1987 NCAA Division I-A football season

1987 NCAA Division I-A season
Number of teams	104^[1]
Preseason AP #1	Oklahoma Sooners^[2]
Post-season
Bowl games	18
Heisman Trophy	Tim Brown, Notre Dame WR
Winner	Miami Hurricanes
Division I-A football seasons
← 1986 1988 →

The 1987 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with Miami winning its second national championship during the 80s in an Orange Bowl match-up featuring a rare No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup between the top ranked Oklahoma Sooners and the Hurricanes.

Miami's first three games were against ranked opponents, in what was labeled as a rebuilding year, when after some late game theatrics by Michael Irvin against rival Florida State, the Hurricanes were 3–0, the national media started to take notice.

Oklahoma was also seen as quite the juggernaut, averaging 428.8 yards rushing per game with their potent wishbone offense. Miami was able to hold Oklahoma to just 179 yards on the ground, winning the game 20–14.

Also having notable seasons were Syracuse, LSU and Florida State. Syracuse finished the season 11–0–1 and ranked No. 4 after a controversial Sugar Bowl game in which Auburn kicked a late field goal to end the game in a tie. LSU went 10–1–1, ending the season ranked No. 5. This was LSU's first ten win season in 26 years and their highest ranking since 1961.

Florida State finished ranked No. 2, their only loss to Miami, and began a streak of 14 years where FSU finished in the top 5. The Seminoles beat Rose Bowl champion Michigan State and SEC champion Auburn on the road and beat Nebraska in the Fiesta Bowl.

This would be the first of two years SMU would not field a team due to the NCAA's death penalty.

Rule changes

If a roughing the passer penalty occurs on a completed pass, the 15-yard penalty is added to the end of the run.
Pushing an opponent in the back in the act of recovering a kick is permitted.
Kicking or swinging at an opponent and missing are considered personal fouls instead of non-contact fouls.
Uprights now must be 30 feet above the crossbar, same as in the NFL.

Conference and program changes

This was the first season Akron was a Division 1-A football member.
Wichita State discontinued their football program after the 1986 season and have never fielded a team since then.

The loss of Wichita State and SMU and the gain of Akron decreased the number of teams to 104.

School	1986 Conference	1987 Conference
Akron Zips	Ohio Valley (I-AA)	I-A Independent
Wichita State Shockers	I-A Independent	Program Dropped

Conference standings

1987 ACC football standings
	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
#12 Clemson $	6	–	1	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
Virginia	5	–	2	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
Wake Forest	4	–	3	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
NC State	4	–	3	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Maryland	3	–	3	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
North Carolina	3	–	4	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Duke	2	–	5	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Georgia Tech	0	–	6	–	0	2	–	9	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1987 Big 8 football standings
	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
#3 Oklahoma $	7	–	0	–	0	11	–	1	–	0
#6 Nebraska	6	–	1	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
#11 Oklahoma State	5	–	2	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
Colorado	4	–	3	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Missouri	3	–	4	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Iowa State	2	–	5	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
Kansas	0	–	6	–	1	1	–	9	–	1
Kansas State	0	–	6	–	1	0	–	10	–	1

