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The original was posted on /r/cfb by /u/Top-Angle-7270 on 2025-12-17 10:18:22+00:00.
The 1991 season was an iconic college football season headlined by two of the arguably most dominant champions of the 1990s with the 12-0 Washington Huskies (Coaches Poll champions) and the 12-0 Miami Hurricanes (AP Poll champions). In this analysis I’m going to dive into both team’s strengths and weaknesses before giving my judgement on which team I think is more deserving of the 1991 national championship.
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1991 Miami Hurricanes
Strengths: In 1991, coach Dennis Erickson led a 12-0 Miami Hurricanes team to their 4th national championship in 9 years continuing one of the great dynasties of college football. The 1991 hurricanes had 4 ranked wins, most notably a 17-16 thriller against the legendary Bobby Bowden’s number 1 ranked FSU, and a 22-0 masterclass against the great Tom Osborne’s Nebraska Cornhuskers. This team had 5 first team All-Americans, Dwayne “the rock” Johnson, and the best defense in all of college football holding teams to 9.1 points per game. They also led college football in scoring offense that year and had the 2nd best SRS in college football.
Weaknesses: Remember how I mentioned that 1991 game between Miami and FSU was a thriller. That game came all the way down to an infamous “wide right” field goal kick that FSU missed allowing a Miami team to steal victory from the jaws of certain defeat. Then, after surviving FSU the hurricanes would again almost drop a game to an unranked Boston College only winning 19-14. Their only other close game from that season would be against number 9 ranked Penn State where the hurricanes would win 26-20. They also had a lower SOS and SRS compared to Washington.
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1991 Washington Huskies
Strengths: In 1991, Coach Don James would lead the Washington Huskies to a 12-0 fairy tale season winning his first national championship as Washington head coach. The huskies would finish the year with 3 ranked wins those being against number 9 ranked Nebraska, number 7 ranked Cal and number 4 ranked Michigan. To put into perspective just how much of a juggernaut this team was, they had the number 1 SRS in college football, the number 8 SOS in college football, the number 2 scoring offense in college football and their defense allowed the 2nd least amount of points in college football.
Weaknesses: The Washington huskies shared a common opponent with Miami in Nebraska. While Miami beat Nebraska 22-0, the huskies were down 14-6 against Nebraska at the half before coming back to win 36-21. The huskies also found themselves in a close game against Cal tied 17 to 17 at the end of the third quarter before winning 24-17.
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SOS and SRS according to sportsreference
Washington SRS: 26.22 (Number 1), SOS 5.97 (Number 8)
Miami SRS: 23.75 (Number 2), SOS 4.17 (Number 26)
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Throughout the history of college football, the game of football has always come down to a matter of inches. Similarly, when you find two teams, seemingly equal in both their strengths and their weaknesses, it’s the small moments in those games that set one team apart from another, because the greatest champions often leave little to no room for doubt. When Miami fans found themselves waiting as FSU looked to kick a field goal to end their hopes of an undefeated season, the biggest feeling in the hearts of fans was likely the doubt that their team wouldn’t be able to walk away with the win. And although Washington found themselves facing adversity as well this year, there was no moment in college football that year closer to turning an undefeated season into heartbreak then when Gerry Thomas’s kick went wide right and missed the field goal. Football is a game of inches, and while FSU was inches away from ruining Miami’s season, their performance was the inches that separated Washington from Miami that year making Washington my pick for the 1991 national champions.