1987 Michigan State Spartans football team

The 1987 Michigan State Spartans football team represented Michigan State University as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 1987 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by fifth-year head coach George Perles, the Spartans compiled an overall record of 9–2–1 with a mark 7–0–1 in conference play, winning the Big Ten title. Michigan State beat USC to win the 1988 Rose Bowl and finished the season ranked No. 8 in the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll. The first game of the season, also against USC, was the first night game ever at Spartan Stadium.

1987 Michigan State Spartans football
Big Ten champion
Rose Bowl champion
Rose Bowl, W 20–17 vs. USC
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 8
APNo. 8
Record9–2–1 (7–0–1 Big Ten)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorMorris Watts (2nd season)
Defensive coordinatorNick Saban (5th season)
Base defenseStunt 4–3
MVPLorenzo White
CaptainMark Nichols, Pat Shurmur, Rob Stradley, Lorenzo White
Home stadiumSpartan Stadium
(capacity: 76,000)
1987 Big Ten Conference football standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L TW L T
No. 8 Michigan State $ 7 –0 –19 –2 –1
No. 16 Iowa 6 –2 –010 –3 –0
Indiana 6 –2 –08 –4 –0
No. 19 Michigan 5 –3 –08 –4 –0
Ohio State 4 –4 –06 –4 –1
Minnesota 3 –5 –06 –5 –0
Purdue 3 –5 –03 –7 –1
Illinois 2 –5 –13 –7 –1
Northwestern 2 –6 –02 –8 –1
Wisconsin 1 –7 –03 –8 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule
DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 78:00 p.m.No. 19 USC*
ABCW 27–1377,922
September 197:45 p.m.at No. 9 Notre Dame*No. 17
ESPNL 8–3159,075
September 261:00 p.m.No. 6 Florida State*
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI
L 3–3176,887
October 312:30 p.m.at No. 17 Iowa
W 19–1467,700
October 103:30 p.m.No. 12 Michigan
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI (rivalry)
ABCW 17–1177,424
October 172:05 p.m.at NorthwesternNo. 19
W 38–029,113
October 241:00 p.m.IllinoisdaggerNo. 14
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI
T 14–1476,513
October 313:30 p.m.at No. 15 Ohio StateNo. 20
ABCW 13–789,915
November 71:00 p.m.PurdueNo. 15
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI
W 45–376,933
November 143:30 p.m.No. 16 IndianaNo. 13
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI (rivalry)
ABCW 27–376,411
November 212:05 p.m.at WisconsinNo. 11
W 30–945,385
January 1, 19885:00 p.m.vs. No. 16 USC*No. 8
NBCW 20–17103,847
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time

Personnel
1987 Michigan State Spartans football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
WR 17 Willie Bouyer Jr
QB 4 Dan Enos Fr
RB 26 Blake Ezor So
TE Rich Gicewicz
OL David Houle
WR 14 Jeff Jacobs Sr
OL 63 Bob Kula
OT 79 Tony Mandarich Jr
QB 8 Bobby McAllister Jr
RB Steve Montgomery
RB James Moore
RB Joe Pugh
WR 1 Andre Rison Jr
OT 71 Kevin Robbins Jr
TE 49 Mike Sargent Sr
C 60 Pat Shurmur Sr
OL Vince Tata
RB 34 Lorenzo White Sr
WR Bernard Wilson
FB 29 Duane Young Fr
 Defense
Pos.#NameClass
CB 36 Harlon Barnett So
DL Joe Bergin
DL John Budde
DL 75 Travis Davis
LB 57 Dixon Edwards Fr
DB 9 Mike Iaquaniello Fr
LB 51 Carlos Jenkins Fr
S 35 Todd Krumm Sr
LB 3 Kurt Larson Jr
S 44 Josh Miller Jr
LB Tim Moore
DT 77 Eric Moten Fr
DL 83 Mark Nichols
DB Lenier Payton
DB Derrick Reed
LB 48 Percy Snow So
DL Chris Soehnien
DE 91 Jim Szymanski So
LB 66 Matt Vanderbeck So
 Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
PK 10 John Langeloh Fr
P 23 Greg Montgomery Sr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Game summaries

