13 34 2 2 3 3 | 1 1 Miami 3 3 0 | |
The 1993 Sugar Bowl took place on January 1, 1993, in the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was the final game of the 1992–93 college football season and served as the National Championship game for the season. The game featured two unbeaten teams in the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Miami Hurricanes. This was the first National Championship Game selected by the Bowl Coalition, the original predecessor to the Bowl Championship Series.
Miami, out of the Big East conference, was led by Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Gino Torretta, and was playing for back-to-back undefeated seasons and consecutive National Championships.
Alabama also entered the matchup undefeated, following their 28–21 victory over the Florida Gators in the inaugural SEC Championship Game.
Though Miami were favorites to claim the victory, Alabama's defense held the Hurricanes to just 13 points, while intercepting Torretta three times, en route to a 34–13 victory to claim their 12th National Championship. Alabama rushed for 267 yards—67 more yards than the Hurricanes had allowed all season. At one point, the Tide lined up all eleven players up to the line of scrimmage, confusing Torretta, which led to an interception returned for a touchdown.
A legendary play in Alabama football lore, known as "The Strip", occurred when Miami wide receiver Lamar Thomas caught a deep pass from Torretta and was sprinting for what seemed like would be an 89-yard touchdown, when Alabama's George Teague caught him from behind, stripped the ball from him, and started running the other way before being tackled. The play became famous following Thomas's pre-game comments regarding the SEC, the superiority of the Miami receiving corps, and the manhood of the Alabama defensive backs. The play was negated by an Alabama offside penalty, but the strip was still successful in preventing a Miami touchdown, as Miami would have simply declined the penalty had the strip not taken place.
Following the poor performance, some reporters began to question whether Torretta deserved the Heisman.