The 1987 Sugar Bowl was the 53rd edition of the

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

bowl game In North America, a bowl game, or simply bowl, is one of a number of postseason college football games primarily played by NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. For most of its history, the FBS did not use a playoff tourname ...

, played at the

Louisiana Superdome Caesars Superdome (originally Louisiana Superdome and formerly Mercedes-Benz Superdome), commonly known as the Superdome, is a domed multi-purpose stadium in the Southern United States, southern United States, located in New Orleans, Louisiana. ...

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, on Thursday, January 1. Part of the 1986–87 bowl game season, it featured the fifth-ranked

LSU Tigers The LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers (also known as the Fighting Tigers) are the athletic teams representing Louisiana State University (LSU), a state university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU competes in Division I of the National Collegiat ...

of the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

(SEC) and number 6

Nebraska Cornhuskers The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding t ...

of the

Big Eight Conference The Big Eight Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored American football, football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate ...

. Favored Nebraska trailed early and won, 30–15. It was the third time in five seasons that the teams had met in a major bowl game and Nebraska won all three.

Teams

Nebraska

LSU

Game summary

Both televised by

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

, the game followed the

Florida Citrus Bowl Camping World Stadium is an outdoor stadium in Orlando, Florida, United States located in the West Lakes neighborhood of Downtown Orlando, west of new sports and entertainment facilities including the Kia Center, the Dr. Phillips Center for t ...

and kicked off shortly after 2:30 p.m. CST, two hours after the Cotton Bowl started on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

, and ninety minutes before the

Rose Bowl Rose Bowl or Rosebowl may refer to: * Rose Bowl Game, an annual American college football game * Rose Bowl (stadium), Pasadena, California, site of the football game, and the home stadium of the UCLA Football team * Rose Bowl (cricket ground), West ...

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

. LSU chose to wear white jerseys as the designated home team, despite an NCAA rule passed in 1983 which required the visiting team to wear white jerseys. LSU traditionally wore white at home from

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...

– 82, and has done so again since

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

, when the NCAA partially revoked the 1983 rule, allowing home teams to wear white with consent of the visitors. In 1997, the SEC ruled home teams would have jersey color choice without consent of the visitors for conference games. On the first play from scrimmage, underdog LSU gained 43 yards on a pass to Wendell Davis from freshman quarterback the Tigers scored six plays later on a one-yard touchdown run from In the second quarter, kicked a 42-yard field goal for the Huskers and quarterback scored on a two-yard run to give Nebraska lead Early in the second half, fullback scored from a yard out and Nebraska led after three quarters. Tight end caught a short touchdown pass from Taylor early in the fourth, and Knox added another one-yard run for thirty unanswered points and the score was with under four minutes remaining. Hodson threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to (with a

two-point conversion In gridiron football, a two-point conversion, two-point convert, or two-point attempt is a play a team attempts instead of kicking a one-point conversion immediately after it scores a touchdown. In a two-point conversion attempt, the team that ...

) to tighten the final score Nebraska's Taylor was named the game's most valuable the Huskers climbed to fifth in the final AP poll and LSU fell After the game, Tom Osborne said "We weren't playing for the national championship, the Big Eight Championship was out the window. The only thing we had left was the Sugar Bowl."

Scoring

First quarter *LSU – Harvey Williams 1 run (David Browndyke kick) Second quarter *Nebraska – Field goal, Dale Klein 42 *Nebraska –

Steve Taylor Roland Stephen Taylor (born December 9, 1957) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, music executive, film maker, assistant professor, and actor. A figure in what has come to be known as Christian alternative rock, Taylor enjoyed ...

2 run (Klein kick) Third quarter *Nebraska – Tyreese Knox 1 run (Klein kick) Fourth quarter *Nebraska – Todd Millikan 3 pass from Taylor (Klein kick) *Nebraska – Knox 1 run (kick failed) *LSU – Tony Moss 24 pass from

Tommy Hodson Thomas Paul Hodson (born January 28, 1967) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the LSU Tigers of Louisiana State University, where he hol ...

(Alvin Lee pass from Hodson) :

Statistics

: :

Aftermath

The victory improved Nebraska to 5–0–1 all-time vs. LSU. The Cornhuskers defeated the Tigers 17–12 in the

1971 Orange Bowl The 1971 Orange Bowl was the 37th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, on Friday, January 1. Part of the 1970–71 bowl season, it matched the third-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers, champions of th ...

(to secure the national title) and 10–7 in the

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

season opener at Lincoln. They played to a 6–6 tie at Baton Rouge to open the

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

season and Nebraska defeated the LSU Tigers in the 1983 Orange Bowl 21-20. This was the final game for LSU under head coach

Bill Arnsparger William Stephen Arnsparger (December 16, 1926 – July 17, 2015) was an American college and professional football coach. He was born and raised in Paris, Kentucky, served in the United States Marine Corps during World War II, and graduated from ...

