The final game of the 1986 College Football season was the 1987 Fiesta Bowl which also served as the National Championship Game. The 16th edition of the annual bowl game was played on January 2, 1987, and featured the No. 1 ranked Miami Hurricanes and the No. 2 Penn State Nittany Lions. Two storied football programs, each with a legendary coach and players. The 'Canes were led by Head Coach Jimmy Johnson and featured the 1986 Heisman Trophy winner, Quarterback Vinny Testaverde, All-Americans Bennie Blades, Jerome Brown, Dan Sileo, future Pro Football Hall-of-Famer Michael Irvin, and third overall NFL draft pick fullback Alonzo Highsmith. Joe Paterno coached Penn State and their stable of great players, such as; All-Americans Shane Conlan, Tim Johnson, D J Dozier, Chris Conlin, and Pete Giftopoulos. Defense ruled the day in this low-scoring affair. The Nittany Lions scored a decisive Dozier 6-yard touchdown run with just over 8 minutes remaining to go up 14-10. Testaverde and the Hurricanes' offense had time to mount a long drive. Instead, they fumbled the ball away, but Penn State could not add to their lead. The Hurricanes got one more chance and drove inside the PSU ten-yard-line on a pass from Testaverde to Michael Irvin. A stuffed run, a sack by Tim Johnson, and a very timely interception by Giftopoulos, his second of the game, preserved the Penn State win. The Nittany Lions defense picked Testaverde five times in the game to give Penn State its second National Title in 5 years! In 2019 ESPN chose this as the 5th Greatest College Football Game of all time.
