1987 Oklahoma State Cowboys football team

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1987 Oklahoma State Cowboys football
Sun Bowl champion
Sun Bowl, W 35–33 vs. West Virginia
ConferenceBig Eight Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 12
APNo. 11
Record10–2 (5–2 Big 8)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorLarry Coker (5th season)
Home stadiumLewis Field
Seasons
← 1986
1988 →
1987 Big Eight Conference football standings
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 State Cowboys football team represented the

Oklahoma State University in the 1987 NCAA Division I-A college football season. The Cowboys finished the regular season with a 9–2 record.[1] Thurman Thomas was in his senior year for the Cowboys. In his career at Oklahoma State, Thomas had 897 rushes for 4,595 yards, 43 touchdowns, and 21 100-yard rushing games. He was also a Heisman Trophy candidate and a first team selection on the College Football All-America Team in 1987. In the 1987 Sun Bowl, Thomas ran for 157 yards and four touchdowns in the 35–33 victory over West Virginia, keeping Barry Sanders
on the sidelines for the majority of the game. Thomas left OSU as the school's all-time leading rusher and his number 34 is one of only three jerseys retired at Oklahoma State. Sanders replaced Thomas as starter the next year in 1988.

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 5
Boone Pickens Stadium
  • Stillwater, OK (rivalry
  • )
    W 39–2846,700
    September 12at Houston*W 35–016,285
    September 19at Wyoming*W 35–2920,852
    September 26Southwestern Louisiana*
    • Lewis Field
    • Stillwater, OK
    W 36–044,100
    October 10ColoradoNo. 19
    • Lewis Field
    • Stillwater, OK
    W 42–1742,800
    October 17No. 2 NebraskaNo. 12
    • Lewis Field
    • Stillwater, OK
    CBSL 0–3550,440
    October 24at MissouriNo. 19W 24–2037,638
    October 31Kansas StatedaggerNo. 12
    • Lewis Field
    • Stillwater, OK
    W 56–740,150
    November 7at No. 1 OklahomaNo. 12L 10–2975,004
    November 14at KansasNo. 17W 49–1718,200–18,500
    November 21Iowa StateNo. 13
    • Lewis Field
    • Stillwater, OK
    W 48–2733,400
    December 25vs. West Virginia*No. 11CBSW 35–3343,240[2]
    • *Non-conference game
    • daggerHomecoming
    • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

    Personnel

    1987 Oklahoma State Cowboys football team roster
    Players Coaches
    Offense
    Pos. # Name Class
    WR 11 Hart Lee Dykes Jr
    QB 12 Mike Gundy So
    RB 21 Barry Sanders So
    RB 34 Thurman Thomas Sr
    Defense
    Pos. # Name Class
    LB 53 Sim Drain III So
    LB Ricky Shaw Sr
    Special teams
    Pos. # Name Class
    Head coach
    Coordinators/assistant coaches

    Legend
    • (C) Team captain
    • (S) Suspended
    • (I) Ineligible
    • Injured Injured
    • Redshirt Redshirt

    Game summaries

    Colorado

    1 2 3 4 Total
    Colorado 0 10 7 0 17
    Oklahoma St 14 0 14 14 42
    • OSU - Sanders 4 Run (Blanchard kick)
    • OSU - Dykes 18 Gundy (Blanchard kick)
    • COL - Simmons 7 Run (Hannah kick)
    • COL - Hannah 32 FG
    • OSU - Williams 16 Gundy (Blanchard kick)
    • OSU - Thomas 5 Run (Blanchard kick)
    • COL - Bieniemy 6 Run (Hannah kick)
    • OSU - Limbrick 3 Run (Blanchard kick)
    • OSU - Sanders 73 punt return (Blanchard kick)
    • Passing: COL Aunese 5/11, 90 Yds, INT, OSU Gundy 21/28, 257 Yds, 2 TD, INT
    • Rushing: COL Flannagan 9/52, OSU Thomas 23/110
    • Receiving: COL Carl 3/61, OSU Dykes 8/114, TD

    [3]

    After the season

    The

    1988 NFL Draft was held on April 24–25, 1988. The following Cowboys were selected.[4]

    Round Pick Player Position NFL club
    2 40 Thurman Thomas Running back Buffalo Bills
    4 92 Ricky Shaw Linebacker New York Giants

    Awards and honors

    • Thurman Thomas, Heisman Trophy finalist
    • Thurman Thomas, All-America selection

    References

    1. ^ "1987 Oklahoma State Cowboys Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
    2. Newspapers.com
      .
    3. ^ Gainesville Sun. 1987 Oct 11. Retrieved 2019-Jan-07.
    4. ^ "1988 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 13, 2021.