1987 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

(Redirected from 1987 Nebraska Cornhuskers football season) American college football season

1987 Nebraska Cornhuskers football
Fiesta Bowl, L 28–31 vs. Florida State
Conference	Big Eight Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 6
AP	No. 6
Record	10–2 (6–1 Big 8)
Head coach	Tom Osborne (15th season)
Offensive scheme	I formation
Defensive coordinator	Charlie McBride (7th season)
Base defense	3–4
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium
Seasons← 1986 1988 →

1987 Big Eight Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 3 Oklahoma $	7	–	0	–	0	11	–	1	–	0
No. 6 Nebraska	6	–	1	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
No. 11 Oklahoma State	5	–	2	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
Colorado	4	–	3	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Missouri	3	–	4	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Iowa State	2	–	5	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
Kansas	0	–	6	–	1	1	–	9	–	1
Kansas State	0	–	6	–	1	0	–	10	–	1

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1987 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team represented the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the 1987 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was coached by Tom Osborne and played their home games in Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 5	1:30 pm	Utah State*	No. 2	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE		W 56–12	75,910
September 12	4:00 pm	No. 3 UCLA*	No. 2	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE	ESPN	W 42–33	76,313
September 26	2:30 pm	at No. 12 Arizona State*	No. 2	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ	ABC	W 35–28	71,264
October 3	3:00 pm	South Carolina*	No. 2	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE	ESPN	W 30–21	76,061
October 10	1:30 pm	Kansas	No. 2	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE (rivalry)		W 54–2	76,053
October 17	1:30 pm	at No. 12 Oklahoma State	No. 2	Lewis Field Stillwater, OK	CBS	W 35–0	50,440
October 24	1:30 pm	Kansas State	No. 2	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE (rivalry)		W 56–3	76,106
October 31	1:30 pm	at Missouri	No. 2	Faurot Field Columbia, Missouri (rivalry)		W 42–7	55,594
November 7	1:30 pm	Iowa State	No. 2	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE		W 42–3	76,001
November 21	2:30 pm	No. 2 Oklahoma	No. 1	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE (rivalry)	CBS	L 7–17	76,663
November 28	3:00 pm	at Colorado	No. 5	Folsom Field Boulder, CO (rivalry)	ESPN	W 24–7	52,026
January 1, 1988	12:30 pm	vs. No. 3 Florida State*	No. 5	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ (Fiesta Bowl)	NBC	L 28–31	72,112
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	5	5	5	6
Coaches																6

Game summaries

Utah State

Utah State at Nebraska

	1	2	3	4	Total
Utah State	0	3	3	6	12
• Nebraska	7	21	21	7	56

Date: 1987-09-05
Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska
Game attendance: 75,910

Nebraska QB Steve Taylor rushed for 157 yards, breaking a 35-year-old Cornhusker quarterback record, and Nebraska returned two punts for touchdowns, tying its own Big 8 record. Nebraska rolled over Utah State with 515 rushing yards while holding the Aggies to -1 yard.

UCLA

UCLA at Nebraska

	1	2	3	4	Total
UCLA	7	3	7	16	33
• Nebraska	0	14	14	14	42

Date: 1987-09-12
Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska
Game attendance: 76,313

Memorial Stadium recorded its 150th consecutive sellout as #2 Nebraska defeated #3 UCLA. This was the first time two teams from the Top 3 had played in Lincoln. Nebraska QB Steve Taylor's five TD passes tied a Big 8 record set in 1938.

Arizona State

Nebraska at Arizona State

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Nebraska	0	14	7	14	35
Arizona State	0	6	15	7	28

Date: 1987-09-26
Location: Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, Arizona
Game attendance: 71,264

Following a late ASU game-tying score resulting from a fumble by Nebraska QB Steve Taylor, Nebraska IB Keith Jones tore off a 62-yard run with 3:37 remaining to set up the winning series as Nebraska triumphed over the #12 Sun Devils.

South Carolina

South Carolina at Nebraska

	1	2	3	4	Total
South Carolina	0	7	14	0	21
• Nebraska	3	10	0	17	30

Date: 1987-10-03
Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska
Game attendance: 76,061

South Carolina was leading 21–13 in the 3rd as Nebraska QB Steve Taylor left the game with a shoulder injury. After that, Nebraska regained the momentum, holding the Gamecocks to just 9 yards total, recovering a fumble to set up a score, and adding a late interception and field goal to put up the win.

