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The 1987 season

Miami finished No. 1 in the final AP poll, 12–⁠0 under Jimmy Johnson, after it beat Oklahoma 20–⁠14 in the Orange Bowl. The biggest game by the rankings: No. 2 Oklahoma 17, No. 1 Nebraska 7 (Nov 21, 1987). Two Division I-A teams finished unbeaten. 31 ranked teams lost to unranked or lower-ranked opponents.

Heisman Trophy: Tim Brown, WR, Notre Dame, who also won the Walter Camp.

The Heisman vote: Tim Brown 1,442 points, Don McPherson 831
PlayerPoints1st2nd3rd
Tim Brown WR, Notre Dame1,442324173124
Don McPherson QB, Syracuse83116713560
Gordie Lockbaum RB, Holy Cross657108103127
Lorenzo White RB, Michigan State63289121123
Craig Heyward RB, Pittsburgh170174431
Chris Spielman LB, Ohio State110 *152015
Thurman Thomas RB, Oklahoma State99112320
Gaston Green RB, UCLA7341335
Emmitt Smith RB, Florida7021142
Bobby Humphrey RB, Alabama6351714

First-, second- and third-place votes (3, 2 and 1 points), from the season’s Wikipedia article, as published. * The votes shown don’t add up to the points shown; the source has a typo in one of them.

Scoreboards

Final AP poll

1MiamiIndependent
2Florida StateIndependent
3OklahomaBig Eight
4SyracuseIndependent
5LSUSoutheastern Conference
6NebraskaBig Eight
7AuburnSoutheastern Conference
8Michigan StateBig Ten
9UCLAPac-10
10Texas A&MSouthwest Conference
11Oklahoma StateBig Eight
12ClemsonAtlantic Coast Conference
13GeorgiaSoutheastern Conference
14TennesseeSoutheastern Conference
15South CarolinaIndependent
16IowaBig Ten
17Notre DameIndependent
18USCPac-10
19MichiganBig Ten
20Arizona StatePac-10

Biggest upsets

Oct 10, 1987Pittsburgh 30, 4Notre Dame 22
Nov 21, 1987USC 17, 5UCLA 13
Oct 24, 1987NC State 30, 7Clemson 28
Nov 21, 1987Penn State 21, 7Notre Dame 20
Oct 17, 1987Alabama 41, 8Tennessee 22
Oct 10, 1987Indiana 31, 9Ohio State 10
Sep 19, 1987Texas A&M 29, 10Washington 12
Sep 19, 1987Florida 23, 11Alabama 14
Oct 31, 1987Iowa 29, 11Indiana 21
Oct 10, 1987Michigan State 17, 12Michigan 11
Oct 10, 1987Washington 27, 13Arizona State 14
Oct 31, 1987Boston College 20, 13Tennessee 18

Ranked teams that lost as the betting favorite, the longest shots first, with the winner’s odds on the line; before lines are on file, ranked teams beaten by unranked or lower-ranked ones.

