By Dec. 6, 1992, Alabama was 12-0 and had just beaten Florida in the inaugural SEC championship game.



Alabama was ranked No. 2 in the national polls, behind defending national champion Miami. Postseason match-ups between No. 1 and No. 2 were not guaranteed in those pre-BCS/College Football Playoff days, but because the Hurricanes were an independent and not tied into any bowl, they agreed to face the Crimson Tide in the Sugar Bowl on New Year's Day.



Miami had won four national championships in the previous eight years, claiming one of those titles by beating Alabama in the Sugar Bowl after the 1989 season. The Crimson Tide, on the other hand, hadn't won a championship since 1979.



The Hurricanes were more than a touchdown favorite, and most national analysts were calling for a Sugar Bowl rout. It turned out they were correct but picked the wrong team to win.

Editor's note: This is an excerpt of Part 5 of AL.com's oral history of the 1992 national championship team.

Matt Hammond, Alabama offensive lineman (1989-93)

"Miami, at that time was kind of the pinnacle of college football. They'd won a lot of ball games. They'd won several national championships. And they thought they were going to just walk on us. Any time we encountered them out and about they started running their mouths. I really think it shocked them when the trash talk didn't affect us the way it had some of their previous opponents."



George Wilson, Alabama offensive lineman (1988-92)

"Were they arrogant? Were they cocky? Yes. Did they win? Yes. Did they have great teams? Yes. Were they athletic? Yes. Did they have great coaching? Yes. The bottom line, they got results."



John Copeland, Alabama defensive end (1991-92)

"If Miami had kept their damn mouths shut, it might have been a different ball game. But they got to running off at the mouth, and they didn't realize they were talking to some big dogs too."



Lemanski Hall, Alabama linebacker (1989-93)

"I remember walking down Bourbon Street and seeing all the Miami guys, Rohan Marley and those guys talking trash. It was a heated exchange on Bourbon Street and that thing went through the media during the week when we were talking to the media. And then it just exploded on the game. Those guys talking trash, that's what they do -- that's Miami."



Sherman Williams, Alabama running back (1991-94)

"We almost got into a fight three or four times. They thought they were going to intimidate us, but they couldn't. That made us want to just go out there and beat them worse."

Antonio Langham, Alabama cornerback (1990-93)

"(ESPN's) Chris Fowler was trying to get something out of me. He was like 'man, Alabama players are so disciplined. We can't get y'all to say anything. Every Miami player we get in here, they're talking so much so noise. Lamar Thomas is in here saying Alabama's secondary is not real men because they don't play man-to-man. Rohan Marley, he's saying this.' I'm sitting there, smoke is coming out of my nose, out of my ears, out of my mouth. I'm steaming hot. I'm going to blow my lid. So I'm like 'Chris, you know what man? I'm so tired of Miami. They have to see us. We're going to kick it off. We're the underdogs. First of all, with Rohan Marley, he only comes in the game on third down. He comes in on passing downs. So if we keep on first and second down all night, he'll never get to play. And furthermore, sometimes people write a check that their behind can't cash.' And when it came out, I knew it was the wrong thing to say. When I said it, he started smiling and his eyes got big, he just said 'yes!' He looked at the cameraman and said 'shut it off, that's it.' Coach Stallings was hot about that the next day."





Willie Gaston, Alabama defensive back (1991-94)

"We watched all their film, it was like 'they're so overrated. They were so overrated.' They were living off the Miami mystique that you can't beat Miami. And when we watched them on film and saw how everybody was playing, we knew we had the game won."

Tommy Johnson, Alabama defensive back (1991-94)

"I do remember those guys on the field, the receivers jogging by and going 'I'm gonna burn you, I'm gonna burn you, oh yeah, I'm gonna definitely burn you.' I remember that kind of trash talk going on. They were a very cocky group of guys."



Jay Barker, Alabama quarterback (1990-94)

"For me, when we came out of the tunnel, I don't even remember feeling my feet hit the ground. That's how the emotions were. I'm a kid from Birmingham, Alabama, who grew up a huge Alabama fan. From the time I'm old enough to play football, I'm telling people 'I'm going to play football for Alabama, and I'm going to win a national championship.' And here it is, happening."



Hootie Ingram, Alabama athletic director (1990-95)

"I was going up the elevator with the defensive coaches before the game. And Brother (Oliver) told one of the other defensive coaches, 'let's hold that off til the second half, and see what happens.' We got off the elevator and I made a smart-aleck remark, I told Brother 'I knew you'd lose your guts and wouldn't run that defense.' And he looked at me like he wanted to hit me. We went in there and the first play of the game we were lined up in that defense. First play of the game, they got a delay penalty because they were so startled with what they saw. That first play of them just being shook about what they saw, and what they hadn't seen before, I think that got them off base before even the ball was snapped one time. I wasn't coaching, I was just jawing with my friend."



Antonio London, Alabama linebacker (1989-92)

"When you take a team you're supposed to beat -- they're supposed to be inferior to you -- and they challenge your manhood, I think that was a problem for them."

Eric Curry, Alabama defensive end (1988-92)

"I knew that would spook them. We were so excited doing it in practice. Me and Copeland on the same end of the line, lined up side-by-side? That's a recipe for disaster for anybody."



Tommy Johnson

The first time we lined up with 11 men on the line, Torretta looked like he had lost his mind. He called a timeout and everything. When he started calling timeouts, like he didn't know what we were doing, we knew we had them then. No doubt. It was a done deal."



Bryne Diehl, Alabama punter (1991-94)

"They had no running game. Well, let me rephrase that. They might have had a running game, but they weren't going to run on us."



Martin Houston, Alabama fullback (1988-92)

I told people, we're like the 18-wheeler and they're like the Corvette. If we try to outrun them, we're in trouble, but if we run right at them, we can beat them. And that's what we did. We were able to run straight at them, get them out in space and force them to make tackles. I think Lassic had 100-plus yards in the first half.



Derrick Lassic, Alabama running back (1989-92)

"The way we were moving the ball offensively in the first quarter, I didn't see those guys stopping us. I knew if we could punch in the end zone a couple of times, the way our defense could play, I figured 'this game is a wrap.' I didn't think it was going to be the blowout it was. It was 34-13, but it wasn't that close. Kevin Williams had a punt return, but they didn't score any (touchdowns) offensively. They scored two field goals. We could have scored a couple of more times. One time we had to settle for a field goal, I think because of me spinning the ball. I'd never done that in the game. I just instinctively did that, thinking I was in the end zone."



Jay Barker

"I've never heard or felt the electricity I felt that night inside that stadium. It had been 13 years since we'd won a championship, and Alabama fans wanting to get back and play for it and be a part of that, and another generation had heard about it or read about it, and now was getting a chance to experience it for themselves. They made it a special night."

Michael Rogers

"I still think we'll go down as the best defense to ever play college football. I've seen some great ones over there at Alabama, but I still think we're the best ever."

Derrick Lassic

"I won a Super Bowl with the Dallas Cowboys. I won a high school championship. I was Tri-State Player of the Year; we called it the Junior Heisman. The national championship means more to me than all of those things."

Prince Wimbley, Alabama wide receiver (1988-92)

"To this day when I'm having a hard day, I try to close my eyes and try to go back to the happy place. That's my happy place. You know just close my eyes and see that confetti coming down and us as a unit bringing that trophy back to Tuscaloosa."