CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1987 Iowa State

3–⁠8 (2–⁠5 Big Eight), coached by Jim Walden.

Schedule and results

Iowa State in 1987, game by game: lost at Tulane 12–25; lost vs. Iowa 9–48; lost at Wyoming 17–34; lost vs. No. 1 Oklahoma 3–56; won vs. Northern Iowa 39–38; lost vs. Missouri 17–42; won at Kansas 42–28; lost vs. Colorado 10–42; lost at No. 2 Nebraska 3–42; won vs. Kansas State 16–14; lost at No. 13 Oklahoma State 27–48+14−53Lost 12–25 at Tulane-13TulaneLost 9–48 vs. Iowa-39IowaLost 17–34 at Wyoming-17WyomingLost 3–56 vs. No. 1 Oklahoma-53No. 1 OklahomaWon 39–38 vs. Northern Iowa+1Northern IowaLost 17–42 vs. Missouri-25MissouriWon 42–28 at Kansas+14KansasLost 10–42 vs. Colorado-32ColoradoLost 3–42 at No. 2 Nebraska-39No. 2 NebraskaWon 16–14 vs. Kansas State+2Kansas StateLost 27–48 at No. 13 Oklahoma State-21No. 13 Oklahoma State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 12atTulaneL 12–⁠2552%
Sep 19vsIowaL 9–⁠4837%
Sep 26atWyomingL 17–⁠3437%
Oct 3vs1OklahomaL 3–⁠5615%
Oct 10vsNorthern IowaW 39–⁠3866%
Oct 17vsMissouriL 17–⁠4251%
Oct 24atKansasW 42–⁠2848%
Oct 31vsColoradoL 10–⁠4236%
Nov 7at2NebraskaL 3–⁠427%
Nov 14vsKansas StateW 16–⁠1473%
Nov 21at13Oklahoma StateL 27–⁠4815%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Oklahoma State 48–⁠27; unranked in the final AP poll; 6th in the Big Eight.

In program history: The 118th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 132 on file).

Record
3–⁠8
Conference
2–⁠5 6th in Big Eight
AP final
Unranked
Points
195–⁠417
Coach
Jim Walden
Elo
1358 −115 this season
SP+ rating
-14.9 No. 89 of 101; offense No. 62, defense No. 93
SRS
−13.5 No. 88 of 104 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Robin Ross

All-Big Eight

3 first team, 1 second team

First team

  • Joe HendersonRBAP-1; UPI-2
  • Dennis RossWRAP-2; UPI-1
  • Jeff ShudakPlace-kickerAP-1; UPI-1

Second team

  • Chris MooreLBUPI-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 Big Eight standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Oklahoma7–⁠011–⁠13
Nebraska6–⁠110–⁠26
Oklahoma State5–⁠210–⁠211
Colorado4–⁠37–⁠4
Missouri3–⁠45–⁠6
Iowa State2–⁠53–⁠8
Kansas0–⁠6–⁠11–⁠9–⁠1
Kansas State0–⁠6–⁠10–⁠10–⁠1

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