; he had accepted the

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches a ...

position at conference rival

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, announced immediately after the Tigers' regular season finale with

Tulane The Tulane University of Louisiana (commonly referred to as Tulane University) is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by a cohort of medical doctors, it be ...

on Arnsparger led LSU to the SEC championship this season, its first since

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

, but his minimal recruiting skills and bowl record (two of those losses to the Cornhuskers) left many LSU fans in disfavor of him. Arnsparger departed with a record and recommended his 33-year-old defensive coordinator Mike Archer as his successor. Archer coached the next four seasons at LSU with a record, but Arnsparger's lack of recruiting put him in a hole. Most of Arnsparger's best players, such as NT Henry Thomas, OG Eric Andolsek, C Nacho Albergamo, and FS Chris Carrier, were all recruited by the previous head coach,

Jerry Stovall Jerry Lane Stovall (born April 30, 1941), nicknamed "Mr. Everything", is an American former football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He played college football for the LSU Tigers, where he was a unanimous selection to the ...

(although Arnsparger recruited QB Tommy Hodson). LSU played in

bowls Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which players try to roll their ball (called a bowl) closest to a smaller ball (known as a "jack" or sometimes a "kitty"). The bowls are shaped (biased), so that they follow a curve ...

in the following two seasons, but then suffered through six consecutive losing seasons from 1989-94, the first two under Archer and the next four under

Curley Hallman Hudson "Curley" Hallman (born September 3, 1947) is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at the University of Southern Mississippi (1988–1990) and Louisiana State University (1991–1994), compiling a career ...

. LSU's next bowl game was the 1995 Independence Bowl under

Gerry DiNardo Gerard Paul DiNardo (born November 10, 1952) is an American former football player and coach. He played college football as a guard for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish where he was selected as an All-American in 1974. DiNardo served as the head fo ...

. LSU did not return to the Sugar Bowl (or any major bowl) until it won the SEC championship in

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

under second-year coach

Nick Saban Nicholas Lou Saban Jr. ( ; born October 31, 1951) is an American sportscaster and former Professional gridiron football, professional and college football coach. He serves as an analyst for ESPN's ''College GameDay (football TV program), Colleg ...

. The Tigers then rolled over

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

47-34 in the

2002 Sugar Bowl The 2002 Sugar Bowl, a 2001–02 Bowl Championship Series, BCS game, was played on January 1, 2002. This 68th edition to the Sugar Bowl featured the 2001 Illinois Fighting Illini football team, Illinois Fighting Illini, and the 2001 LSU Tigers ...

behind

Rohan Davey Rohan St. Patrick Davey (born April 14, 1978) is a Jamaican-born former professional American football quarterback. He won two Super Bowl rings with the New England Patriots, as the backup to Tom Brady in 2003 and 2004. Early life Davey attende ...

's 444 yards passing. LSU subsequently won the

2004 Sugar Bowl The 2004 Nokia Sugar Bowl, the BCS National Championship Game for the 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season, 2003 college football season, was played on January 4, 2004, at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The teams were the 2 ...

following the 2003 season (vs.

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

to win the

Bowl Championship Series The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was a college football post-season selection system that created four or five bowl game match-ups involving eight or ten of the top ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of America ...

national championship) and the 2007 Sugar Bowl following the 2006s season (vs. Notre Dame). Additionally, LSU has played in three national championship games at New Orleans since its most recent Sugar Bowl, defeating

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, losing to

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

and defeating Clemson in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

. Nebraska continued its winning football under

Tom Osborne Thomas William Osborne (born February 23, 1937) is an American former football player, coach, college athletics administrator, and politician from Nebraska. He served as head football coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers from 1973 to 1997 (25 sea ...

with

national championships A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

and

. They tied for another in

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

and played for another in

under

Frank Solich Frank Thomas Solich (born September 8, 1944) is a former American college football coach and former player. He is the former head coach at Ohio University, a position he held from 2005 until 2021. From 1998 to 2003, Solich served as the head coa ...

. The Cornhuskers have not played in the Sugar Bowl since this game. They are 3-1 in the Sugar Bowl, previously losing to

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

and defeating

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

, in addition to the victory over LSU in 1985. Nebraska's only game in the state of

since the 1987 Sugar Bowl was a 27-23 loss to

Ole Miss OLE, Ole or Olé may refer to: * Olé, a cheering expression used in Spain * Ole (name), a male given name, includes a list of people named Ole * Overhead lines equipment, used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains Co ...

in the 2002 Independence Bowl at

Shreveport Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the List of municipalities in Louisiana, third-most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge. The bulk of Shreveport is in Caddo Parish, Lo ...

References

{{Nebraska Cornhuskers bowl game navbox

Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed only ...

Sugar Bowl LSU Tigers football bowl games Nebraska Cornhuskers football bowl games