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 touchdown 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.
