The 1987 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

winning its second national championship of the 1980s in an

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game ...

game featuring a rare No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup between the top ranked

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to a nickname given to the early participants in the Land Ru ...

and the Hurricanes. Miami's first three games were against ranked opponents in what was labeled a rebuilding year. After some late game theatrics by

Michael Irvin Michael Jerome Irvin (born March 5, 1966) is an American sports commentator and former professional football wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). In 2007, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fa ...

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 Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

in the

Fiesta Bowl The Fiesta Bowl is an American college football bowl game played annually in the Phoenix metropolitan area. From its beginning in 1971 until 2006, the game was hosted at the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Since 2007, the game has been pla ...

. 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 Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city ...

was a Division I-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.

Conference standings

Season summary

September

The preseason AP Poll ranked Big 8 rivals Oklahoma and

at No. 1 and No. 2, followed by No. 3

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

, No. 4

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

, and No. 5 Auburn. September 5: No. 1 Oklahoma beat North Texas State 69-14, No. 2 Nebraska defeated Utah State 56-12, and No. 3 UCLA won 47-14 over San Diego State. No. 4 Ohio State was idle. No. 5 Auburn overwhelmed Texas 31-3 and moved up in the next poll: No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 Nebraska, No. 3 UCLA, No. 4 Auburn, and No. 5 Ohio State. September 12: No. 1 Oklahoma shut out North Carolina 28-0. No. 2 Nebraska hosted No. 3 UCLA and won 42-33. No. 4 Auburn blanked Kansas 49-0. No. 5 Ohio State opened their schedule with a 24-3 win over West Virginia, and No. 6 LSU (who had easily defeated No. 15

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

in their opener) beat Cal State Fullerton 56-12. The next poll featured No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 Nebraska, No. 3 Auburn, No. 4 LSU, and No. 5 Ohio State. September 19: No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 Nebraska, and No. 3 Auburn were all idle. No. 4 LSU beat Rice 49-16. No. 5 Ohio State defeated Oregon 24-14 but fell out of the top five in the next poll. They were replaced by No. 6

, who was idle this week but had started the year with an impressive 31-4 blowout of then-No. 20

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. The poll featured No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 Nebraska, No. 3 Auburn, No. 4 LSU, and No. 5 Miami. September 26: No. 1 Oklahoma won in a second consecutive shutout, 65-0 over Tulsa. No. 2 Nebraska visited No. 12

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

and defeated the Sun Devils 35-28. No. 3 Auburn played No. 11

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

to a 20-20 tie. No. 4 LSU had the same result, as they threw three fourth-quarter interceptions which allowed No. 7 Ohio State to come away with a 13-13 draw. No. 5 Miami overwhelmed No. 10

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

51-7, No. 6 Florida State won 31-3 at Michigan State, and No. 8 Notre Dame was a 44-20 victor over Purdue. The next poll featured No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 Nebraska, No. 3 Miami, No. 4 Florida State, and No. 5 Notre Dame.

October

October 3: No. 1 Oklahoma won 56-3 at Iowa State, and No. 2 Nebraska beat

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

30-21. No. 3 Miami and No. 4 Florida State squared off in a game which featured 63 future NFL players. The Seminoles led 19-3 late in the third quarter, but the Hurricanes responded with 23 unanswered points to take a seven-point lead. After Florida State scored a touchdown with 42 seconds left, coach

Bobby Bowden Robert Cleckler Bowden (; November 8, 1929 – August 8, 2021) was an American college football coach. Bowden coached the Florida State Seminoles of Florida State University (FSU) from 1976 to 2009 and is considered one of the greatest college ...

sent out his kicker for a game-tying extra point, but changed his mind at the last moment and called for a two-point conversion. Quarterback

Danny McManus Danny McManus (born June 17, 1965) is a former professional American football and Canadian football quarterback who passed for over 53,000 yards in seventeen seasons in the Canadian Football League and currently serves as the Assistant General Man ...

