1987 Iowa State Cyclones football team

1987 Iowa State Cyclones football
Conference	Big Eight Conference
Record	3–8 (2–5 Big 8)
Head coach	Jim Walden (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Robin Ross (1st season)
Home stadium	Cyclone 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 Iowa State Cyclones football team represented Iowa State University as a member of the Big Eight Conference during the 1987 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by first-year head coach Jim Walden, the Cyclones compiled an overall record of 3–8 with a mark of 2–5 in conference play, placing sixth in the Big 8. Iowa State played home games at Cyclone Stadium in Ames, Iowa.

Walden was previously the head football coach at Washington State University for nine seasons. ^[1]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 12	7:30 p.m.	at Tulane *	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA	WOI/KOIA (delay) Closed circuit in Iowa [2]	L 12–25	27,561	[3]
September 19	12:10 p.m.	Iowa *	Cyclone Stadium Ames, IA (rivalry)	WOI/KCRG/KTIV/KIMT KOIA/WQAD/KPTM	L 9–48	54,101	[4]
September 26	2:00 p.m.	at Wyoming *	War Memorial Stadium Laramie, WY	WOI/KOIA (delay)	L 17–34	18,386	[5]
October 3	1:00 p.m.	No. 1 Oklahoma	Cyclone Stadium Ames, IA	PPV/WOI (delay)	L 3–56	36,050	[6]
October 10	1:00 p.m.	Northern Iowa *	Cyclone Stadium Ames, IA	WOI (delay)	W 39–38	46,515	[7]
October 17	1:00 p.m.	Missouri	Cyclone Stadium Ames, IA (rivalry)	WOI (delay)	L 17–42	35,888	[8]
October 24	1:00 p.m.	at Kansas	Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS	WOI/KOIA (delay)	W 42–28	28,300	[9]
October 31	1:00 p.m.	Colorado	Cyclone Stadium Ames, IA	WOI (day)	L 10–42	34,920	[10]
November 7	1:30 p.m.	at No. 2 Nebraska	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE (rivalry)	WOI (delay)	L 3–42	76,001	[11]
November 14	1:30 p.m.	Kansas State	Cyclone Stadium Ames, IA (rivalry)	WOI (delay)	W 16–14	33,516	[12]
November 21	1:30 p.m.	at No. 13 Oklahoma State	Lewis Field Stillwater, OK	WOI (delay)	L 27–48	33,400	[13]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

^[14]

Game summaries

Iowa

Iowa at Iowa State

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
•Hawkeyes	10	14	10	14	48
Cyclones	3	6	0	0	9

• Date: September 19
• Location: Jack Trice Stadium, Ames, Iowa
• Game attendance: 54,101

Scoring summary

1		ISU	Shudak 27-yard field goal	ISU 3-0
1		IOWA	Rob Houghtlin 30-yard field goal	Tied 3-3
1		IOWA	Harmon 11-yard run (Houghtlin kick)	IOWA 10-3
2		ISU	Shudak 47-yard field goal	IOWA 10-6
2		IOWA	Harmon 3-yard run (Houghtlin kick)	IOWA 17-6
2		IOWA	Harmon 3-yard run (Houghtlin kick)	IOWA 24-6
2		ISU	Shudak 34-yard field goal	IOWA 24-9
3		IOWA	Rob Houghtlin 55-yard field goal	IOWA 27-9
3		IOWA	Hudson 8-yard pass from Hartlieb (Houghtlin kick)	IOWA 34-9
4		IOWA	Stewart 1-yard run (Houghtlin kick)	IOWA 41-9
4		IOWA	Poholsky 3-yard run (Houghtlin kick)	IOWA 48-9

See also: 1987 Iowa Hawkeyes football team and Cy-Hawk Trophy

At Oklahoma

See also: 1987 Oklahoma Sooners football team

At Nebraska

Iowa State at Nebraska

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Cyclones	0	0	3	0	3
•Cornhuskers	14	14	7	7	42

• Date: November 7
• Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska
• Game attendance: 76,001

See also: 1987 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

Roster

1987 Iowa State Cyclones football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class G Keith Sims So	Defense Pos. # Name Class DE 58 Scott Benson Sr DB 11 Marcus Robertson Fr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Jim Walden Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

References

1. Devlin, Vince (December 16, 1986). "It's official: Walden's gone". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. p. B1.
2. (1) September 12, 1987 (Page 9 of 30). Des Moines Register (1871-2008) 1987 Sep 12(69):9.
3. "Cyclones get A+ for effort". The Gazette. September 13, 1987. Retrieved February 7, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
4. "Hawkeyes roll past Cyclones, 48–9". The Sioux City Journal. September 20, 1987. Retrieved May 13, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
5. "ISU's first TD doesn't prevent loss". The Sioux City Journal. September 27, 1987. Retrieved May 13, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
6. "Sooners slug Iowa State, 56–3". The Salisbury Post. October 4, 1987. Retrieved May 13, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
7. "Cyclones earn first win". The Rock Island Argus. October 11, 1987. Retrieved December 8, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
8. "Missouri explodes in fourth quarter to beat Iowa State". The Salina Journal. October 18, 1987. Retrieved May 13, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
9. "Henderson's 226-yard outing helps Cyclones drop Kansas". The Daily Nonpareil. October 25, 1987. Retrieved May 13, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
10. "CU running game too much for ISU". Star-Herald. November 1, 1987. Retrieved May 13, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
11. "Jones runs Nebraska by Iowa State". The Idaho Statesman. November 8, 1987. Retrieved May 13, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
12. "Cyclones survive". Quad-City Times. November 15, 1987. Retrieved May 13, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
13. "Thomas sets school record as Cowboys top Cyclones". The Sioux City Journal. November 22, 1987. Retrieved May 13, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
14. "Iowa State Football Record Book" (PDF). Iowa State University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 6, 2014. Retrieved November 25, 2014.