CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1987 Michigan State

9–⁠2–⁠1 (7–⁠0–⁠1 Big Ten), coached by George Perles, finished No. 8 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Michigan State in 1987, game by game: won vs. No. 19 USC 27–13; lost at No. 9 Notre Dame 8–31; lost vs. No. 6 Florida State 3–31; won at No. 17 Iowa 19–14; won vs. No. 12 Michigan 17–11; won at Northwestern 38–0; tied vs. Illinois 14–14; won at No. 15 Ohio State 13–7; won vs. Purdue 45–3; won vs. No. 16 Indiana 27–3; won at Wisconsin 30–9; won vs. No. 16 USC 20–17+42−28Won 27–13 vs. No. 19 USC+14No. 19 USCLost 8–31 at No. 9 Notre Dame-23No. 9 Notre DameLost 3–31 vs. No. 6 Florida State-28No. 6 Florida StateWon 19–14 at No. 17 Iowa+5No. 17 IowaWon 17–11 vs. No. 12 Michigan+6No. 12 MichiganWon 38–0 at Northwestern+38NorthwesternTied 14–14 vs. Illinois0IllinoisWon 13–7 at No. 15 Ohio State+6No. 15 Ohio StateWon 45–3 vs. Purdue+42PurdueWon 27–3 vs. No. 16 Indiana+24No. 16 IndianaWon 30–9 at Wisconsin+21WisconsinWon 20–17 vs. No. 16 USC+3No. 16 USC
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 7vs19USCW 27–⁠1358%
Sep 19at9Notre DameL 8–⁠3136%
Sep 26vs6Florida StateL 3–⁠3144%
Oct 3at17IowaW 19–⁠1428%
Oct 10vs12MichiganW 17–⁠1142%
Oct 17atNorthwesternW 38–⁠072%
Oct 24vsIllinoisT 14–⁠1477%
Oct 31at15Ohio StateW 13–⁠732%
Nov 7vsPurdueW 45–⁠381%
Nov 14vs16IndianaW 27–⁠364%
Nov 21atWisconsinW 30–⁠977%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs16USCRose BowlW 20–⁠1752%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat USC 20–⁠17 in the Rose Bowl; No. 8 in the final AP poll; Big Ten champions.

In program history: The 15th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 122 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 2: 17
  2. Wk 3: 17
  3. Wk 7: 19
  4. Wk 8: 14
  5. Wk 9: 20
  6. Wk 10: 15
  7. Wk 11: 13
  8. Wk 12: 11
  9. Wk 13: 9
  10. Wk 14: 9
  11. Wk 15: 8
  12. Final: 8

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.

Big Ten champions7–⁠0–⁠1 in the conference

Heisman voteLorenzo White, fourth

Consensus All-AmericanLorenzo White, RB

Record
9–⁠2–⁠1
Conference
7–⁠0–⁠1 first in Big Ten
AP final
No. 8 peak No. 8
Points
261–⁠153
Coach
George Perles
Elo
1674 +125 this season
SP+ rating
20.2 No. 12 of 101; offense No. 45, defense No. 3
SRS
15.9 No. 12 of 104 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Morris Watts
Defensive coordinator
Nick Saban
Captains
Mark Nichols, Pat Shurmur, Rob Stradley and Lorenzo White
Most valuable player
Lorenzo White
Defense
Stunt 4–⁠3

Drafted in 1988

The 1988 draft
Rd 1Lorenzo White RBHouston Oilers
Rd 3Greg Montgomery PHouston Oilers
Rd 6David Houle OGNew York Giants

All-Big Ten

7 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

  • Andre RisonWRAP-2; UPI-2
  • Travis DavisLinemen-outside linebackersAP-2; UPI-2
  • Mark NicholsLinemen-outside linebackersAP-2; UPI-2
  • Tim MooreLBAP-2; UPI-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.