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1987 Big Ten football standings
	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
#8 Michigan State $	7	–	0	–	1	9	–	2	–	1
#16 Iowa	6	–	2	–	0	10	–	3	–	0
Indiana	6	–	2	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
#19 Michigan	5	–	3	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
Ohio State	4	–	4	–	0	6	–	4	–	1
Minnesota	3	–	5	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Purdue	3	–	5	–	0	3	–	7	–	1
Illinois	2	–	5	–	1	3	–	7	–	1
Northwestern	2	–	6	–	0	2	–	8	–	1
Wisconsin	1	–	7	–	0	3	–	8	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1987 Mid-American football standings
	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Eastern Michigan $	7	–	1	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
Kent State	5	–	3	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Miami	5	–	3	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Bowling Green	5	–	3	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Western Michigan	4	–	4	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Central Michigan	3	–	4	–	1	5	–	5	–	1
Toledo	3	–	4	–	1	3	–	7	–	1
Ball State	3	–	5	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Ohio	0	–	8	–	0	1	–	10	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1987 Pacific Coast Athletic Association football standings
	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
San Jose State $	7	–	0	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
Fresno State	4	–	3	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Cal State Fullerton	4	–	3	–	0	6	–	6	–	0
UNLV	4	–	3	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Utah State	4	–	3	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Pacific	3	–	4	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Long Beach State	2	–	5	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
New Mexico State	0	–	7	–	0	2	–	9	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1987 Pacific-10 football standings
	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
#18 USC +	7	–	1	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
#9 UCLA +	7	–	1	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
Washington	4	–	3	–	1	7	–	4	–	1
#20 Arizona State	3	–	3	–	1	7	–	4	–	1
Oregon	4	–	4	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Stanford	4	–	4	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Arizona	2	–	3	–	3	4	–	4	–	3
California	2	–	3	–	2	3	–	6	–	2
Washington State	1	–	5	–	1	3	–	7	–	1
Oregon State	0	–	7	–	0	2	–	9	–	0

+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

1987 SEC football standings
	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
#7 Auburn $	5	–	0	–	1	9	–	1	–	2
#5 LSU	5	–	1	–	0	10	–	1	–	1
#14 Tennessee	4	–	1	–	1	10	–	2	–	1
#13 Georgia	4	–	2	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
Alabama	4	–	2	–	0	7	–	5	–	0
Florida	3	–	3	–	0	6	–	6	–	0
Kentucky	1	–	5	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Mississippi State	1	–	5	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Vanderbilt	1	–	5	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Ole Miss	1	–	5	–	0	3	–	8	–	0

Rankings from AP Poll

1987 Southwest Conference football standings
	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
#10 Texas A&M $	6	–	1	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
Arkansas	5	–	2	–	0	9	–	4	–	0
Texas	5	–	2	–	0	7	–	5	–	0
Texas Tech	3	–	3	–	1	6	–	4	–	1
Baylor	3	–	4	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
TCU	3	–	4	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Houston	2	–	4	–	1	4	–	6	–	1
Rice	0	–	8	–	0	2	–	9	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1987 WAC football standings
	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Wyoming $	8	–	0	–	0	10	–	3	–	0
BYU	7	–	1	–	0	9	–	4	–	0
Air Force	6	–	2	–	0	9	–	4	–	0
UTEP	5	–	3	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
San Diego State	4	–	4	–	0	5	–	7	–	0
Hawaii	3	–	5	–	0	5	–	7	–	0
Utah	2	–	6	–	0	5	–	7	–	0
Colorado State	1	–	7	–	0	1	–	11	–	0
New Mexico	0	–	8	–	0	0	–	11	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1987 Division I-A independents football records
	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
#1 Miami (FL)		–		–		12	–	0	–	0
#4 Syracuse		–		–		11	–	0	–	1
#2 Florida State		–		–		11	–	1	–	0
#15 South Carolina		–		–		8	–	4	–	0
Pittsburgh		–		–		8	–	4	–	0
Penn State		–		–		8	–	4	–	0
#17 Notre Dame		–		–		8	–	4	–	0
Southern Miss		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Rutgers		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Southwestern Louisiana		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Memphis		–		–		5	–	5	–	1
Northern Illinois		–		–		5	–	5	–	1
West Virginia		–		–		6	–	6	–	0
Tulane		–		–		6	–	6	–	0
Army		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Boston College		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
East Carolina		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Akron		–		–		4	–	7	–	0
Cincinnati		–		–		4	–	7	–	0
Louisville		–		–		3	–	7	–	1
Temple		–		–		3	–	8	–	0
Tulsa		–		–		3	–	8	–	0
Navy		–		–		2	–	9	–	0
Virginia Tech		–		–		2	–	9	–	0

Rankings from AP Poll

Season summary

Notable rivalry games

Michigan State 17, Michigan 11
South Carolina 20,Clemson 7
Auburn 10, Alabama 0
Kansas 17, Kansas State 17
LSU 41, Tulane 36
Oklahoma 17, Nebraska 7
Miami 26, Florida State 25
USC 17 UCLA 13 (decided Rose Bowl berth)
Pitt 10, Penn State 0
Texas 16, Arkansas 14
Arizona State 24, Arizona 24

The year 1987 saw the first meeting, since 1946, between the University of Miami Hurricanes and Miami University. On November 7, in Florida, "Miami-FL" won 54–3 over "Miami-OH".

