1987 Florida State Seminoles football team

1987 Florida State Seminoles football
National champion (Berryman) Fiesta Bowl champion
Fiesta Bowl, W 31–28 vs. Nebraska
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 2
AP	No. 2
Record	11–1
Head coach	Bobby Bowden (12th season)
Offensive coordinator	Wayne McDuffie (5th season)
Offensive scheme	No-huddle spread
Defensive coordinator	Mickey Andrews (4th season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Doak Campbell Stadium
Seasons ←  1986 1988  →

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 Florida State Seminoles football team represented Florida State University in the 1987 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was coached by Bobby Bowden and played their home games at Doak Campbell Stadium. The team was selected national champion by Berryman. ^[1]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 5	7:00 p.m.	Texas Tech	No. 8	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL		W 40–16	52,893
September 12	7:00 p.m.	at East Carolina	No. 8	Ficklen Memorial Stadium Greenville, NC		W 44–3	33,937	[2]
September 19	7:00 p.m.	Memphis State	No. 7	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL		W 41–24	50,191	[3]
September 26	1:00 p.m.	at Michigan State	No. 6	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI		W 31–3	76,887
October 3	2:30 p.m.	No. 3 Miami (FL)	No. 4	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL (rivalry)	CBS	L 25–26	62,561
October 10	2:00 p.m.	at Southern Miss	No. 6	M. M. Roberts Stadium Hattiesburg, MS		W 61–10	25,853	[4]
October 17	7:00 p.m.	Louisville	No. 4	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL		W 32–9	53,114
October 31	3:00 p.m.	Tulane	No. 4	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL		W 73–14	53,210	[5]
November 7	2:30 p.m.	at No. 6 Auburn	No. 4	Jordan-Hare Stadium Auburn, AL	CBS	W 34–6	85,170	[6]
November 14	2:00 p.m.	Furman	No. 4	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL		W 41–10	50,087	[7]
November 28	12:00 p.m.	at Florida	No. 3	Florida Field Gainesville, FL (rivalry)	CBS	W 28–14	74,613	[8]
January 1	1:30 p.m.	vs. No. 5 Nebraska	No. 3	Mountain American Stadium Tempe, AZ (Fiesta Bowl)	NBC	W 31–28	72,112
Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[9]

Roster

1987 Florida State Seminoles football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 8 Terry Anthony So G 61 Jim Bekas Fr FB 22 Edgar Bennett Fr OT 50 John Brown  So TB 13 Dexter Carter So TE 85 Pat Carter Sr WR 29 Lawrence Dawsey  Fr WR 1 Scott DiMare  So OT 69 Joey Ionata  Jr OT 73 Anthony Johnson Jr QB 14 Brad Johnson Fr TE 45 Reggie Johnson  Fr TB 10 Brady Jones So RB 33 Sammie Smith So QB 11 Casey Weldon Fr TE 87 Gaylon White  Sr WR 23 Pat White  So WR 82 Randy White  Sr QB 4 Peter Tom Willis So	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB 6 LeRoy Butler So LB 47 Kevin Grant  So FS 21 John Hadley  Jr LB 53 Odell Haggins  So DB 22 Kenny Kitchens Jr CB 32 Martin Mayhew  Sr LB 38 Paul McGowan Sr FS 40 Greg Newell  Sr DT 74 Henry Ostaszewski Fr DT 75 Joe Ostaszewski Fr LB 48 David Palmer Sr CB 2 Deion Sanders Jr LB 93 Shelton Thompson  So	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 18 Derek Schmidt Sr P 12 Rick Tuten Sr	Head coach Bobby Bowden Coordinators/assistant coaches Wayne McDuffie (Offensive coordinator) Mickey Andrews (Defensive coordinator) Skip Holtz (Graduate assistant) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Rankings

Further information: 1987 NCAA Division I-A football 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	8	8	7	6	4	6	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	3	3	2
Coaches	14	11	7	8	4	8	7	5	5	4	4	4	3	3	3	2

Game summaries

Texas Tech

See also: 1987 Texas Tech Red Raiders football team

1 2 3 4 Total Red Raiders 13 3 0 0 16 •Seminoles 13 17 7 3 40 Date: September 5 Location: Doak Campbell Stadium Game attendance: 52,893

^[10]

At East Carolina

See also: 1987 East Carolina Pirates football team

1 2 3 4 Total •Seminoles 3 13 14 14 44 Pirates 0 3 0 0 3 Date: September 12 Location: Ficklen Memorial Stadium Game attendance: 33,937

^[11]

Memphis State

See also: 1987 Memphis State Tigers football team

1 2 3 4 Total Tigers 0 10 7 7 24 •Seminoles 21 3 7 10 41 Date: September 19 Location: Doak Campbell Stadium Game attendance: 50,191

^[12]

At Michigan State

See also: 1987 Michigan State Spartans football team

1 2 3 4 Total •Seminoles 0 7 10 14 31 Spartans 0 3 0 0 3 Date: September 26 Location: Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI Game attendance: 76,887

^[13]

Miami (FL)

See also: 1987 Miami Hurricanes football team and Florida State–Miami football rivalry

1 2 3 4 Total •No. 3 Hurricanes 3 0 8 15 26 No. 4 Seminoles 0 10 9 6 25 Date: October 3 Location: Doak Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee, Florida Game attendance: 62,561 Game weather: 78 °F (26 °C), Sunny, Wind N 15–20 mph (24–32 km/h) TV announcers (CBS Sports): Brent Musburger, Pat Haden, and John Dockery

