1987 Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team

American college football season

1987 Rutgers Scarlet Knights football
Conference	Independent
Record	6–5
Head coach	Dick Anderson (4th season)
Offensive coordinator	Dick Curl (5th season)
Defensive coordinator	Otto Kneidinger (4th season)
Home stadium	Rutgers Stadium Giants Stadium
Seasons ← 1986 1988 →

1987 Major eastern college football independents records
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 4 Syracuse $	5	–	0	–	0	11	–	0	–	1
Penn State	4	–	2	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
Pittsburgh	3	–	3	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
West Virginia	2	–	3	–	0	6	–	6	–	0
Rutgers	2	–	4	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Boston College	2	–	4	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Temple	1	–	3	–	0	3	–	8	–	0

$ – Lambert Trophy Winner Rankings from AP Poll

1987 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 1 Miami (FL)		–		–		12	–	0	–	0
No. 4 Syracuse		–		–		11	–	0	–	1
No. 2 Florida State		–		–		11	–	1	–	0
No. 15 South Carolina		–		–		8	–	4	–	0
Pittsburgh		–		–		8	–	4	–	0
Penn State		–		–		8	–	4	–	0
No. 17 Notre Dame		–		–		8	–	4	–	0
Southern Miss		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Rutgers		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Southwestern Louisiana		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Memphis State		–		–		5	–	5	–	1
Northern Illinois		–		–		5	–	5	–	1
West Virginia		–		–		6	–	6	–	0
Tulane		–		–		6	–	6	–	0
Army		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Boston College		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
East Carolina		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Akron		–		–		4	–	7	–	0
Cincinnati		–		–		4	–	7	–	0
Louisville		–		–		3	–	7	–	1
Temple		–		–		3	–	8	–	0
Tulsa		–		–		3	–	8	–	0
Virginia Tech		–		–		2	–	9	–	0
Navy		–		–		2	–	9	–	0

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1987 Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team represented Rutgers University in the 1987 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their fourth season under head coach Dick Anderson, the Scarlet Knights compiled a 6–5 record while competing as an independent and were outscored by their opponents 213 to 168.^[1]^[2] The team's statistical leaders included Scott Erney with 1,369 passing yards, Henry Henderson with 846 rushing yards, and Eric Young with 364 receiving yards.^[3]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 5	at Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH	W 10–7
September 12	Syracuse	Rutgers Stadium Piscataway, NJ	L 3–20	23,726
September 26	Kentucky	Giants Stadium East Rutherford, NJ	W 19–18	21,232	^[4]
October 3	Duke	Rutgers Stadium Piscataway, NJ	W 7–0	13,247	^[5]
October 10	at No. 14 Penn State	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA	L 21–35	85,376
October 17	Boston College	Rutgers Stadium Piscataway, NJ	W 38–24	30,253
October 24	at Army	Michie Stadium West Point, NY	W 27–14
October 31	at Vanderbilt	Vanderbilt Stadium Nashville, TN	L 13–27	35,347	^[6]
November 7	Pittsburgh	Giants Stadium East Rutherford, NJ	L 0–17	25,444
November 14	at West Virginia	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV	L 13–37	44,717	^[7]
November 21	at Temple	Veterans Stadium Philadelphia, PA	W 17–14
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1987 Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
TE	`89`	Bruce Campbell	Sr
WR	`20`	Brian Cobb	Sr
G	`56`	Dan Cykewick	So
TE	`82`	James Jenkins	So
QB	`11`	Matt Johnson	So
WR	`80`	Doug Johnson	So

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DB	`26`	Jean Austin	Sr
DB	`9`	Eric Deering	So
DE	`46`	Tom Duffy	Sr
LB	`45`	Chris Evans	Jr
LB		Russ Nelson	Sr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
P	`9`	Matt O'Connell	Jr

Head coach

Dick Anderson

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

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

Injured
Redshirt

References

^ "1987 Rutgers Scarlet Knights Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
^ "Rutgers Yearly Results (1985-1989)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on March 27, 2016. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
^ "1987 Rutgers Scarlet Knights Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
^ "Knight offense comes to life, tops Kentucky". The Central New Jersey Home News. September 27, 1987. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Rutgers splashes past Duke, 7–0". The Philadelphia Inquirer. October 4, 1987. Retrieved February 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Vandy shocks Rutgers". Asbury Park Press. November 1, 1987. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "W. Virginia rips Rutgers, 37–13". The Philadelphia Inquirer. November 15, 1987. Retrieved February 1, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

v t e Rutgers Scarlet Knights football
Venues	College Field (1869–1890) Neilson Field (1891–1938) Old Rutgers Stadium (1938–1992) Giants Stadium (alternate, 1976–1996) SHI Stadium (1994–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Princeton
Culture & lore	Marching band First American football game (painting)
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 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
National championship seasons in bold