No. 1 and No. 2 progress

The Oklahoma Sooners were No. 1, and their Big 8 Conference rivals, the Nebraska Cornhuskers, were No. 2, during the first eleven polls taken in 1987. Beginning with the September 29 poll, Miami was ranked No. 3. For polls 4 through 11, the ranking remained 1.Oklahoma 2.Nebraska 3.Miami. For the remainder of polls 6 through 11, Florida State is ranked No. 4, with two Big 8 teams and two Florida independents ranked in the top 4. With the Big Eight champion contracted to play in the Orange Bowl in Miami, the hometown Hurricanes were an obvious choice. The only question was whether the Big 8 team would be the Sooners or the Huskers.

In the 12th poll, issued on the Tuesday before the annual Nebraska–Oklahoma game, 9–0–0 Nebraska was voted No. 1 and 10–0–0 Oklahoma No. 2. The two teams met at Lincoln, Nebraska, on November 21, 1987, with Oklahoma winning 17–7. In the last three polls, Oklahoma stayed at No. 1 and Miami at No. 2.

Bowl games

Rose Bowl: #8 Michigan State 20, #16 USC 17
Sugar Bowl: #6 Auburn 16, #4 Syracuse 16
Cotton Bowl Classic: #13 Texas A&M 35, #12 Notre Dame 10
Fiesta Bowl: #3 Florida State 31, #5 Nebraska 28
Florida Citrus Bowl: #14 Clemson 35, #19 Penn State 10
Orange Bowl: #2 Miami (FL) 20, #1 Oklahoma 14
Hall of Fame Bowl: Michigan 28, Alabama 24
Gator Bowl: #7 LSU 30, #9 South Carolina 13
John Hancock Sun Bowl: #11 Oklahoma State 35, West Virginia 33
Holiday Bowl: #18 Iowa 20, Wyoming 19
Freedom Bowl: Arizona State 33, Air Force 28
Peach Bowl: #17 Tennessee 27, #21 Indiana 22
All-American Bowl: Virginia 22, BYU 16
Liberty Bowl: #15 Georgia 20, Arkansas 17
Aloha Bowl: #10 UCLA 20, Florida 16
Independence Bowl: Washington 24, Tulane 12
California Bowl: Eastern Michigan 30, San Jose State 27
Bluebonnet Bowl: Texas 32, Pittsburgh 27

Polls

Final AP Poll

Final Coaches Poll

Awards

Heisman Trophy

Winner: Tim Brown, Notre Dame, Sr. WR
Don McPherson, Syracuse, Sr. QB
Gordie Lockbaum, Holy Cross, Sr. TB
Lorenzo White, Michigan State, Sr. TB
Craig Heyward, Pittsburgh, Jr. RB

Other major awards

Maxwell (Player):Don McPherson, Syracuse
Camp (Back): Tim Brown, Notre Dame
O'Brein Award (QB): Don McPherson, Syracuse
Rockne (Lineman): N/A
Lombardi (Linebacker): Chris Spielman, Ohio State
Outland (Interior): Chad Hennings, Air Force
Coach of the Year:

Notes and references

"1987 (12–0–0): Dominance From Start To Finish". Retrieved 26 July 2007.
"No. 4: 1987 Florida State Seminoles". Florida College Sports. January 23, 2007. Retrieved 26 July 2007.
"Great wins by LSU in the last 40+ years in football". Archived from the original on 12 July 2007. Retrieved 26 July 2007.

NCAA football seasons

Pre-regulation	1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905

IAAUS/NCAA	1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955

NCAA University Division/ Division I	1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977

NCAA Division I-A/FBS	1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

NCAA Division I-AA/FCS	1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

NCAA Division II	1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

NCAA Division III	1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

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