1987 Sun Bowl
| 1987 John Hancock Sun Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 25, 1987 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | Announcers Brent Musburger and Pat Haden | | |||||||||||||||||
The 1987 John Hancock Sun Bowl was the 54th annual
The game featured West Virginia's exciting new quarterback Major Harris, who had defeated Browning Nagle in the offseason for the Mountaineers' starting quarterback position. Nagle later transferred to Louisville. It was also the final college game for Oklahoma State running back Thurman Thomas, went on to Pro Football Hall of Fame career in the National Football League (NFL). Oklahoma State also featured tailback Barry Sanders. Sanders won the Heisman Trophy the following season and also went on to Pro Football Hall of Fame career.
Game summary
The game featured a lot of offense, with teams trading touchdowns in the first quarter. Cowboys quarterback
West Virginia, however, scored 17 unanswered points in the second quarter. West Virginia's Brown scored on a 5-yard run to tie the game at 14, and the Mountaineers extended their lead to 17–14 on a
OSU reverted to Thomas to begin the second half, and he carried the ball six consecutive times, marching the Cowboys 56 yards down the field and scoring from 5 yards out to pull the Cowboys to within three at 24–21.
West Virginia answered with a Baumann field goal to extend the lead to 27–21. Oklahoma State took at 28–27 lead with 1:43 left in the third quarter, by virtue of a six-yard touchdown pass from Gundy to J. R. Dillard.
Thomas's dominance continued in the fourth quarter, as he capped a 13-play, 74-yard OSU drive with his fourth touchdown of the game, giving Oklahoma State a 35–27 lead with time running out in the fourth quarter.
With just 1:13 remaining, West Virginia's
With the win, Oklahoma State finished its season 10-2, lost only to No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 5 Nebraska. Thurman Thomas was named the C.M. Hendricks Most Valuable Player, while Sanders would go on to win the Heisman Trophy one year later. West Virginia's Darnell Warren was named the Jimmy Rogers Jr. Most Valuable Lineman.[3][4]
Thomas still holds three Sun Bowl records: most rushing attempts (33), most points (24) and most touchdowns (4).[5]
Initially, Sun Bowl officials granted the Ohio State Buckeyes an invitation to play Oklahoma State. The Buckeyes had beaten West Virginia in the season opener, and at 6–4–1 possessed a better record than the 6–5 Mountaineers. However, in the aftermath of the controversial firing of head coach Earle Bruce, Ohio State declined the invitation.
Scoring summary
First quarter
OSU - Thomas 5 run (Blanchard kick): OSU 7, WVU 0
WVU - Brown 1 run (Baumann kick): OSU 7, WVU 7
OSU - Thomas 9 run (Blanchard kick): OSU 14, WVU 7
Second quarter
WVU - Brown 5 run (Baumann kick): OSU 14, WVU 14
WVU - FG Baumann 33: OSU 14, WVU 17
WVU - Warren 23 pass interception (Baumann kick): OSU 14, WVU 24
Third quarter
OSU - Thomas 4 run (Blanchard kick): OSU 21, WVU 24
WVU - FG Baumann 38: OSU 21, WVU 27
OSU - Dillard 6 pass from Gundy (Blanchard kick): OSU 28, WVU 27
Fourth quarter
OSU - Thomas 4 run (Blanchard kick): OSU 35, WVU 27
WVU - Taylor 6 run (Two-point conversion failed): OSU 35, WVU 33 (FINAL)
Individual statistics
Rushing
OSU - Thomas 33-157, Sanders 6-19, Gundy 8-9
WVU - Brown 32-167, Harris 24-103, Taylor 12-58, Napoleon 2-3
Passing
OSU - Gundy 12-18-161
WVU - Harris 7-21-54
Receiving
OSU - Dykes 3-72, Thomas 3-20, Williams 1-19, Dillard 3-18, Keith 1-16, Green 1-16
WVU - Bell 1-45, Winn 1-9
References
- ^ 1987 Sun Bowl- WVU vs Ok St. KDKA News Recap
- ^ "All-Oklahoma All-Bowl Team: The Best of the Bowls: Best of the Bowls".
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Best of the Sun Bowl: 1-5 - el Paso Times". www.elpasotimes.com. Archived from the original on January 22, 2013. Retrieved June 6, 2022.
- ^ As of 2011 SunBowl.org: 2002 LEGEND - THURMAN THOMAS