 FedEx Orange Bowl, the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano and has been the host and co-writer of the Tour de France (2001–05).

Brigade 2506

On 29 December 1962, President John F. Kennedy hosted a 'welcome back' ceremony for captured Brigade 2506 veterans at the Orange Bowl in Miami.

Brock Berlin

Miami would win the Big East Conference, defeat Florida State (for the second time that season) in the FedEx Orange Bowl, and finish the season at 11–2 and ranked #5 in both polls.

Camacho Cigars

Camacho Cigars signed a three-year deal with the Orange Bowl and the NCAA for the 2012-2014 Orange Bowl games and the 2013 BCS National Championship.

Charlie Pittman

In his junior and senior seasons, Penn State went 22-0, with wins over Kansas and Missouri in the 1969 and 1970 Orange Bowls.

Chuck Zink

He also was the television host of the local Orange Bowl New Year's Parade for 22 years, and the announcer for the Jackie Gleason Show for 12 years.

Daniel Arsham

A second project for a marker to commemorate the site of the former Orange Bowl reimagines the letters from the former Orange Bowl sign as 10 foot concrete letters dispersed in various positions through the east plaza of the new ballpark.

:Daniel Arsham/Snarkitecture were selected as one of three artists to contribute artwork to the new baseball stadium located on the site of the Orange Bowl near downtown Miami, scheduled to open in 2012.

Dominique Byrd

Byrd went to Southern California where he made a 2004 All-Pac-10 honorable mention, and was best known for catching two one-handed touchdown passes, one of which was in the Orange Bowl victory against University of Oklahoma.

Don Phelps

Phelps was suspended for most of the 1948 season for breaking team rules, but he returned in 1949, when Kentucky played in the Orange Bowl.

Ernie Sims

In 2003, as a true freshman at Florida State, Sims played in all 13 games of the season, including the Orange Bowl against Miami (FL), as a back-up outside linebacker.

Sims had a productive, but not spectacular junior season, starting all 13 games, including the Orange Bowl.

Flamingo Field

Duquesne practiced at Flamingo Field in December 1936 prior to the 1937 Orange Bowl.

George Poschner

During his tenure with the Bulldogs, he participated in the 1941 Orange Bowl and the 1942 Rose Bowl.

Jackie Nespral

Nespral began her entertainment and television career as a college student at the University of Miami, where she was elected Orange Bowl Queen in Miami in 1985 and 1986 and was also inducted into UM's Iron Arrow Honor Society.

Jacque Robinson

He is also the only player to ever win MVP honors in both the 1982 Rose Bowl and 1985 Orange Bowl.

Jimmy Sidle

In 1963, as the starting quarterback he finished second in the nation in rushing (1,006 yards) and was named first-team All-American, after leading his team to a No. 5 ranking (9-1 record) and losing to Nebraska in the Orange Bowl.

Joe Bellino

In Bellino's final college football game, Navy's loss to the University of Missouri in the 1961 Orange Bowl, he scored his team's final touchdown with a spectacular diving catch in the end zone.

John Capel

Against Syracuse in the Orange Bowl he returned three punts for 29 yards and two kickoffs for 37 yards.

KTVG-TV

KSNB and KTVG began broadcasting network programming in high-definition on January 1, 2009 prior to the broadcast of the Orange Bowl.

Larry Birdine

He was a part of Oklahoma’s 2003 and ‘04 teams that played in the BCS National Championship Game (Sugar Bowl) in 2003 vs. LSU and (Orange Bowl in 2004 vs. USC).

He achieved notoriety prior to the 2005 Orange Bowl by opining that USC's offense (which was to score 55 points in the game) was merely "average".

Marion Military Institute

In past years they have performed at such events as the Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl, Indianapolis 500, and the Air Force Academy Invitational Drill Meet.

Mark Bradley

Bradley has also played for the Kansas City Chiefs, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and New Orleans Saints; and Bradley's father, Danny Bradley, also played for the Los Angeles Rams and Detroit Lions, selected in the 7th round of the 1985 collegiate draft after becoming an MVP quarterback for the Sooners and the Big-Eight Conference Offensive Player of the Year in 1984; leading his team to the 1985 Orange Bowl and a shot at the National Championship.