The AP poll, week by week

The AP poll’s top 10 in 1987, week by week1510152025Wk 1Wk 3Wk 5Wk 7Wk 9Wk 11Wk 13Wk 15FinalTexas A&M: Wk 1 No. 15, Wk 2 unranked, Wk 3 unranked, Wk 4 No. 16, Wk 5 No. 15, Wk 6 unranked, Wk 7 unranked, Wk 8 unranked, Wk 9 unranked, Wk 10 No. 20, Wk 11 No. 19, Wk 12 No. 16, Wk 13 No. 15, Wk 14 No. 15, Wk 15 No. 13, Final No. 1010 Texas A&MUCLA: Wk 1 No. 3, Wk 2 No. 3, Wk 3 No. 13, Wk 4 No. 13, Wk 5 No. 11, Wk 6 No. 11, Wk 7 No. 9, Wk 8 No. 8, Wk 9 No. 7, Wk 10 No. 7, Wk 11 No. 5, Wk 12 No. 5, Wk 13 No. 11, Wk 14 No. 10, Wk 15 No. 10, Final No. 99 UCLAMichigan State: Wk 1 unranked, Wk 2 No. 17, Wk 3 No. 17, Wk 4 unranked, Wk 5 unranked, Wk 6 unranked, Wk 7 No. 19, Wk 8 No. 14, Wk 9 No. 20, Wk 10 No. 15, Wk 11 No. 13, Wk 12 No. 11, Wk 13 No. 9, Wk 14 No. 9, Wk 15 No. 8, Final No. 88 Michigan StateAuburn: Wk 1 No. 5, Wk 2 No. 4, Wk 3 No. 3, Wk 4 No. 3, Wk 5 No. 6, Wk 6 No. 5, Wk 7 No. 5, Wk 8 No. 6, Wk 9 No. 6, Wk 10 No. 6, Wk 11 No. 12, Wk 12 No. 10, Wk 13 No. 7, Wk 14 No. 6, Wk 15 No. 6, Final No. 77 AuburnNebraska: Wk 1 No. 2, Wk 2 No. 2, Wk 3 No. 2, Wk 4 No. 2, Wk 5 No. 2, Wk 6 No. 2, Wk 7 No. 2, Wk 8 No. 2, Wk 9 No. 2, Wk 10 No. 2, Wk 11 No. 2, Wk 12 No. 1, Wk 13 No. 5, Wk 14 No. 5, Wk 15 No. 5, Final No. 66 NebraskaLSU: Wk 1 No. 6, Wk 2 No. 6, Wk 3 No. 4, Wk 4 No. 4, Wk 5 No. 7, Wk 6 No. 7, Wk 7 No. 6, Wk 8 No. 5, Wk 9 No. 5, Wk 10 No. 5, Wk 11 No. 10, Wk 12 No. 9, Wk 13 No. 6, Wk 14 No. 7, Wk 15 No. 7, Final No. 55 LSUSyracuse: Wk 1 unranked, Wk 2 unranked, Wk 3 unranked, Wk 4 unranked, Wk 5 unranked, Wk 6 No. 17, Wk 7 No. 13, Wk 8 No. 9, Wk 9 No. 8, Wk 10 No. 8, Wk 11 No. 6, Wk 12 No. 6, Wk 13 No. 4, Wk 14 No. 4, Wk 15 No. 4, Final No. 44 SyracuseOklahoma: Wk 1 No. 1, Wk 2 No. 1, Wk 3 No. 1, Wk 4 No. 1, Wk 5 No. 1, Wk 6 No. 1, Wk 7 No. 1, Wk 8 No. 1, Wk 9 No. 1, Wk 10 No. 1, Wk 11 No. 1, Wk 12 No. 2, Wk 13 No. 1, Wk 14 No. 1, Wk 15 No. 1, Final No. 33 OklahomaFlorida State: Wk 1 No. 8, Wk 2 No. 8, Wk 3 No. 7, Wk 4 No. 6, Wk 5 No. 4, Wk 6 No. 6, Wk 7 No. 4, Wk 8 No. 4, Wk 9 No. 4, Wk 10 No. 4, Wk 11 No. 4, Wk 12 No. 4, Wk 13 No. 3, Wk 14 No. 3, Wk 15 No. 3, Final No. 22 Florida StateMiami: Wk 1 No. 10, Wk 2 No. 7, Wk 3 No. 6, Wk 4 No. 5, Wk 5 No. 3, Wk 6 No. 3, Wk 7 No. 3, Wk 8 No. 3, Wk 9 No. 3, Wk 10 No. 3, Wk 11 No. 3, Wk 12 No. 3, Wk 13 No. 2, Wk 14 No. 2, Wk 15 No. 2, Final No. 11 Miami
The top 10 of the final AP poll and where each stood every week before it; a gap is a week out of the Top 25. Hover or tab to a line for its weeks.

Climbed

  1. Syracuseunranked → No. 4
  2. Michigan Stateunranked → No. 8
  3. Oklahoma Stateunranked → No. 11
  4. South Carolinaunranked → No. 15
  5. MiamiNo. 10 → No. 1

Fell

  1. Ohio StateNo. 4 → unranked
  2. Penn StateNo. 11 → unranked
  3. ArkansasNo. 12 → unranked
  4. WashingtonNo. 13 → unranked
  5. MichiganNo. 7 → No. 19

From the season’s first AP poll (the preseason poll) to the final one.

