1987 Oklahoma Sooners football team

American college football season

1987 Oklahoma Sooners football

Big 8 champion
Orange Bowl, L 14–20 vs. Miami (FL)
Conference	Big Eight Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 3
AP	No. 3
Record	11–1 (7–0 Big 8)
Head coach	Barry Switzer (15th season)
Offensive coordinator	Jim Donnan (3rd season)
Offensive scheme	Wishbone
Defensive coordinator	Gary Gibbs (7th season)
Captains	Patrick Collins Mark Hutson Dante Jones Darrell Reed David Vickers
Home stadium	Oklahoma 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 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma in the 1987 NCAA Division I-A football season. Oklahoma was a member of the Big Eight Conference played its home games in Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, where it has played its home games since 1923.^[1] The team posted an 11–1 overall record and a 7–0 conference record to the Conference title outright under head coach Barry Switzer who took the helm in 1973.^[2]^[3] This was Switzer's twelfth conference title, fourth consecutive conference title and eighth undefeated conference record in fifteen seasons.^[2]

The team was led by All-Americans Rickey Dixon (who won the Jim Thorpe Award),^[4] Mark Hutson,^[5] Keith Jackson,^[6] Danté Jones,^[7] and Darrell Reed^[8] After going undefeated in its eleven regular season games, it earned a trip to the Orange Bowl for an appearance against the Miami Hurricanes.^[3] During the season, it faced three ranked opponents (In order, #12 Oklahoma State, #1 Nebraska, and #2 Miami). Both of its last two games were #1 vs. #2 matches with the last being a national title game in which it endured its only loss to the resulting national champion Hurricanes.^[3] The game marked the third Miami victory over Oklahoma in three seasons to former Switzer assistant coach Jimmy Johnson.^[9]

Jamelle Holieway led the team in rushing for the second season with 807 yards and in passing for the third of four times with 548 yards, Jackson led the team in receiving for the third straight season with 403 yards, Placekicker R. D. Lashar led the team in scoring with 91 points, Reed posted 8 quarterback sacks, Jones led the team with 125 tackles and Dixon posted 9 interceptions.^[10] Dixon established the current school record total of 9 single-season interceptions. He set the school record for single-season interception return yards with 232 that season and the career record with 303, which was broken by Derrick Strait in 2003.^[11]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 5	1:30 p.m.	North Texas State*	No. 1	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK		W 69–14	75,004
September 12	1:30 p.m.	North Carolina*	No. 1	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK		W 28–0	75,004	^[12]
September 26	1:30 p.m.	at Tulsa*	No. 1	Skelly Stadium Tulsa, OK		W 65–0	47,350
October 3	1:30 p.m.	at Iowa State	No. 1	Cyclone Stadium Ames, IA	PPV	W 56–3	36,050
October 10	1:45 p.m.	vs. Texas*	No. 1	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (Red River Shootout)	CBS	W 44–9	75,587
October 17	1:10 p.m.	at Kansas State	No. 1	KSU Stadium Manhattan, KS		W 59–10	27,200
October 24	6:30 p.m.	Colorado	No. 1	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK	ESPN	W 24–6	75,004
October 31	1:00 p.m.	at Kansas	No. 1	Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS		W 71–10	23,500
November 7	1:00 p.m.	No. 12 Oklahoma State	No. 1	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK (Bedlam Series)		W 29–10	75,004
November 14	1:30 p.m.	Missouri	No. 1	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK (rivalry)	PPV	W 17–13	75,004
November 21	2:30 p.m.	at No. 1 Nebraska	No. 2	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE (rivalry)	CBS	W 17–7	76,663
January 1, 1988	7:00 p.m.	vs. No. 2 Miami (FL)*	No. 1	Orange Bowl Miami, FL (Orange Bowl)	NBC	L 14–20	74,760
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

^[13]

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	1 (55)	1 (54)	1 (54)	1 (53)	1 (44)	1 (46)	1 (47)	1 (42)	1 (40)	1 (38)	1 (36)	2 (20)	1 (54)	1 (48)	1 (47)	3
Coaches Poll	1	1 (44)	1 (45)	1 (45)	1 (46)	1 (45)	1 (43)	1 (45)	1 (43)	1 (43)	1 (38)	2 (27)	1 (48)	1 (41)	1 (41)	3

Game summaries

North Texas

North Carolina

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tar Heels	0	0	0	0	0
• Sooners	0	21	7	0	28