Scoring summary 1 2:58 Miami Greg Cox 29-yard field goal Miami 3–0 2 FSU D. Williams 1-yard run (Schmidt kick) FSU 7–3 2 2:37 FSU Derek Schmidt 36-yard field goal FSU 10–3 3 7:50 FSU Williams blocked punt return (kick failed) FSU 16–3 3 2:37 FSU Derek Schmidt 25-yard field goal FSU 19–3 3 Miami Bratton 49-yard pass from Walsh (Brian Blades pass from Walsh) FSU 19–11 4 Miami Irvin 26-yard pass from Walsh (Williams pass from Walsh) Tied 19–19 4 2:22 Miami Irvin 73-yard pass from Walsh (Cox kick) Miami 26–19 4 0:42 FSU Lewis 18-yard pass from McManus (pass failed) Miami 26–25

^[14]

At Southern Miss

1 2 3 4 Total •Seminoles 21 10 14 16 61 Golden Eagles 7 3 0 0 10 Date: October 10 Location: M. M. Roberts Stadium Game attendance: 25,853

^[15]

Louisville

See also: 1987 Louisville Cardinals football team

1 2 3 4 Total Cardinals 3 0 0 6 9 •Seminoles 6 12 7 7 32 Date: October 17 Location: Doak Campbell Stadium Game attendance: 53,114

^[16]

Tulane

See also: 1987 Tulane Green Wave football team

1 2 3 4 Total Green Wave 7 0 0 7 14 •Seminoles 7 31 28 7 73 Date: October 31 Location: Doak Campbell Stadium Game attendance: 53,210

^[17]

At Auburn

See also: 1987 Auburn Tigers football team

1 2 3 4 Total •Seminoles 14 13 0 7 34 Tigers 0 3 3 0 6 Date: November 7 Location: Jordan–Hare Stadium Game attendance: 85,170

^[18]

Furman

1 2 3 4 Total Paladins 7 0 0 3 10 •Seminoles 10 10 7 14 41 Date: November 14 Location: Doak Campbell Stadium Game attendance: 50,087

^[19]

At Florida

See also: 1987 Florida Gators football team and Florida–Florida State football rivalry

1 2 3 4 Total •Seminoles 3 6 11 8 28 Gators 7 7 0 0 14 Date: November 28 Location: Florida Field Game attendance: 74,613

Scoring summary Q1 10:10 FSU Schmidt 26 yard field goal FSU 3–0 Q1 2:21 FLA E. Smith 5 yard run (McGinty kick) FLA 7–3 Q2 14:55 FLA E. Smith 4 yard run (McGinty kick) FLA 14–3 Q2 2:44 FSU Schmidt 23 yard field goal FLA 14–6 Q2 0:00 FSU Schmidt 53 yard field goal FLA 14–9 Q3 10:59 FSU Schmidt 37 yard field goal FLA 14–12 Q3 4:50 FSU D. Williams 1 yard run (Bennett run) FSU 20–14 Q4 10:36 FSU D. Williams 1 yard run (Gainer pass from McManus) FSU 28–14

^[20]

Vs. Nebraska (Fiesta Bowl)

See also: 1987 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team and 1988 Fiesta Bowl

1 2 3 4 Total No. 5 Cornhuskers 14 0 14 0 28 •No. 3 Seminoles 0 21 3 7 31 Date: January 1 Location: Sun Devil Stadium Game attendance: 72,112

Scoring summary 1 Neb Keith Jones 3-yard run (Chris Drennan kick) Neb 7–0 1 Neb Dana Brinson 52-yard punt return (Drennan kick) Neb 14–0 2 FSU Herb Gainer 10-yard pass from Danny McManus (Derek Schmidt kick) Neb 14–7 2 FSU Dayne Williams 4-yard run (Schmidt kick) Tied 14–14 2 FSU Gainer 25-yard pass from McManus (Schmidt kick) FSU 21–14 3 Neb Steve Taylor 2-yard run (Drennan kick) Tied 21–21 3 FSU Schmidt 32-yard field goal FSU 24–21 3 Neb Tyreese Knox 4-yard run (Drennan kick) Neb 28–24 4 FSU Ronald Lewis 15-yard pass from McManus (Schmidt kick) FSU 31–28

^[21]

References

1. 2018 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records (PDF). The National Collegiate Athletic Association. pp. 114–115. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
2. "Rockabye-bye, Sammie". Tallahassee Democrat. September 13, 1987. Retrieved March 27, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
3. Jack Ebling (September 27, 1987). "Florida State picks apart MSU: Spartans sputter, 31-3". Lansing State Journal. pp. 1E, 5E – via Newspapers.com.
4. "S. Miss. falls into FSU's trap, 61–10". The Miami Herald. October 11, 1987. Retrieved March 27, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
5. "FSU rips Tulane by 73–14". The Palm Beach Post. November 1, 1987. Retrieved February 7, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
6. "Auburn falls flat on the Plain". The Columbus Ledger. November 8, 1987. Retrieved November 11, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
7. "Big plays let FSU loose in 41–10 rout of Furman". Fort Lauderdale News. November 15, 1987. Retrieved September 18, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
8. "No. 3 Florida State ends Florida's 6-year hex, 28–14". The Baltimore Sun. November 29, 1987. Retrieved November 11, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
9. "Florida State Football - 1987 Year In Review". Nolefan.org. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
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