ACC Champion Georgia Tech came into the Citrus Bowl as Division I-A's only undefeated team at and ranked second in both major polls behind Colorado. The Yellow Jackets had begun the 1990 season unranked, but worked their way up the polls over the course of the year, helped greatly by a 41–38 win over then-#1 Virginia on November 3. Their one blemish was a 13–13 tie at unranked North Carolina on October 20. A potentially controversial situation could result in the polls if Georgia Tech could win the Citrus Bowl and finish the year undefeated, pending the outcome of the Orange Bowl to be played later that night between #5 Notre Dame The Nebraska Cornhuskers were 9–2 and ranked #13 in the Coaches' poll. Though they had been in the top ten of both polls for most of the season, and as high as #3 with three games to go, two losses in their last three games plummeted them to thirteenth. Nebraska came into the Citrus Bowl as a slight despite their inferior record and ranking.
Game recap
, Georgia Tech's sophomore quarterback, rushed for 46 yards on the fourth play of the game which set up the first touchdown. The Yellow Jackets jumped out to a during the first half, but Nebraska responded with two touchdowns, narrowing the deficit GT was forced to punt after Nebraska's second touch down. However, Nebraska's punt returner fumbled the ball with Jay Martin of Georgia Tech recovering, which led to a 37-yard field goal by Scott Sisson and a halftime lead. GT coach Bobby Ross said after the game, "I thought the fumbled punt was the key to the game. That changed the momentum of the game...Here we were with what we thought was a comfortable lead, and they came back within a matter of a minute, ready to establish momentum. Even though we only got three points out of it, that was one of the big plays we capitalized on." After blocking a Nebraska field goal on the first possession of the second half, Georgia Tech drove for a touchdown to make the score Nebraska's final score of the game made it going into the 4th quarter. Georgia Tech's William Bell rushed for two fourth-quarter touchdowns to seal the win Jones completed 16 of 23 passes for 277 yards and two touchdowns, ran for one touchdown, and was selected the game's most valuable player. Georgia Tech also played well defensively: Nebraska averaged 330 rushing yards during the season, but Georgia Tech held the Cornhuskers to only 126 rushing yards during the game. The loss was Nebraska's fourth straight bowl loss, a streak which extended to seven; the Huskers slipped into a tie for 17th in the UPI coaches' poll and 24th in