’ pass was deflected, giving Miami a 26-25 victory. No. 5 Notre Dame was idle, and No. 6 Auburn bounced back with a 20-10 win at North Carolina. The next poll featured No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 Nebraska, No. 3 Miami, No. 4 Notre Dame, and No. 5 Auburn. October 10: No. 1 Oklahoma held their opponent without a touchdown for the fourth game in a row, limiting Texas to three field goals in a 44-9 triumph. No. 2 Nebraska was similarly dominant, beating Kansas 54-2. No. 3 Miami defeated Maryland 46-16, but No. 4 Notre Dame lost 30-22 at Pittsburgh. No. 5 Auburn won 48-15 over Vanderbilt, and No. 6 Florida State visited Southern Mississippi for a 61-10 win. The next poll featured No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 Nebraska, No. 3 Miami, No. 4 Florida State, and No. 5 Auburn. October 17: No. 1 Oklahoma won 59-10 at Kansas State, and No. 2 Nebraska shut out No. 12 Oklahoma State 35-0. No. 3 Miami was idle, and No. 4 Florida State defeated Louisville 32-9. No. 5 Auburn won 20-10 at Georgia Tech, but the AP voters were more impressed with No. 6 LSU’s 34-9 victory over Kentucky, and the teams switched spots in the next poll: No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 Nebraska, No. 3 Miami, No. 4 Florida State, and No. 5 LSU. October 24: No. 1 Oklahoma defeated Colorado 24-6, No. 2 Nebraska dominated Kansas State 56-3, and No. 3 Miami won 48-10 at Cincinnati. No. 4 Florida State and No. 5 LSU were idle, and the top five remained the same. October 31: All of the highly-ranked teams registered blowout wins this week. No. 1 Oklahoma crushed Kansas 71-10, No. 2 Nebraska won 42-7 at Missouri, No. 3 Miami beat East Carolina 41-3, No. 4 Florida State dominated Tulane 73-14, and No. 5 LSU defeated Mississippi 42-13. The top five again remained the same.

November-December

November 7: No. 1 Oklahoma hosted No. 12 Oklahoma State and won 29-10, but quarterback Jamelle Holieway was lost for the season with a torn ACL, and fullback

Lydell Carr Lydell Maurice Carr (born May 27, 1965) is a former American football running back in the National Football League (NFL) who played for the Phoenix Cardinals. He was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the fourth round of the 1988 NFL Draft. He ...

also suffered a knee injury. No. 2 Nebraska overwhelmed Iowa State 42-3. The name was the only similarity between No. 3 Miami-Florida and unranked Miami-Ohio, as the Hurricanes defeated the Redskins 54-3. No. 4 Florida State visited No. 6 Auburn and breezed to a 34-6 victory. Auburn’s SEC rival, No. 5 LSU, fell 22-10 to No. 13

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

. No. 7 UCLA, whose only loss was to Nebraska, won 52-17 at Oregon State. The top five in the next poll were No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 Nebraska, No. 3 Miami, No. 4 Florida State, and No. 5 UCLA. November 14: Without Holieway and Carr, No. 1 Oklahoma struggled to a 17-13 victory over Missouri. No. 2 Nebraska, who had defeated Missouri by 35 points a few weeks earlier, was idle. No. 3 Miami beat Virginia Tech 27-13, No. 4 Florida State defeated Furman 41-10, and No. 5 UCLA won 47-14 over Washington. The top two teams switched spots in the next poll: No. 1 Nebraska, No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 3 Miami, No. 4 Florida State, and No. 5 UCLA. November 21: In what was effectively a semifinal for the national championship, No. 1 Nebraska and No. 2 Oklahoma met to decide the Big 8 title and an

berth. Despite their injuries, the Sooners finished an undefeated regular season with a 17-7 victory, their fourth win in as many years over the Cornhuskers. No. 3 Miami defeated Toledo 24-14, while No. 4 Florida State was idle. No. 5 UCLA needed only a win over unranked USC to gain the Pac-10 title, but the Trojans pulled off a 17-13 upset to earn the Rose Bowl berth. Their opponent would be No. 11 Michigan State, who had already clinched the Big Ten championship. No. 6 Syracuse won a thriller against West Virginia, triumphing 32-31 on a two-point conversion with ten seconds left to finish the regular season undefeated. The top five in the next poll were No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 Miami, No. 3 Florida State, No. 4 Syracuse, and No. 5 Nebraska. November 26-28: No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 4 Syracuse had finished their seasons. No. 2 Miami shut out No. 10 Notre Dame 24-0, No. 3 Florida State won 28-14 at Florida, and No. 5 Nebraska beat Colorado 24-7. The last few bowl tie-ins were decided this week: No. 7 Auburn’s 10-0 shutout of No. 18 Alabama in the Iron Bowl gave the Tigers the SEC title and a Sugar Bowl berth, while No. 15 Texas A&M won the SWC and a spot in the Cotton Bowl with a 20-13 defeat of Texas. The top five remained the same in the next poll. December 5: No. 2 Miami ended their season undefeated with a 20-16 win over No. 8 South Carolina. The other top-ranked teams had already finished their schedules, and the top five remained the same in the final poll of the regular season. With both teams possessing 11-0 records, the Orange Bowl between No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 2 Miami would decide the national championship. Over the past three years, the Sooners were 0-2 against the Hurricanes and 33-0 against all other opponents, and they would have the opportunity for revenge on the biggest stage. No. 4 Syracuse, also undefeated but without a clear path to the championship, would face No. 6 Auburn in the Sugar Bowl. No. 3 Florida State and No. 5 Nebraska (whose only losses were to Miami and Oklahoma respectively) would match up in the

. The Rose Bowl featured the usual Big Ten/Pac-10 matchup of No. 8 Michigan State and No. 16 USC, while the Cotton Bowl pitted No. 12 Notre Dame against No. 13 Texas A&M.