Kansas

Kansas at Nebraska

	1	2	3	4	Total
Kansas	0	0	0	2	2
• Nebraska	17	10	14	13	54

Date: 1987-10-10
Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska
Game attendance: 76,053

Nebraska cruised against a weak Kansas team, as Nebraska QB Clete Blakeman filled in for injured starting QB Steve Taylor.

Oklahoma State

Nebraska at Oklahoma State

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Nebraska	7	14	7	7	35
Oklahoma State	0	0	0	0	0

Date: 1987-10-17
Location: Lewis Field, Stillwater, Oklahoma
Game attendance: 54,440

Nebraska continued their 26-year winning streak against the Cowboys, putting a stop to #12 Oklahoma State's best start and best winning streak since 1945. Cowboys RB Thurman Thomas, at that time the NCAA rushing leader, was held to just 7 yards in 9 carries.

Kansas State

Kansas State Wildcats (0–6) at #2 Nebraska Cornhuskers (6–0)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Kansas St	0	3	0	0	3
Nebraska	21	14	14	7	56

at Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska

Date: October 24, 1987
Game attendance: 76,106
Box Score

Nebraska secured their 26th consecutive winning season, tying the NCAA record, and rolled up 459 rushing yards using 17 rushing players, while the Cornhusker defense prevented a touchdown for the third game in a row.

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Kansas St	Passing	Gary Swim	12/29, 118 Yds, INT
	Rushing	Lee Pickett	9 Rush, 44 Yds
	Receiving	Kent Dean	5 Rec, 59 Yds
Nebraska	Passing	Clete Blakeman	9/10, 165 Yds, TD
	Rushing	Tyreese Knox	8 Rush, 100 Yds, TD
	Receiving	Todd Millikan	3 Rec, 46 Yds

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Drive			Team	Scoring information	Score
Quarter	Time	Plays	Yards	TOP	Team	Scoring information	KSU	NU
1	13:18	3	66		Nebraska	Steve Taylor 49-yard touchdown run, Chris Drennan kick good	0	7
1	8:23	10	39		Nebraska	Tom Banderas 15-yard touchdown reception from Steve Taylor, Chris Drennan kick good	0	14
1	0:25	10	80		Nebraska	Richard Bell 46-yard touchdown run, Chris Drennan kick good	0	21
2	7:07	10	56		Nebraska	Clete Blakeman 1-yard touchdown run, Chris Drennan kick good	0	28
2	2:24	3	1		Kansas St	29-yard field goal by Mark Porter	3	28
2	0:00	7	88		Nebraska	Hendley Hawkins 40-yard touchdown reception from Clete Blakeman, Chris Drennan kick good	3	35
3	8:17	7	47		Nebraska	Micah Heibel 3-yard touchdown run, Chris Drennan kick good	3	42
3	0:41	10	83		Nebraska	Gerry Gdowski 10-yard touchdown run, Chris Drennan kick good	3	49
4	10:53	3	63		Nebraska	Tyreese Knox 50-yard touchdown run, Chris Drennan kick good	3	56
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.							3	56

Missouri

Nebraska at Missouri

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Nebraska	7	21	7	7	42
Missouri	0	7	0	0	7

Date: 1987-10-31
Location: Faurot Field, Columbia, Missouri
Game attendance: 55,594

The NCAA touchdown pass record from 1938 was tied by Nebraska for the second time in this season as the Cornhusker offense scored in all four quarters for the 4th game in a row, though the defense finally allowed their first touchdown in 15 quarters.

Iowa State

Iowa State at Nebraska

	1	2	3	4	Total
Iowa State	0	0	3	0	3
• Nebraska	14	14	7	7	42

Date: 1987-11-07
Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska
Game attendance: 76,001

The Cornhuskers locked up their 19th consecutive 9-win season while piling up 666 total yards of offense as they rocketed to a 28–0 halftime lead before coasting to another win.

