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1987 Kentucky

5–⁠6 (1–⁠5 Southeastern Conference), coached by Jerry Claiborne.

Schedule and results

Kentucky in 1987, game by game: won vs. Utah State 41–0; won vs. Indiana 34–15; lost at Rutgers 18–19; won vs. Ohio 28–0; won vs. Ole Miss 35–6; lost at No. 6 LSU 9–34; lost at No. 12 Georgia 14–17; won vs. Virginia Tech 14–7; lost at Vanderbilt 29–38; lost at Florida 14–27; lost vs. No. 15 Tennessee 22–24+41−25Won 41–0 vs. Utah State+41Utah StateWon 34–15 vs. Indiana+19IndianaLost 18–19 at Rutgers-1RutgersWon 28–0 vs. Ohio+28OhioWon 35–6 vs. Ole Miss+29Ole MissLost 9–34 at No. 6 LSU-25No. 6 LSULost 14–17 at No. 12 Georgia-3No. 12 GeorgiaWon 14–7 vs. Virginia Tech+7Virginia TechLost 29–38 at Vanderbilt-9VanderbiltLost 14–27 at Florida-13FloridaLost 22–24 vs. No. 15 Tennessee-2No. 15 Tennessee
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 12vsUtah StateW 41–⁠075%
Sep 19vsIndianaW 34–⁠1561%
Sep 26atRutgersL 18–⁠1954%
Oct 3vsOhioW 28–⁠081%
Oct 10vsOle MissW 35–⁠669%
Oct 17at6LSUL 9–⁠3426%
Oct 24at12GeorgiaL 14–⁠1730%
Oct 31vsVirginia TechW 14–⁠773%
Nov 7atVanderbiltL 29–⁠3868%
Nov 14atFloridaL 14–⁠2729%
Nov 21vs15TennesseeL 22–⁠2437%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Tennessee 24–⁠22; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 7th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 59th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

Record
5–⁠6
Conference
1–⁠5 tied for 7th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
258–⁠187
Coach
Jerry Claiborne
Elo
1497 −4 this season
SP+ rating
9.4 No. 28 of 101; offense No. 52, defense No. 22
SRS
8.6 No. 25 of 104 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—

Drafted in 1988

The 1988 draft
Rd 2Dermontti Dawson CPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 5Jerry Reese DEPittsburgh Steelers

All-SEC

4 second team

Second team

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

1987 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Auburn5–⁠0–⁠19–⁠1–⁠27
LSU5–⁠110–⁠1–⁠15
Tennessee4–⁠1–⁠110–⁠2–⁠114
Georgia4–⁠29–⁠313
Alabama4–⁠27–⁠5
Florida3–⁠36–⁠6
Kentucky1–⁠55–⁠6
Mississippi State1–⁠54–⁠7
Vanderbilt1–⁠54–⁠7
Ole Miss1–⁠53–⁠8

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