CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1987 Minnesota

6–⁠5 (3–⁠5 Big Ten), coached by John Gutekunst.

Schedule and results

Minnesota in 1987, game by game: won vs. Northern Iowa 24–7; won vs. California 32–23; won vs. Central Michigan 30–10; won vs. Purdue 21–19; won at Northwestern 45–33; lost vs. No. 20 Indiana 17–18; lost at No. 16 Ohio State 9–42; lost at Illinois 17–27; lost vs. Michigan 20–30; won vs. Wisconsin 22–19; lost at No. 18 Iowa 20–34+20−33Won 24–7 vs. Northern Iowa+17Northern IowaWon 32–23 vs. California+9CaliforniaWon 30–10 vs. Central Michigan+20Central MichiganWon 21–19 vs. Purdue+2PurdueWon 45–33 at Northwestern+12NorthwesternLost 17–18 vs. No. 20 Indiana-1No. 20 IndianaLost 9–42 at No. 16 Ohio State-33No. 16 Ohio StateLost 17–27 at Illinois-10IllinoisLost 20–30 vs. Michigan-10MichiganWon 22–19 vs. Wisconsin+3WisconsinLost 20–34 at No. 18 Iowa-14No. 18 Iowa
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 12vsNorthern IowaW 24–⁠779%
Sep 19vsCaliforniaW 32–⁠2370%
Sep 26vsCentral MichiganW 30–⁠1065%
Oct 3vsPurdueW 21–⁠1978%
Oct 10atNorthwesternW 45–⁠3369%
Oct 16vs20IndianaL 17–⁠1861%
Oct 24at16Ohio StateL 9–⁠4233%
Oct 31atIllinoisL 17–⁠2757%
Nov 7vsMichiganL 20–⁠3039%
Nov 14vsWisconsinW 22–⁠1972%
Nov 21at18IowaL 20–⁠3424%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Iowa 34–⁠20; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 6th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 94th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

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
6–⁠5
Conference
3–⁠5 tied for 6th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked
Points
257–⁠262
Coach
John Gutekunst
Elo
1495 −18 this season
SP+ rating
-2.9 No. 65 of 101; offense No. 52, defense No. 70
SRS
−2.2 No. 60 of 104 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Rickey Foggie

Drafted in 1988

The 1988 draft
Rd 2Chip Lohmiller KWashington Redskins
Rd 5Troy Wolkow OGNew England Patriots

All-Big Ten

2 first team, 4 second team

First 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 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.