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1987 Arkansas

9–⁠4 (5–⁠2 Southwest Conference), coached by Ken Hatfield.

Schedule and results

Arkansas in 1987, game by game: won at Ole Miss 31–10; won vs. Tulsa 30–15; lost vs. No. 5 Miami 7–51; won at TCU 20–10; won at Texas Tech 31–0; lost vs. Texas 14–16; won vs. Houston 21–17; won at Rice 38–14; won vs. Baylor 10–7; lost at No. 19 Texas A&M 0–14; won vs. New Mexico 43–25; won at Hawai’i 38–20; lost vs. No. 15 Georgia 17–20+31−44Won 31–10 at Ole Miss+21Ole MissWon 30–15 vs. Tulsa+15TulsaLost 7–51 vs. No. 5 Miami-44No. 5 MiamiWon 20–10 at TCU+10TCUWon 31–0 at Texas Tech+31Texas TechLost 14–16 vs. Texas-2TexasWon 21–17 vs. Houston+4HoustonWon 38–14 at Rice+24RiceWon 10–7 vs. Baylor+3BaylorLost 0–14 at No. 19 Texas A&M-14No. 19 Texas A&MWon 43–25 vs. New Mexico+18New MexicoWon 38–20 at Hawai’i+18Hawai’iLost 17–20 vs. No. 15 Georgia-3No. 15 Georgia
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 12atOle MissW 31–⁠1055%
Sep 19vsTulsaW 30–⁠1575%
Sep 26vs5MiamiL 7–⁠5149%
Oct 3atTCUW 20–⁠1069%
Oct 10atTexas TechW 31–⁠055%
Oct 17vsTexasL 14–⁠1677%
Oct 24vsHoustonW 21–⁠1787%
Oct 31atRiceW 38–⁠1482%
Nov 7vsBaylorW 10–⁠771%
Nov 14at19Texas A&ML 0–⁠1441%
Nov 28vsNew MexicoW 43–⁠2592%
Dec 5atHawai’iW 38–⁠2067%
Dec 29Bowls & playoffvs15GeorgiaLiberty BowlL 17–⁠2051%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Georgia 20–⁠17 in the Liberty Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 2nd in the Southwest Conference.

In program history: The 24th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 12
  2. Wk 2: 13
  3. Wk 3: 12
  4. Wk 4: 10
  5. Wk 6: 20
  6. Wk 7: 15
  7. Wk 11: 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.

Record
9–⁠4
Conference
5–⁠2 tied for 2nd in Southwest Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 10
Points
300–⁠219
Coach
Ken Hatfield
Elo
1645 +36 this season
SP+ rating
9.4 No. 28 of 101; offense No. 54, defense No. 21
SRS
7.6 No. 28 of 104 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Fred Goldsmith
Captains
Chris Bequette, Tony Cherico, Greg Thomas and Rickey Williams
Offense
Option

All-Southwest Conference

2 first team, 4 second team

First team

  • Tony ChericoDLAP-1
  • Rickey WilliamsLBAP-1

Second team

  • James RouseRBAP-2
  • Fred ChildressOGAP-2
  • Chris BequetteOTAP-2
  • Steve AtwaterSecondaryAP-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 Southwest Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Texas A&M6–⁠110–⁠210
Arkansas5–⁠29–⁠4
Texas5–⁠27–⁠5
Texas Tech3–⁠3–⁠16–⁠4–⁠1
Baylor3–⁠46–⁠5
TCU3–⁠45–⁠6
Houston2–⁠4–⁠14–⁠6–⁠1
Rice0–⁠72–⁠9

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