American college football season
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.
Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
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September 7 | 8:00 p.m. | No. 19 USC* | | | ABC | W 27–13 | 77,922 |
September 19 | 7:45 p.m. | at No. 9 Notre Dame* | No. 17 | | ESPN | L 8–31 | 59,075 |
September 26 | 1:00 p.m. | No. 6 Florida State* | | - Spartan Stadium
- East Lansing, MI
| | L 3–31 | 76,887 |
October 3 | 12:30 p.m. | at No. 17 Iowa | | | | W 19–14 | 67,700 |
October 10 | 3:30 p.m. | No. 12 Michigan | | - Spartan Stadium
- East Lansing, MI (rivalry)
| ABC | W 17–11 | 77,424 |
October 17 | 2:05 p.m. | at Northwestern | No. 19 | | | W 38–0 | 29,113 |
October 24 | 1:00 p.m. | Illinois | No. 14 | - Spartan Stadium
- East Lansing, MI
| | T 14–14 | 76,513 |
October 31 | 3:30 p.m. | at No. 15 Ohio State | No. 20 | | ABC | W 13–7 | 89,915 |
November 7 | 1:00 p.m. | Purdue | No. 15 | - Spartan Stadium
- East Lansing, MI
| | W 45–3 | 76,933 |
November 14 | 3:30 p.m. | No. 16 Indiana | No. 13 | - Spartan Stadium
- East Lansing, MI (rivalry)
| ABC | W 27–3 | 76,411 |
November 21 | 2:05 p.m. | at Wisconsin | No. 11 | | | W 30–9 | 45,385 |
January 1, 1988 | 5:00 p.m. | vs. No. 16 USC* | No. 8 | | NBC | W 20–17 | 103,847 |
- *Non-conference game
- Homecoming
- Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
- All times are in Eastern time
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1987 Michigan State Spartans football team roster |
Players | Coaches |
Offense | Defense | Special teams | - Head coach
- Coordinators/assistant coaches
- Legend
- (C) Team captain
- (S) Suspended
- (I) Ineligible
- Injured
- Redshirt
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Michigan State at Notre Dame | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | Spartans | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 8 | • Fighting Irish | 19 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 31 | |
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Scoring summary |
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| Q1 | | ND | Ezor downed ball in end zone | ND 2–0 | | Q1 | | ND | Gradel 27 yard field goal | ND 5–0 | | Q1 | | ND | Brown 71 yard punt return (Gradel kick) | ND 12–0 | | Q1 | | ND | Brown 66 yard punt return (Gradel kick) | ND 19–0 | | Q2 | | ND | McAllister tackled in end zone | ND 21–0 | | Q2 | | ND | Gradel 37 yard field goal | ND 24–0 | | Q3 | | ND | Johnson 3 yard run (Gradel kick) | ND 31–0 | | Q4 | | MSU | Rison 57 yard pass from McAllister (Wilson pass from McAllister) | ND 31–8 | |
Florida State at Michigan State | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | • #6 Seminoles | 0 | 7 | 10 | 14 | 31 | Spartans | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
Michigan State at Iowa | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | • Spartans | 7 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 19 | #17 Hawkeyes | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 | |
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Scoring summary |
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| 1 | | IOWA | Early 19-yard pass from Dan McGwire (Houghtlin kick) | IOWA 7-0 | | 1 | | Mich St | White 5-yard run (Langeloh kick) | Tied 7-7 | | 2 | | Iowa | Watkins 14-yard pass from McGwire (Houghtlin kick) | IOWA 14-7 | | 3 | | KSU | Langeloh 21-yard field goal | IOWA 14-10 | | 3 | | KSU | Langeloh 46-yard field goal | IOWA 14-13 | | 4 | | Iowa | Sargent 8-yard pass from McAllister (pass failed) | Mich St 19-14 | |
[1] [2]
| 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]
Michigan State Spartans at Northwestern Wildcats
Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
Michigan St | 10 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 38 |
Northwestern | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
at Dyche Stadium • Evanston, Illinois
- Date: October 17
- Game attendance: 29,113
- Gainesville Sun. 1987 Oct 18.
Game information |
First quarter - MSU – John Langeloh 31-yard field goal
- MSU – Lorenzo White 1-yard run (John Langeloh kick)
Second quarter - MSU – Lorenzo White 6-yard run (John Langeloh kick)
Third quarter Fourth quarter | - Top passers
- MSU – Bobby McAllister – 5/16, 97 yards, TD, INT
- NW – Mike Greenfield – 4/9, 50 yards, INT
- Top rushers
- MSU – Lorenzo White – 33 rushes, 187 yards, 3 TD
- NW – Byron Sanders – 20 rushes, 26 yards
- Top receivers
- MSU – Andre Rison – 5 receptions, 96 yards, TD
- NW – Marcus Lang – 1 reception, 26 yards
| |
Game information |
First quarter - OSU – Everett Ross 79-yard pass from Tom Tupa (Matt Frantz kick), 14:45. 'Ohio St 7–0. Drive: 1 play, 79 yards, 0:11.
- MSU – Bobby McAllister 15-yard run (John Langeloh kick), 4:37. Tie 7–7. Drive: 3 plays, 54 yards, 0:50.
- MSU – John Langeloh 40-yard field goal, 1:22. Michigan St 10–7. Drive: 4 plays, 13 yards, 1:48.
Second quarter - MSU – John Langeloh 20-yard field goal, 10:41. Michigan St 13–7. Drive: 9 plays, 41 yards, 4:10.
| - Top passers
- Top rushers
- MSU – Bobby McAllister – 22 rushes, 83 yards, TD
- OSU – Carlos Snow – 8 rushes, 18 yards
- Top receivers
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Game information |
- Indiana
- Kramme
11/26, 147 Yds, 3 INT - Thompson
10 Rush, 23 Yds - Jordan
3 Rec, 39 Yds | - Michigan St
- McAllister
5/5, 67 Yds, TD - White
56 Rush, 292 Yds, 2 TD - Rison
2 Rec, 41 Yds, TD | |
Scoring summary |
Quarter | Time | Drive | Team | Scoring information | Score | Plays | Yards | TOP | IND | MSU | 1 | | | | | Indiana | 49-yard field goal by Stoyanovich | 3 | 0 | 2 | | | | | Michigan St | White 5-yard touchdown run, Langeloh kick good | 3 | 7 | 2 | | | | | Michigan St | Rison 22-yard touchdown reception from McAllister, Langeloh kick good | 3 | 14 | 2 | | | | | Michigan St | 47-yard field goal by Langeloh | 3 | 17 | 3 | | | | | Michigan St | 21-yard field goal by Langeloh | 3 | 20 | 3 | | | | | Michigan St | White 1-yard touchdown run, Langeloh kick good | 3 | 27 | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | 3 | 27 | |
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.
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People | |
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National championship seasons in bold |
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Big Nine | |
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Big Ten | |
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National championships in bold |