Date: September 12
Location: Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, Norman, Oklahoma
Game attendance: 75,004

Scoring summary

Q2	OKLA	Holieway 3 yard run (Lashar kick)	OKLA 7–0

Q2	OKLA	Holieway 4 yard run (Lashar kick)	OKLA 14–0

Q2	OKLA	Holieway 1 yard run (Lashar kick)	OKLA 21–0

Q3	OKLA	Holieway 1 yard run (Lashar kick)	OKLA 28–0

Jamelle Holieway 25 Rush, 170 Yds

^[14]

Tulsa

Iowa State

Texas

#1 Oklahoma Sooners vs. Texas Longhorns

	1	2	3	4	Total
• #1 Oklahoma	0	13	21	10	44
Texas	3	3	0	3	9

Date: October 10
Location: Cotton Bowl, Dallas
Game start: 1:30 p.m. CDT
Game attendance: 75,587
Referee: Wendel Shelton
TV announcers (CBS): Brent Musburger, Pat Haden and John Dockery

Scoring summary

1	TEX	Clements 52-yard field goal	TEX 3-0

2	OU	Carr 7-yard run (Lashar kick)	OU 7-3

2	OU	Lashar 46-yard field goal	OU 10-3

2	OU	Lashar 22-yard field goal	OU 13-3

2	TEX	Clements 46-yard field goal	OU 13-6

3	OU	Cabbiness 44-yard pass from Holieway (Lashar kick)	OU 20-6

3	OU	Carr 32-yard run (Lashar kick)	OU 27-6

3	OU	Collins 4-yard run (Lashar kick)	OU 34-6

4	TEX	Clements 36-yard field goal	OU 34-9

4	OU	Lashar 29-yard field goal	OU 37-9

4	OU	Thompson 55-yard run (Lashar kick)	OU 44-9

^[15]

Kansas State

#1 Oklahoma Sooners at Kansas State Wildcats

	1	2	3	4	Total
• #1 Oklahoma	14	17	14	14	59
Kansas State	3	7	0	0	10

Date: October 17
Location: KSU Stadium, Manhattan, Kansas
Game attendance: 27,200

Scoring summary

1	OKLA	Stafford 20-yard run (Lashar kick)	Oklahoma 7-0

1	OKLA	Cabbiness 28-yard pass from Holieway (Lashar kick)	Oklahoma 14-0

1	KSU	Porter 22-yard field goal	Oklahoma 14-3

2	OKLA	Holieway 1-yard run (Lashar kick)	Oklahoma 21-3

2	OKLA	Carr 2-yard run (Lashar kick)	Oklahoma 28-3

2	KSU	Williams 81-yard pass from Swim (Porter kick)	Oklahoma 28-10

2	OKLA	Lashar 31-yard field goal	Oklahoma 31-10

3	OKLA	Collins 20-yard run (Lashar kick)	Oklahoma 38-10

3	OKLA	Thompson 32-yard run (Lashar kick)	Oklahoma 45-10

4	OKLA	Mitchell 82-yard run (Lashar kick)	Oklahoma 52-10

4	OKLA	Anderson 1-yard run (Lashar kick)	Oklahoma 59-10

^[16]

Colorado

Colorado Buffaloes at #1 Oklahoma Sooners

	1	2	3	4	Total
Colorado	0	6	0	0	6
• #1 Oklahoma	10	0	7	7	24

Date: October 24
Location: Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, Norman, Oklahoma
Game attendance: 75,004

Scoring summary

1	OU	Stafford 23-yard run (Lashar kick)	OU 7-0

2	OU	Lashar 48-yard field goal	OU 10-0

2	COL	Hannah 20-yard field goal	OU 10-3

2	COL	Hannah 32-yard field goal	OU 10-6

3	OU	Carr 21-yard run (Lashar kick)	OU 17-6

4	OU	Collins 1-yard run (Lashar kick)	OU 24-6

^[17]

Kansas

Oklahoma State

#12 Oklahoma State Cowboys at #1 Oklahoma Sooners

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Oklahoma St	3	0	0	7	10
Oklahoma	10	0	6	13	29

at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium • Norman, Oklahoma

Date: November 7
Game attendance: 75,004
^[18]

Game information

OKLA - Holieway 5 yard run (Lashar kick)
OSU - Blanchard 38 yard field goal
OKLA - Lashar 35 yard field goal
OKLA - Hall 3 yard run (kick failed)
OSU - Sanders 1 yard run (Blanchard kick)
OKLA - Johnson 10 yard interception return (run failed)
OKLA - Dixon 95 yard interception return (Lashar kick)

