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1987 Air Force

9–⁠4 (6–⁠2 Western Athletic Conference), coached by Fisher DeBerry.

Schedule and results

Air Force in 1987, game by game: lost at Wyoming 13–27; won vs. TCU 21–10; won vs. San Diego State 49–7; won at Colorado State 27–19; won vs. Utah 48–27; won at Navy 23–13; lost vs. No. 11 Notre Dame 14–35; won vs. UTEP 35–7; lost at BYU 13–24; won vs. Army 27–10; won at New Mexico 73–26; won at Hawai’i 34–31; lost vs. Arizona State 28–33+47−21Lost 13–27 at Wyoming-14WyomingWon 21–10 vs. TCU+11TCUWon 49–7 vs. San Diego State+42San Diego StateWon 27–19 at Colorado State+8Colorado StateWon 48–27 vs. Utah+21UtahWon 23–13 at Navy+10NavyLost 14–35 vs. No. 11 Notre Dame-21No. 11 Notre DameWon 35–7 vs. UTEP+28UTEPLost 13–24 at BYU-11BYUWon 27–10 vs. Army+17ArmyWon 73–26 at New Mexico+47New MexicoWon 34–31 at Hawai’i+3Hawai’iLost 28–33 vs. Arizona State-5Arizona State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5atWyomingL 13–⁠2752%
Sep 12vsTCUW 21–⁠1074%
Sep 19vsSan Diego StateW 49–⁠755%
Sep 26atColorado StateW 27–⁠1962%
Oct 3vsUtahW 48–⁠2772%
Oct 10atNavyW 23–⁠1379%
Oct 17vs11Notre DameL 14–⁠3553%
Oct 24vsUTEPW 35–⁠766%
Oct 31atBYUL 13–⁠2446%
Nov 7vsArmyW 27–⁠1072%
Nov 14atNew MexicoW 73–⁠2680%
Nov 21atHawai’iW 34–⁠3157%
Dec 30Bowls & playoffvsArizona StateFreedom BowlL 28–⁠3351%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Arizona State 33–⁠28 in the Freedom Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; 3rd in the Western Athletic Conference.

In program history: The 19th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 71 on file).

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1987.

Outland TrophyChad Hennings, DT

Consensus All-AmericanChad Hennings, DT

Record
9–⁠4
Conference
6–⁠2 3rd in Western Athletic Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
405–⁠269
Coach
Fisher DeBerry
Elo
1583 +47 this season
SP+ rating
9.0 No. 30 of 101; offense No. 20, defense No. 54
SRS
5.2 No. 34 of 104 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Captain
All seniors
Offense
Wishbone triple option

1987 Western Athletic Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Wyoming8–⁠010–⁠3
BYU7–⁠19–⁠4
Air Force6–⁠29–⁠4
UTEP5–⁠37–⁠4
San Diego State4–⁠45–⁠7
Hawai’i3–⁠55–⁠7
Utah2–⁠65–⁠7
Colorado State1–⁠71–⁠11
New Mexico0–⁠80–⁠11

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.