Notable rivalry games

* Michigan State 17,

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

11 *

20, Clemson 7 * Auburn 10,

0 *

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

17,

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

17 * LSU 41,

Tulane Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pub ...

36 * Oklahoma 17,

7 *

26, Florida State 25 * USC 17

13 (decided Rose Bowl berth) * Pitt 10, Penn State 0 *

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

16,

14 *

24,

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

Bowl games

: No. 2

Miami (FL) Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at the ...

20, No. 1 Oklahoma 14 * Sugar Bowl: No. 6 Auburn 16, No. 4 Syracuse 16 * Rose Bowl: No. 8 Michigan State 20, No. 16 USC 17 * Cotton Bowl: No. 13

35, No. 12 Notre Dame 10 Other Bowls: *

: No. 3 Florida State 31, No. 5

28 * Florida Citrus Bowl: No. 14 Clemson 35, No. 20 Penn State 10 * Hall of Fame Bowl:

28,

24 * Gator Bowl: No. 7 LSU 30, No. 9

13 * John Hancock Sun Bowl: No. 11 Oklahoma State 35,

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...

33 *

Holiday Bowl The Holiday Bowl is a post-season NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football bowl game that has been played in San Diego since 1978. San Diego County Credit Union has been the game's title sponsor since 2017, and the bowl has ...

: No. 18

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

20,

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the s ...

19 * Freedom Bowl:

33,

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...

28 *

Peach Bowl The Peach Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played in Atlanta, Georgia since December 1968. Since 1997, it has been sponsored by Chick-fil-A and is officially known as the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. From 2006 to 2013, it was officially ...

: No. 17

27,

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

22 *

All-American Bowl The All-American Bowl was an annual postseason college football bowl game played at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama from 1977 to 1990. The game was known as the Hall of Fame Classic from 1977 to 1985. In 1986, the National Football Foundatio ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

22,

BYU Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day S ...

16 *

Liberty Bowl The Liberty Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in late December or early January since 1959. For its first five years, it was played at Philadelphia Municipal Stadium in Philadelphia before being held at Atlantic City ...

: No. 15

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

20,

17 * Aloha Bowl: No. 10

20,

16 *

Independence Bowl The Independence Bowl is a post-season National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-sanctioned Division I college football bowl game that is played annually each December at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana. The Independence Bowl ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

24,

12 * California Bowl:

Eastern Michigan Eastern Michigan University (EMU, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern), is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School, the school was the fourth normal school established in the United Sta ...

30,

San Jose State San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...

27 *

Bluebonnet Bowl The Bluebonnet Bowl was an annual college football bowl game played in Houston, Texas. A civic group was appointed by the Houston Chamber of Commerce Athletics Committee in 1959 to organize the bowl game. It was held at Rice Stadium from 19 ...

32, No. 19

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

Polls

Final AP Poll

# Florida State # Oklahoma # Syracuse # LSU #

# Auburn # Michigan State #

# Oklahoma State # Clemson #

# Notre Dame #

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

Final Coaches Poll

# Florida State # Oklahoma # Syracuse # LSU #

# Auburn # Michigan State #

# Clemson #

# Oklahoma State #

Awards

Heisman Trophy

#Winner: Tim Brown, Notre Dame, Sr. WR (1,442 points) # Don McPherson, Syracuse, Sr. QB (831) #

Gordie Lockbaum Gordon Carl "Gordie" Lockbaum (born November 16, 1965) is an American former college football player, who was a standout "two-way" (both offensive and defensive) player in NCAA Division I-AA. College career Lockbaum was raised in Glassboro, New ...

, Holy Cross, Sr. TB (657) # Lorenzo White, Michigan State, Sr. TB (632) # Craig Heyward, Pittsburgh, Jr. RB (170) #

Chris Spielman Charles Christopher Spielman (born October 11, 1965) is a former American football player and is a special assistant to the owner and CEO for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He played linebacker at Ohio State University, w ...

, Ohio State, Sr. LB (110) #

Thurman Thomas Thurman Lee Thomas (born May 16, 1966) is an American former football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for thirteen seasons, primarily with the Buffalo Bills. He was selected by the Bills in the second round of th ...

, Oklahoma State, Sr. RB (99) # Gaston Green, UCLA, Sr. RB (73) # Emmitt Smith, Florida, Fr. RB (70) # Bobby Humphrey, Alabama, Jr. RB (63) :

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:

References

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