Oklahoma St

Gundy 11/27, 115 Yds, 4 INT
Thomas 15 Rush, 173 Yds
Green 3 Rec, 47 Yds

Oklahoma

Holieway 0/6, 0 Yds, INT
Anderson 30 Rush, 191 Yds
Holieway 18 Rush, 123 Yds, TD

Missouri

	1	2	3	4	Total
Missouri	0	3	7	3	13
Oklahoma	3	7	7	0	17

^[19]

Nebraska

#2 Oklahoma Sooners (10–0) at #1 Nebraska Cornhuskers (9–0)

Period	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
Referee: John McClintock
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

"Game of the Century II"
The Bow - Patrick Collins

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

Orange Bowl

Personnel

1987 Oklahoma Sooners football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
G	`66`	Brian Brauninger	Fr
WR	`83`	Carl Cabbiness	Jr
WR	`16`	Chris Cabbiness	Fr
RB	`45`	Lydell Carr	Sr
HB	`33`	Patrick Collins (C)	Sr
RB	`22`	Mike Gaddis	Fr
QB	`4`	Jamelle Holieway	Jr
G	`79`	Mark Hutson (C)	Sr
TE	`88`	Keith Jackson	Sr
G	`68`	Anthony Phillips	Jr
OT	`77`	Caesar Rentie	Sr
QB	`6`	Charles Thompson	RFr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DE	`43`	Adrian Cooper	Fr
DB	`15`	Derrick Crudup	Sr
DT	`77`	Stacey Dillard	Fr
DB	`29`	Rickey Dixon	Sr
DE	`78`	Scott Evans	Fr
DE	`80`	Troy Johnson	Sr
LB	`50`	Dante Jones (C)	Sr
DT	`90`	Darren Kilpatrick	Sr
DE	`40`	Darrell Reed (C)	Sr
DB	`22`	Kevin Thompson	So
DB	`10`	David Vickers (C)	Sr
LB	`30`	Chris Wilson	Fr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
K	`13`	R.D. Lashar	Fr
K	`91`	Todd Thomsen	Jr

Head coach

Barry Switzer

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Jim Donnan (OC)
Gary Gibbs (DC)
Merv Johnson (OL)
Charlie Sadler (DL)
Lucious Selmon (OLB & DE)

Legend

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

Injured
Redshirt

Roster

Awards and honors

All-American: Rickey Dixon,^[4] Mark Hutson,^[5] Keith Jackson,^[6] Danté Jones,^[7] and Darrell Reed^[8]
Jim Thorpe Award: Dixon^[4]

After the season

NFL Draft

The following players were selected in the 1988 NFL Draft following the season.^[20]^[21]

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL team
1	5	Rickey Dixon	Defensive back	Cincinnati Bengals
1	13	Keith Jackson	Tight end	Philadelphia Eagles
2	51	Dante Jones	Linebacker	Chicago Bears
3	67	Mark Hutson	Guard	Dallas Cowboys
4	99	Greg Johnson	Tackle	Miami Dolphins
4	106	Lydell Carr	Running back	New Orleans Saints
5	116	Darrell Reed	Linebacker	Green Bay Packers
5	133	Troy Johnson	Linebacker	Chicago Bears
6	148	Jon Phillips	Guard	Phoenix Cardinals
6	164	Derrick White	Defensive back	Minnesota Vikings
7	171	Derrick Crudup	Defensive back	Los Angeles Raiders
7	189	Caesar Rentie	Tackle	Chicago Bears
8	200	Patrick Collins	Running back	Green Bay Packers