National leaders

Passing yardsTodd Santos (San Diego State)3,932 yds
Passing touchdownsTodd Santos (San Diego State)26 TD
Passer ratingDon McPherson (Syracuse)164.3
Rushing yardsCraig Heyward (Pittsburgh)1,791 yds
Rushing touchdownsPaul Hewitt (San Diego State)18 TD
Yards per carryPatrick Collins (Oklahoma)7.6
ReceptionsJason Phillips (Houston)99 catches
Receiving yardsErnie Jones (Indiana)1,265 yds
Yards per catchWillie Vaughn (Kansas)26.9
Receiving touchdownsTommy Kane (Syracuse)14 TD
PointsPaul Hewitt (San Diego State)144 pts
Points per gamePaul Hewitt (San Diego State)12.0
Total offenseTodd Santos (San Diego State)3,688 yds
Total offense per gameTodd Santos (San Diego State)307.3
Punt return averageAlan Grant (Stanford)16.5
Kickoff return averageBarry Sanders (Oklahoma State)31.6

The NCAA’s official leaders. From Wikipedia’s yearly NCAA leader lists for passing, rushing, receiving, scoring, total offense and returns.

Conference champions

Division I-A

Atlantic Coast Conference
Clemson
Big Eight
Oklahoma
Big Ten
Michigan State
Mid-American Conference
Eastern Michigan
Pac-10
UCLA and USC (shared)
Pacific Coast Athletic Association
San José State
Southeastern Conference
Auburn
Southwest Conference
Texas A&M
Western Athletic Conference
Wyoming

Division I-AA

Big Sky
Idaho and Weber State (shared)
Colonial Conference
Holy Cross
Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference
Northern Iowa
Ivy League
Harvard
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
Delaware State
Ohio Valley Conference
Eastern Kentucky and Youngstown State (shared)
Southern Conference
App State
Southland Conference
UL Monroe
Southwestern Athletic Conference
Jackson State
Yankee Conference
Maine and Richmond (shared)

Division II and below

Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference
Central Arkansas
Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association
Hampton
Gulf South Conference
Troy
Heartland Collegiate Conference
Butler
Liberty Football Conference
Fordham
Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association
Southeast Missouri State
Northern California Athletic Conference
UC Davis
South Atlantic Conference
Gardner-Webb
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Alabama A&M
Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association
Tarleton State
Western Football Conference
Portland State

From each program’s Wikipedia article, with the conference’s name that season. Titles come from the articles of today’s FBS and FCS programs, so a title shared with a school outside them lists only one champion.

Consensus All-Americans

25 playersAll 9 selectors’ teams

Players picked by enough of the major selectors to count as consensus, shown in bold in Wikipedia’s 1987 All-America article. Every selector’s teams, first to last, are on the 1987 All-America teams page.

The 1987 awards

Every award

Player of the year

By position

Coaches

Bowls and playoff

Scoreboard
Dec 12, 1987Eastern Michigan 30, San José State 27California Bowl
Dec 19, 1987Washington 24, Tulane 12Independence Bowl
Dec 22, 1987Virginia 22, BYU 16All-American Bowl
Dec 25, 198711Oklahoma State 35, West Virginia 33Sun Bowl
Dec 25, 198710UCLA 20, Florida 16Aloha Bowl
Dec 29, 198715Georgia 20, Arkansas 17Liberty Bowl
Dec 30, 1987Arizona State 33, Air Force 28Freedom Bowl
Dec 30, 198718Iowa 20, Wyoming 19Holiday Bowl
Dec 31, 19877LSU 30, 9South Carolina 13Gator Bowl
Dec 31, 1987Texas 32, 19Pittsburgh 27Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl
Jan 1, 198814Clemson 35, 20Penn State 10Citrus Bowl
Jan 1, 19883Florida State 31, 5Nebraska 28Fiesta Bowl
Jan 1, 19882Miami 20, 1Oklahoma 14Orange Bowl
Jan 1, 19888Michigan State 20, 16USC 17Rose Bowl
Jan 1, 19884Syracuse 16, 6Auburn 16Sugar Bowl
Jan 1, 198813Texas A&M 35, 12Notre Dame 10Cotton Bowl
Jan 2, 1988Michigan 28, Alabama 24Hall of Fame Bowl
Jan 2, 198817Tennessee 27, Indiana 22Peach Bowl