Oklahoma

See also: 1987 Oklahoma Sooners football team and Nebraska–Oklahoma football rivalry #2 Oklahoma Sooners (10–0) at #1 Nebraska Cornhuskers (9–0)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Oklahoma	0	0	14	3	17
Nebraska	7	0	0	0	7

at Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, Nebraska

Date: November 21
Game weather: Sunny
Game attendance: 76,663
TV announcers (CBS): Brent Musburger and Pat Haden
HuskerMax

Game information

Oklahoma

Charles Thompson
2/9, 25 Yds
Patrick Collins
13 Rush, 131 Yds, TD
Keith Jackson
1 Rec, 21 Yds

Nebraska

Steve Taylorr
6/18, 58 Yds, 3 INT
Keith Jones
15 Rush, 94 Yds, TD
Richard Bell
2 Rec, 18 Yds

Billed as "Game of the Century II", this first-ever #1 vs. #2 matchup in Memorial Stadium brought a halt to the Cornhuskers' title hopes. Nebraska had taken away Oklahoma's #1 ranking before this game, and gave it back as the Cornhuskers struggled to move the ball after their first and only score. The Sooners went on to win their 4th straight Big 8 Championship.

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Drive			Team	Scoring information	Score
Quarter	Time	Plays	Yards	TOP	Team	Scoring information	OU	NEB
1	1:28		84		Nebraska	Jones 25-yard touchdown run, Drennan kick good	7	0
3	12:48	2	13		Oklahoma	Stafford 11-yard touchdown run, Lashar kick good	7	7
3	1:39				Oklahoma	Collins 65-yard touchdown run, Lashar kick good	14	7
4	7:40				Oklahoma	27-yard field goal by Lashar	17	7
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.							17	7

Colorado

Nebraska at Colorado

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Nebraska	0	10	7	7	24
Colorado	0	0	7	0	7

Date: 1987-11-28
Location: Folsom Field, Boulder, Colorado
Game attendance: 52,026

Scoring summary

2	13:54	NEB	Steve Taylor 5-yard run (Chris Drennan kick)	NEB 7-0

2	3:41	NEB	Chris Drennan 50-yard field goal	NEB 10-0

3	11:54	NEB	Keith Jones 50-yard run (Chris Drennan kick)	NEB 17-0

3	4:57	COL	George Hemingway 4-yard pass from Mark Hatcher (David DeLine kick)	NEB 17-7

4	9:34	NEB	Keith Jones 44-yard run (Chris Drennan kick)	NEB 24-7

Nebraska recovered from the Oklahoma loss and obtained their revenge for last year's loss to Colorado by taking out their frustrations on the Buffaloes in Boulder. Nebraska IB Keith Jones' 248 yards lifted him into a career 3rd-place ranking among Cornhusker runners.

Florida State

Florida State vs Nebraska

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Florida State	0	21	3	7	31
Nebraska	14	0	14	0	28

Date: 1988-01-01
Location: Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, Arizona
Game attendance: 72,112

Nebraska lost after leading by 4 midway through the 4th. A Seminole defender stripped the ball from Nebraska IB Tyreese Knox as he ran in from the FSU 2, which set up a 97-yard FSU march for the winning touchdown with 3:07 left to play.

Personnel

Roster

1987 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
C	`59`	Jeff Anderson	So
C	`53`	Mark Antonietti	Jr
G	`58`	R.G. Arneson	So
SE	`81`	Chip Bahe	So
TE	`87`	Tom Banderas	Sr
WB	`18`	Vance Behrens	Sr
WB	`21`	Richard Bell	So
QB	`12`	Clete Blakeman	Sr
OT	`69`	Bill Bobbora	So
WB	`33`	Dana Brinson	Jr
FB	`29`	Bryan Carpenter	Jr
IB	`32`	Ken Clark	So
IB	`1`	Ray Coleman	Jr
FB	`45`	Doug Dalton	Sr
QB	`14`	Jerry Dunlap	So
OT	`77`	Jim Ernest	Jr
QB	`4`	Gerry Gdowski	So
OT	`67`	Doug Glaser	So
OT	`73`	Derrick Green	Sr
SE	`19`	Morgan Gregory	So
G	`74`	Mike Griffin	So
WB	`82`	Hendley Hawkins	Sr
FB	`48`	Micah Heibel	Sr
WB	`27`	Jim Holscher	Sr
OT	`70`	Corey Bill Hudson	Sr
IB	`6`	Keith Jones	Sr
G	`65`	Andy Keeler	Jr
IB	`40`	Jon Kelley	Sr
IB	`34`	Tyreese Knox	Jr
TE	`85`	Monte Kratzenstein	So
FB	`41`	Tom Lenneman	Sr
OT	`57`	Keven Lightner	Sr
G	`61`	John McCormick	Sr
SE	`83`	Tim McCoy	So
TE	`43`	Todd Millikan	Jr
G	`76`	John Nelson	Jr
TE	`86`	Keith Neubert	Sr
C	`63`	John Nichols	Sr
C	`54`	Chris O'Gara	So
IB	`20`	Terry Rodgers	So
G	`64`	John Roschal	So
OT	`72`	Brad Rother	So
FB	`25`	Sam Schmidt	So
WB	`2`	Von Sheppard	Sr
OT	`62`	Bob Sledge	Jr
SE	`88`	Rod Smith	Sr
G		John Strasheim
QB	`9`	Steve Taylor	Jr
WB	`31`	Jamie Worden	Jr
C	`68`	Jake Young	So

