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1987 Iowa

10–⁠3 (6–⁠2 Big Ten), coached by Hayden Fry, finished No. 16 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Iowa in 1987, game by game: lost vs. Tennessee 22–23; won at Arizona 15–14; won at Iowa State 48–9; won vs. Kansas State 38–13; lost vs. Michigan State 14–19; won at Wisconsin 31–10; lost at Michigan 10–37; won vs. Purdue 38–14; won vs. No. 11 Indiana 29–21; won at Northwestern 52–24; won at Ohio State 29–27; won vs. Minnesota 34–20; won vs. Wyoming 20–19+39−27Lost 22–23 vs. Tennessee-1TennesseeWon 15–14 at Arizona+1ArizonaWon 48–9 at Iowa State+39Iowa StateWon 38–13 vs. Kansas State+25Kansas StateLost 14–19 vs. Michigan State-5Michigan StateWon 31–10 at Wisconsin+21WisconsinLost 10–37 at Michigan-27MichiganWon 38–14 vs. Purdue+24PurdueWon 29–21 vs. No. 11 Indiana+8No. 11 IndianaWon 52–24 at Northwestern+28NorthwesternWon 29–27 at Ohio State+2Ohio StateWon 34–20 vs. Minnesota+14MinnesotaWon 20–19 vs. Wyoming+1Wyoming
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vsTennesseeL 22–⁠2350%
Sep 12atArizonaW 15–⁠1439%
Sep 19atIowa StateW 48–⁠963%
Sep 26vsKansas StateW 38–⁠1390%
Oct 3vsMichigan StateL 14–⁠1972%
Oct 10atWisconsinW 31–⁠1062%
Oct 17atMichiganL 10–⁠3740%
Oct 24vsPurdueW 38–⁠1481%
Oct 31vs11IndianaW 29–⁠2161%
Nov 7atNorthwesternW 52–⁠2478%
Nov 14atOhio StateW 29–⁠2745%
Nov 21vsMinnesotaW 34–⁠2076%
Dec 30Bowls & playoffvsWyomingHoliday BowlW 20–⁠1956%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Wyoming 20–⁠19 in the Holiday Bowl; No. 16 in the final AP poll; tied for 2nd in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 21st-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 133 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 16
  2. Wk 4: 19
  3. Wk 5: 17
  4. Wk 12: 18
  5. Wk 13: 19
  6. Wk 14: 18
  7. Wk 15: 18
  8. Final: 16

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
10–⁠3
Conference
6–⁠2 tied for 2nd in Big Ten
AP final
No. 16 peak No. 16
Points
380–⁠250
Coach
Hayden Fry
Elo
1666 +74 this season
SP+ rating
12.4 No. 23 of 101; offense No. 21, defense No. 35
SRS
10.8 No. 22 of 104 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Bill Snyder
Defensive coordinator
Bill Brashier
Captains
Kerry Burt, Quinn Early, Mike Flagg, Dave Haight and J.J. Puk
Most valuable player
Marv Cook and Dave Haight

Drafted in 1988

The 1988 draft
Rd 3Quinn Early WRSan Diego Chargers
Rd 4Kevin Harmon RBSeattle Seahawks
Rd 5Troy Wester OTCincinnati Bengals

All-Big Ten

6 first team, 1 second team

First team

  • Chuck HartliebQBAP-1; UPI-1
  • Marv CookTEAP-1; UPI-1
  • Quinn EarlyWRAP-1; UPI-1
  • Dave HaightLinemen-outside linebackersAP-1; UPI-1
  • Kerry BurtDBAP-1; UPI-2
  • Rob HoughtlinKAP-1; UPI-1

Second team

  • Dwight SistrunkDBUPI-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 Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan State7–⁠0–⁠19–⁠2–⁠18
Iowa6–⁠210–⁠316
Indiana6–⁠28–⁠4
Michigan5–⁠38–⁠419
Ohio State4–⁠46–⁠4–⁠1
Minnesota3–⁠56–⁠5
Purdue3–⁠53–⁠7–⁠1
Illinois2–⁠5–⁠13–⁠7–⁠1
Northwestern2–⁠62–⁠8–⁠1
Wisconsin1–⁠73–⁠8

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