Paddle board yoga

In the short time it has been in existence, sup yoga has now grown to become an international community being taught at the Orange Bowl Paddle Championships and Wanderlust Festival.

Ralph Sasse

After leading Mississippi State College to a 20–10–2 record in three years and an appearance in the 1937 Orange Bowl, Sasse stunned the students and players by resigning from his head coach's duties, following a doctor's orders after a sudden nervous breakdown.

Rickey Dixon

He played in the 1985, 1986, 1987, and 1988 Orange Bowls, in two National Championship games, and was a key figure in Oklahoma's 1985 National Championship win over Penn State in the 1986 Orange Bowl.

Riley Skinner

Skinner also played well in the Orange Bowl, but the Deacons fell to Louisville 24-13.

Shane Conlan

Conlan capped his junior season at Penn State in the 1985 national championship game in the Orange Bowl against the University of Oklahoma.

SHeDAISY

On January 2, 2003, SHeDAISY sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" and "I Will...But" at the halftime show of the Orange Bowl.

Steve Sloan

The team finished 9–1–1 with a 39–28 victory over Nebraska in the 1966 Orange Bowl.

Tamba Hali

He was instrumental in helping the Nittany Lions finish 11–1, winning the Big Ten championship and the Orange Bowl that season.

Taylor Jacobs

As a junior in 2001, Jacobs played in all twelve games with three starts including the Orange Bowl, and posted thirty-eight catches for 712 yards and seven touchdowns.

The Claxton Bakery

One such innovation came when he entered several floats in the Orange Bowl Jamboree Parade in Miami and also the Cherry Blossom Festival Parade in Washington, D.C.

Xavier Beitia

Beitia's miss at the Miami Orange Bowl was dubbed "Wide Left I," and it affected him openly and deeply.

More than one year later, Beitia missed another field goal in the 2004 Orange Bowl which would have given the Noles the lead with about five minutes left.


1965 Cotton Bowl Classic

The Razorbacks were selected as national champions by the Football Writers Association of America and the Helms Athletic Foundation as the #1 Alabama Crimson Tide lost their bowl game against the Texas Longhorns in the Orange Bowl.

1994 NCAA Division I-A football season

The Coalition consisted of six bowls, with the Orange, Fiesta, Cotton, and Sugar bowls were all considered potential hosts for a national championship game.

Clay Shiver

As a sophomore in 1993, he was the snapper for quarterback Charlie Ward and a member of the Seminoles' Bowl Coalition national championship team that defeated the Nebraska Cornhuskers 18–16 in the Orange Bowl.

EJ Manuel

Manuel led the Seminoles to numerous wins over ACC rivals, an ACC Championship, and an Orange Bowl win against Northern Illinois for a 12-2 finish to his senior season.

Florida State–Miami football rivalry

Miami took a 27-24 lead after a Ken Dorsey touchdown pass to Jeremy Shockey, but Seminole quarterback and 2000 Heisman Trophy winner Chris Weinke moved the Seminoles into field goal range during a last minute drive in Miami's Orange Bowl stadium.

Jimmie Ward

In 2012, he led the Huskies with 104 tackles, including a career game high 14 against Florida State in the Orange Bowl.

Josh Altman

During this time, the team won the Big East Championship two years in a row, and played in the Fiesta Bowl and the Orange Bowl, losing both games.

Rich Glover

The 1972 team team was a pre-season #1 but lost their road opener and finished 9-2-1, rising to fourth in the final AP poll, buoyed by a third consecutive Orange Bowl victory, 40-6 over Notre Dame.

Walt Downing

He was a starting offensive lineman in 36 consecutive games for Michigan from 1975 to 1977, playing for teams that finished in the top ten of the AP and UPI polls each year and played in an Orange Bowl and two Rose Bowls.

Wide Right II

Nevertheless, Miami featured a bevy of stars on its roster, including Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback Gino Torretta, wide receiver Lamar Thomas, and linebackers Jessie Armstead and Micheal Barrow, and the team was in the midst of an NCAA-record 58-game home winning streak at the Orange Bowl.