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1987 Vanderbilt

4–⁠7 (1–⁠5 Southeastern Conference), coached by Watson Brown.

Schedule and results

Vanderbilt in 1987, game by game: won vs. Memphis 27–17; lost at Duke 31–35; lost vs. No. 17 Alabama 23–30; lost at Tulane 17–27; lost at No. 5 Auburn 15–48; lost vs. No. 18 Georgia 24–52; lost at Ole Miss 14–42; won vs. Rutgers 27–13; won vs. Kentucky 38–29; won vs. Maryland 34–24; lost at No. 16 Tennessee 36–38+14−33Won 27–17 vs. Memphis+10MemphisLost 31–35 at Duke-4DukeLost 23–30 vs. No. 17 Alabama-7No. 17 AlabamaLost 17–27 at Tulane-10TulaneLost 15–48 at No. 5 Auburn-33No. 5 AuburnLost 24–52 vs. No. 18 Georgia-28No. 18 GeorgiaLost 14–42 at Ole Miss-28Ole MissWon 27–13 vs. Rutgers+14RutgersWon 38–29 vs. Kentucky+9KentuckyWon 34–24 vs. Maryland+10MarylandLost 36–38 at No. 16 Tennessee-2No. 16 Tennessee
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 12vsMemphisW 27–⁠1759%
Sep 19atDukeL 31–⁠3533%
Sep 26vs17AlabamaL 23–⁠3022%
Oct 3atTulaneL 17–⁠2734%
Oct 10at5AuburnL 15–⁠489%
Oct 17vs18GeorgiaL 24–⁠5223%
Oct 24atOle MissL 14–⁠4227%
Oct 31vsRutgersW 27–⁠1329%
Nov 7vsKentuckyW 38–⁠2932%
Nov 21vsMarylandW 34–⁠2445%
Nov 28at16TennesseeL 36–⁠3816%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Tennessee 38–⁠36; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 7th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 76th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 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
4–⁠7
Conference
1–⁠5 tied for 7th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
286–⁠355
Coach
Watson Brown
Elo
1424 +47 this season
SP+ rating
-0.3 No. 49 of 101; offense No. 18, defense No. 87
SRS
0.0 No. 51 of 104 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Dick Hopkins
Defense
5–⁠3

Drafted in 1988

The 1988 draft
Rd 5Chris Gaines LBPhoenix Cardinals

All-SEC

1 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

  • Carl ParkerWRAP-2
  • Daryl HoltCAP-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 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.