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
S	`23`	Mark Blazek	Jr
OLB	`81`	Kurt Broer	Jr
DT	`95`	Paul Brungardt	Fr
LB	`49`	Chris Caliendo	So
CB	`7`	McCathorn Clayton	Sr
SS	`17`	Reggie Cooper	Fr
CB	`17`	Jon Crippen	Fr
OLB	`88`	Mike Croel	Fr
CB	`28`	John Custard	Jr
LB	`47`	LeRoy Etienne	Jr
LB	`51`	Brad Ferguson	So
LB	`38`	Steve Forch	Sr
CB	`10`	Charles Fryar	Jr
DT	`84`	Willie Griffin	Jr
LB	`36`	Bob Hansen	So
CB	`8`	Lorenzo Hicks	Jr
S	`4`	Tim Jackson	Jr
DE	`80`	Jeff Jamrog	Sr
LB	`55`	Randall Jobman	So
DT	`98`	Lee Jones	Sr
CB	`5`	Tahaun Lewis	Fr
DT	`94`	Jeff Long	So
DE	`93`	Jon Marco	Jr
S	`2`	Dan McArdle	So
CB	`3`	Kurt McCallum	So
DE	`42`	Jeff Mills	So
MG	`74`	Mike Murray	So
DE	`90`	Harlan Opie	Sr
DT	`97`	Tony Palmer	Sr
MG	`96`	Lawrence Pete	Jr
MG	`92`	Sean Putnam	Jr
S	`18`	John Richman	So
DT	`78`	Tim Rother	Sr
S	`26`	Marvin Sanders	So
DT	`66`	Kurt Skradis	Jr
DT	`99`	Neil Smith	Sr
DE	`56`	Steve Stanard	Jr
DE	`89`	Broderick Thomas	Jr
S	`11`	Jeff Tomjack	Sr
DT	`75`	Ray Valladao	So
S	`41`	Scott Vampola	So
CB	`27`	Cartier Walker	Jr
DE	`83`	Kenny Walker	So
S	`5`	Brian Washington	Sr
MG	`91`	Kent Wells	So
LB	`37`	Doug Welniak	Sr
S	`1`	Rick Wendland	So
LB	`24`	Dante Wiley	Jr
S	`15`	Wendell Wooten	Jr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
PK	`44`	Gregg Barrios	So
PK	`39`	Dave Cheloha	Jr
PK	`16`	Chris Drennan	So
P	`46`	John Kroeker	Jr
P/PK	`13`	Craig Schnitzler	Sr

Head coach

Tom Osborne
   15th season
   24th year at Nebraska
   Alma mater: Nebraska

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Charlie McBride
   7th season as DC/DL coach
   11th year at Nebraska
   Alma mater: Colorado
Ron Brown
   1st season as WR/TE coach
   1st year at Nebraska
   Alma mater: Brown
Dan Young
   5th season as OL/K coach
   5th year at Nebraska
   Alma mater: Reed
Milt Tenopir
   14th season as OL coach
   14th year at Nebraska
   Alma mater: Sterling
Tony Samuel
   2nd season as OLB coach
   2nd year at Nebraska
   Alma mater: Nebraska
George Darlington
   DB coach
   15th year at Nebraska
   Alma mater: Rutgers
Frank Solich
   5th season as RB coach
   9th year at Nebraska
   Alma mater: Nebraska
Boyd Epley
   19th season as S&C coach
   19th year at Nebraska
   Alma mater: Nebraska
Jack Pierce
9th year at Nebraska
John Melton
   15th season as LB coach
   26th year at Nebraska
   Alma mater: Wyoming