USC
See also: 1987 USC Trojans football team

At Notre Dame
Michigan State at Notre Dame
1 234Total
Spartans 0 008 8
• Fighting Irish 19 570 31
Scoring summary
Q1NDEzor downed ball in end zoneND 2–0
Q1NDGradel 27 yard field goalND 5–0
Q1NDBrown 71 yard punt return (Gradel kick)ND 12–0
Q1NDBrown 66 yard punt return (Gradel kick)ND 19–0
Q2NDMcAllister tackled in end zoneND 21–0
Q2NDGradel 37 yard field goalND 24–0
Q3NDJohnson 3 yard run (Gradel kick)ND 31–0
Q4MSURison 57 yard pass from McAllister (Wilson pass from McAllister)ND 31–8
See also: 1987 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team, Michigan State–Notre Dame football rivalry, and Megaphone Trophy

Florida State
Florida State at Michigan State
1 234Total
• #6 Seminoles 0 71014 31
Spartans 0 300 3
See also: 1987 Florida State Seminoles football team

At Iowa
Michigan State at Iowa
1 234Total
• Spartans 7 066 19
#17 Hawkeyes 7 700 14
Scoring summary
1IOWAEarly 19-yard pass from Dan McGwire (Houghtlin kick)IOWA 7-0
1Mich StWhite 5-yard run (Langeloh kick)Tied 7-7
2IowaWatkins 14-yard pass from McGwire (Houghtlin kick)IOWA 14-7
3KSULangeloh 21-yard field goalIOWA 14-10
3KSULangeloh 46-yard field goalIOWA 14-13
4IowaSargent 8-yard pass from McAllister (pass failed)Mich St 19-14
See also: 1987 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

[1] [2]

Michigan
See also: 1987 Michigan Wolverines football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Michigan 3 0 0 8 11
Michigan St 7 7 0 3 17
  • MICH - Gillette 31 FG
  • MSU - White 6 Run (Langeloh kick)
  • MSU - White 2 Run (Langeloh kick)
  • MICH - Morris 18 D. Brown (pass good)
  • MSU - Langeloh 42 FG
  • Passing: MICH D. Brown 12/26, 158 Yds, TD, 7 INT, MSU McAllister 5/7, 68 Yds
  • Rushing: MICH Morris 31/108, MSU White 34/185, 2 TD
  • Receiving: MICH Kolesar 4/65, MSU Bouyer 2/38

[3]

At Northwestern
See also: 1987 Northwestern Wildcats football team
Michigan State Spartans at Northwestern Wildcats
Period 1 2 34Total
Michigan St 10 7 14738
Northwestern 0 0 000

at Dyche Stadium • Evanston, Illinois

  • Date: October 17
  • Game attendance: 29,113
  • Gainesville Sun. 1987 Oct 18.
Game information

At Ohio State
See also: 1987 Ohio State Buckeyes football team
Michigan State Spartans at Ohio State Buckeyes
Period 1 2 34Total
Michigan St 10 3 0013
Ohio St 7 0 007

at Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio

  • Date: October 31, 1987
  • Game time: 3:30 p.m.
  • Game weather: Sunny, 60 °F (16 °C)
  • Game attendance: 89,915
  • Referee: Ron Winter
  • TV: ABC
  • Box Score
Game information

Indiana
Indiana Hoosiers at Michigan State Spartans
Period 1 2 34Total
Indiana 3 0 003
Michigan St 0 17 10027

at Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, Michigan

  • Date: November 14
  • Game attendance: 76,411
  • [4]
Game information

Rose Bowl vs. USC
Main article: 1988 Rose Bowl

1988 NFL Draft

The following players were selected in the 1988 NFL Draft.[5] Team members Tony Mandarich, Andre Rison and Percy Snow were drafted in later years.

PlayerRoundPickPositionNFL Team
Lorenzo White122Running backHouston Oilers
Greg Montgomery372PunterHouston Oilers
David Houle6145GuardNew York Giants
Tim Moore8206LinebackerPhoenix Cardinals
Mark Nichols8209Nose TacklePittsburgh Steelers

References
  1. "Who'll Be Counted Out In Big 10?". Chicago Tribune. October 2, 1987. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
  2. "White, MSU defense too much for Iowa". Chicago Tribune. October 4, 1987. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
  3. Gainesville Sun. 1987 Oct 11. Retrieved 2019-Jan-07
  4. Gainesville Sun. 1987 Nov 15. Retrieved 2019-Jan-06.
  5. "1988 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2007.
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