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1987 Arizona State

7–⁠4–⁠1 (3–⁠3–⁠1 Pac-10), coached by John Cooper, finished No. 20 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Arizona State in 1987, game by game: won at Illinois 21–7; won vs. Pacific 31–12; lost vs. No. 2 Nebraska 28–35; won vs. UTEP 35–16; lost at Washington 14–27; won vs. Washington State 38–7; won at Oregon State 30–21; lost vs. No. 7 UCLA 23–31; won vs. Oregon 37–17; lost at California 20–38; tied vs. Arizona 24–24; won vs. Air Force 33–28+31−18Won 21–7 at Illinois+14IllinoisWon 31–12 vs. Pacific+19PacificLost 28–35 vs. No. 2 Nebraska-7No. 2 NebraskaWon 35–16 vs. UTEP+19UTEPLost 14–27 at Washington-13WashingtonWon 38–7 vs. Washington State+31Washington StateWon 30–21 at Oregon State+9Oregon StateLost 23–31 vs. No. 7 UCLA-8No. 7 UCLAWon 37–17 vs. Oregon+20OregonLost 20–38 at California-18CaliforniaTied 24–24 vs. Arizona0ArizonaWon 33–28 vs. Air Force+5Air Force
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 12atIllinoisW 21–⁠768%
Sep 19vsPacificW 31–⁠1288%
Sep 26vs2NebraskaL 28–⁠3555%
Oct 3vsUTEPW 35–⁠1676%
Oct 10atWashingtonL 14–⁠2752%
Oct 17vsWashington StateW 38–⁠781%
Oct 24atOregon StateW 30–⁠2177%
Oct 31vs7UCLAL 23–⁠3148%
Nov 7vsOregonW 37–⁠1776%
Nov 14atCaliforniaL 20–⁠3871%
Nov 28vsArizonaT 24–⁠2459%
Dec 30Bowls & playoffvsAir ForceFreedom BowlW 33–⁠2849%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Air Force 33–⁠28 in the Freedom Bowl; No. 20 in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Pac-10.

In program history: The 28th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 93 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 14
  2. Wk 2: 15
  3. Wk 3: 15
  4. Wk 4: 12
  5. Wk 5: 13
  6. Wk 6: 13
  7. Final: 20

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.

Consensus All-AmericanRandall McDaniel, OG

Record
7–⁠4–⁠1
Conference
3–⁠3–⁠1 tied for 4th in Pac-10
AP final
No. 20 peak No. 12
Points
334–⁠263
Coach
John Cooper
Elo
1614 −31 this season
SP+ rating
12.0 No. 25 of 101; offense No. 18, defense No. 39
SRS
7.4 No. 29 of 104 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Jim Colletto
Defensive coordinator
Larry Marmie

Drafted in 1988

The 1988 draft
Rd 1Randall McDaniel OGMinnesota Vikings
Rd 1Aaron Cox WRLos Angeles Rams
Rd 2Eric Allen DBPhiladelphia Eagles
Rd 2Shawn Patterson DEGreen Bay Packers
Rd 4Todd Kalis OGMinnesota Vikings

All-Pac-10

5 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

  • Channing WilliamsRBCoaches-2
  • Alan ZendejasKCoaches-2

From Wikipedia’s 1987 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1987 Pac-10 standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
UCLA7–⁠110–⁠29
USC7–⁠18–⁠418
Washington4–⁠3–⁠17–⁠4–⁠1
Oregon4–⁠46–⁠5
Stanford4–⁠45–⁠6
Arizona State3–⁠3–⁠17–⁠4–⁠120
Arizona2–⁠3–⁠34–⁠4–⁠3
California2–⁠3–⁠23–⁠6–⁠2
Washington State1–⁠5–⁠13–⁠7–⁠1
Oregon State0–⁠72–⁠9

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