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Roster
Last update: 2011-01-17

Depth chart

Defense

FS
Mark Blazek
Tim Jackson
Wendell Wooten

OUTSIDE	INSDIE	INSDIE	OUTSIDE
Jeff Jamrog	Leroy Etienne	Steve Forch	Broderick Thomas
Jon Marco	Randall Jobmon	Doug Welniak	Mike Croel
Jeff Mills	Brad Ferguson	Chris Caliendo	Harlan Opie

SS
Brian Washingtion
Reggie Cooper
Jeff Tomjack

CB
Charles Fryar
Tahaun Lewis
Marvin Sanders

DE	NT	DE
Neil Smith	Lawrence Pete	Tim Rother
Lee Jones	Mike Murray	Ray Valladao
Paul Brungardt	Kent Wells	Willie Griffin

CB
Lorenzo Hicks
McCathorn Clayton
Cartier Walker Jon Custard

Offense

WR
Rod Smith
Hendley Hawkins
Morgan Gregory

LT	LG	C	RG	RT
Bob Sledge	Andy Keeler	Jake Young	John McCormick	Kevin Lightner
Derrick Green	John Nelson	John Nichols	John Roschal	Doug Glaser
Corey B Hudson	Mark Antonietti	Jeff Anderson	John Strasheim	Bill Bobbora

TE
Todd Millikan
Tom Banderas
Keith Neubert

WR
Dana Brinson
Richard Bell
Von Sheppard

QB
Steve Taylor
Clete Blakeman
Gerry Gdowski

RB
Keith Jones
Tyreese Knox Ken Clark
⋅

FB
Micah Heibel
Bryan Carpenter
Sam Schmidt

Special teams

PK Chris Drennan

P John Kroeker

Awards

Award	Name(s)
All-America 1st team	John McCormick, Neil Smith, Steve Taylor, Broderick Thomas
All-Big 8 1st team	LeRoy Etienne, Steve Forch, Keith Jones, Kevin Lightner, John McCormick, Tim Rother, Neil Smith, Steve Taylor, Broderick Thomas
All-Big 8 2nd team	Tom Banderas, Charles Fryar, Bob Sledge, Rod Smith, Jake Young
All-Big 8 honorable mention	Mark Blazek, Lee Jones

NFL and pro players

The following Nebraska players who participated in the 1987 season later moved on to the next level and joined a professional or semi-pro team as draftees or free agents.

Name	Team
Richard Bell	Pittsburgh Steelers
Dana Brinson	San Diego Chargers
Ken Clark	Indianapolis Colts
Reggie Cooper	Dallas Cowboys
Mike Croel	Denver Broncos
LeRoy Etienne	San Francisco 49ers
Tim Jackson	Dallas Cowboys
Keith Jones	Cleveland Browns
Jeff Mills	San Diego Chargers
Keith Neubert	New York Jets
John Nichols	Salzburg Lions
Lawrence Pete	Detroit Lions
Tim Rother	Los Angeles Raiders
Von Sheppard	Coventry Jets
Neil Smith	Kansas City Chiefs
Steve Taylor	Edmonton Eskimos
Broderick Thomas	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Kenny Walker	Denver Broncos
Brian Washington	Cleveland Browns
Kent Wells	New York Giants

References

"Huskers survive Gamecock test". The Grand Island Independent. October 4, 1987. Retrieved February 1, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
1987 Husker Honors
All Time NFL Huskers

v t e Nebraska Cornhuskers football
Venues	Lincoln Park (1891–1893) Antelope Field (1894–1908) Nebraska Field (1909–1922) Memorial Stadium (1923–present)
Bowls and rivalries	Bowl games Colorado (Buffalo Head) Iowa (Heroes Trophy) Kansas Kansas State Miami (FL) Minnesota ($5 Bits of Broken Chair) Missouri (Victory Bell) Oklahoma Wisconsin (Freedom Trophy)
Culture and lore	History Herbie Husker Lil' Red "Dear Old Nebraska U" "Hail Varsity" Cornhusker Marching Band Blackshirts Origin of "Cornhuskers" nickname 1939 Kansas State game Game of the Century (1971 Oklahoma game) Fumblerooski 1982 Penn State game Flea Kicker Black 41 Flash Reverse Pass 2009 Big 12 Championship Game Yes Man
People	Head coaches All-Americans NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
National championship seasons in bold

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