References

^ "Memorial Stadium". CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on June 28, 2010. Retrieved June 30, 2010.
^ ^a ^b "OU Football Tradition: 42 Conference Titles". CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on June 22, 2010. Retrieved June 30, 2010.
^ ^a ^b ^c "1987 Football Season". SoonerStats.com. Retrieved June 30, 2010.
^ ^a ^b ^c "All-American: Rickey Dixon". CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on May 25, 2010. Retrieved June 29, 2010.
^ ^a ^b "All-American: Mark Hutson". CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on May 25, 2010. Retrieved June 29, 2010.
^ ^a ^b "All-American: Keith Jackson". CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on May 25, 2010. Retrieved June 29, 2010.
^ ^a ^b "All-American: Danté Jones". CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on May 25, 2010. Retrieved June 29, 2010.
^ ^a ^b "All-American: Darrell Reed". CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on May 25, 2010. Retrieved June 29, 2010.
^ Moran, Malcolm (January 2, 1988). "Orange Bowl; Hurricanes Overwhelm the Sooners to Claim No. 1". The New York Times. Retrieved June 30, 2010.
^ "2009 Football Record Book" (PDF). Big12sports.com. p. 175. Retrieved June 30, 2010.
^ "2009 Football Record Book" (PDF). Big12sports.com. p. 177. Retrieved June 30, 2010.
^ "Sooners race by UNC". Bryan-College Station Eagle. September 13, 1987. Retrieved February 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "1987 OU Football Season Schedule - SoonerStats - Historical scores, records, and stats for Oklahoma Sooners football, basketball, baseball, and softball".
^ Gainesville Sun. 1987 Oct 13.
^ Gainesville Sun. 1987 Oct 11.
^ Gainesville Sun. 1987 Oct 18.
^ Gainesville Sun. October 25, 1987
^ Gainesville Sun. 1987 Nov 08. Retrieved 2019-Apr-13.
^ Gainesville Sun. 1987 Nov 15. Retrieved 2019-Jan-06.
^ "1988 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 29, 2020.
^ "Oklahoma Drafted Players/Alumni". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved April 23, 2023.

External links

1987 season at SoonerStats.com

v t e Oklahoma Sooners football
Venues	Boyd Field (1905–1923) Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium (1923–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Missouri Nebraska Oklahoma State: Bedlam Series Texas: Red River Showdown
Culture & lore	T formation Wishbone formation 1971 Nebraska game 2008 Big 12 South 3-way tie controversy 2016 Texas Tech game Oklahoma drill Sooner Schooner Black 41 Flash Reverse Pass Boomer and Sooner "Boomer Sooner" Marching band The Kick Play Like a Champion Today
People	Head coaches Starting quarterbacks All-Americans NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	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
National championship seasons in bold

v t e Big Eight Conference football champions
MVIAA	Iowa & Nebraska (1907) Kansas (1908) Missouri (1909) Nebraska (1910) Iowa State & Nebraska (1911) Iowa State & Nebraska (1912) Missouri & Nebraska (1913) Nebraska (1914) Nebraska (1915) Nebraska (1916) Nebraska (1917) Missouri (1919) Oklahoma (1920) Nebraska (1921) Drake & Nebraska (1922) Kansas & Nebraska (1923) Missouri (1924) Missouri (1925) Oklahoma A&M (1926) Missouri (1927)
Big Six	Nebraska (1928) Nebraska (1929) Kansas (1930) Nebraska (1931) Nebraska (1932) Nebraska (1933) Kansas State (1934) Nebraska (1935) Nebraska (1936) Nebraska (1937) Oklahoma (1938) Missouri (1939) Nebraska (1940) Missouri (1941) Missouri (1942) Oklahoma (1943) Oklahoma (1944) Missouri (1945) Kansas & Oklahoma (1946) Kansas & Oklahoma (1947)
Big Seven	Oklahoma (1948) Oklahoma (1949) Oklahoma (1950) Oklahoma (1951) Oklahoma (1952) Oklahoma (1953) Oklahoma (1954) Oklahoma (1955) Oklahoma (1956) Oklahoma (1957) Oklahoma (1958) Oklahoma (1959)
Big Eight	Missouri (1960) Colorado (1961) Oklahoma (1962) Nebraska (1963) Nebraska (1964) Nebraska (1965) Nebraska (1966) Oklahoma (1967) Kansas & Oklahoma (1968) Missouri & Nebraska (1969) Nebraska (1970) Nebraska (1971) Nebraska (1972) Oklahoma (1973) Oklahoma (1974) Nebraska & Oklahoma (1975) Colorado, Oklahoma, & Oklahoma State (1976) Oklahoma (1977) Nebraska & Oklahoma (1978) Oklahoma (1979) Oklahoma (1980) Nebraska (1981) Nebraska (1982) Nebraska (1983) Nebraska & Oklahoma (1984) Oklahoma (1985) Oklahoma (1986) Oklahoma (1987) Nebraska (1988) Colorado (1989) Colorado (1990) Colorado & Nebraska (1991) Nebraska (1992) Nebraska (1993) Nebraska (1994) Nebraska (1995)
National championships in bold