1990 Fiesta Bowl

Attendance: 73,953

Offensive Player of the Game: Peter Tom Willis, Florida State

Defensive Player of the Game: Odell Haggins, Florida State

Sportsmanship Award: Jake Young, Nebraska

Head Coaches: Bobby Bowden, Florida State - Tom Osborne, Nebraska

Weather: Clear

Television: NBC

Payout Per Team: $2,500,000

The Miami Hurricanes were voted the nation’s top team in 1989-90, but the Florida State Seminoles convinced many that they deserved the No. 1 ranking after a dominating 41-17 victory over sixth-ranked Nebraska in the 1990 Fiesta Bowl.

FSU quarterback Peter Tom Willis was nearly unstoppable, racking up a Fiesta Bowl record five TD passes and then-records for passing yardage (422) and total offense (414). Florida State outscored the Cornhuskers 41-3 in the second and third quarters, which was the difference in the game.

Willis, the offensive player of the game, threw TD strikes of 14 and 24 yards to Lawrence Dawsey, while also throwing two scoring passes to tight end Reggie Johnson.

Nebraska actually took the early lead in the game, scoring on a nine-yard pass from Gerry Gdowski to Morgan Gregory.

Then Florida State took command, scoring 41 of the game’s next 44 points. Willis threw five touchdown strikes, Paul Moore had a one-yard scoring run and Chris Drennan added a 39-yard field goal in FSU’s scoring frenzy.

Willis completed 25 of 40 passes for 422 yards and no interceptions. Eight different receivers caught a pass for the Seminoles, as Ronald Lewis led the way with five receptions for 106 yards.

Nebraska added a touchdown in the last two minutes of the game on a two-yard run by Mickey Joseph to account for the final score.