1987 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

1987 Nebraska Cornhuskers football
Fiesta Bowl, L 28–31 vs. Florida State
Conference	Big Eight Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 6
AP	No. 6
1987 record	10–2 (6–1 Big 8)
Head coach	Tom Osborne (15th year)
Offensive coordinator	Tom Osborne (18th year)
Offensive scheme	I formation
Defensive coordinator	Charlie McBride (7th year)
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium (Capacity: 73,650)
Seasons ← 1986 1988 →

1987 Big 8 football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#3 Oklahoma $	7	–	0	–	0			11	–	1	–	0
#6 Nebraska	6	–	1	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
#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

Utah State at Nebraska [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total Utah State 0 3 3 6 12 • Nebraska 7 21 21 7 56 Date: 1987-09-05 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 75,910

UCLA at Nebraska [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total UCLA 7 3 7 16 33 • Nebraska 0 14 14 14 42 Date: 1987-09-12 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 76,313

Nebraska at Arizona State [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total • Nebraska 0 14 7 14 35 Arizona State 0 6 15 7 28 Date: 1987-09-26 Location: Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, Arizona Game attendance: 71,264

South Carolina at Nebraska [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total South Carolina 0 7 14 0 21 • Nebraska 3 10 0 17 30 Date: 1987-10-03 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 76,061

Kansas at Nebraska [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total Kansas 0 0 0 2 2 • Nebraska 17 10 14 13 54 Date: 1987-10-10 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 76,053

Nebraska at Oklahoma State [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total • Nebraska 7 14 7 7 35 Oklahoma State 0 0 0 0 0 Date: 1987-10-17 Location: Lewis Field, Stillwater, Oklahoma Game attendance: 54,440

Kansas State at Nebraska [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total Kansas State 0 3 0 0 3 • Nebraska 21 14 14 7 56 Date: 1987-10-24 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 76,106

Nebraska at Missouri [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total • Nebraska 7 21 7 7 42 Missouri 0 7 0 0 7 Date: 1987-10-31 Location: Faurot Field, Columbia, Missouri Game attendance: 55,594

The 1987 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team represented the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the 1987 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was coached by Tom Osborne and played their home games in Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Nebraska QB Steve Taylor rushed for 157 yards, breaking a 35-year-old Cornhusker quarterback record, and Nebraska returned two punts for touchdowns, tying its own Big 8 record. Nebraska rolled over Utah State with 515 rushing yards while holding the Aggies to -1 yard.

Memorial Stadium recorded its 150th consecutive sellout as #2 Nebraska defeated #3 UCLA. This was the first time two teams from the Top 3 had played in Lincoln. Nebraska QB Steve Taylor's five TD passes tied a Big 8 record set in 1938.

Following a late ASU game-tying score resulting from a fumble by Nebraska QB Steve Taylor, Nebraska IB Keith Jones tore off a 62-yard run with 3:37 remaining to set up the winning series as Nebraska triumphed over the #12 Sun Devils.

South Carolina was leading 21-13 in the 3rd as Nebraska QB Steve Taylor left the game with a shoulder injury. After that, Nebraska regained the momentum, holding the Gamecocks to just 9 yards total, recovering a fumble to set up a score, and adding a late interception and field goal to put up the win.

Nebraska cruised against a weak Kansas team, as Nebraska QB Clete Blakeman filled in for injured starting QB Steve Taylor.

Nebraska continued their 26-year winning streak against the Cowboys, putting a stop to #12 Oklahoma State's best start and best winning streak since 1945. Cowboys RB Thurman Thomas, at that time the NCAA rushing leader, was held to just 7 yards in 9 carries.

Nebraska secured their 26th consecutive winning season, tying the NCAA record, and rolled up 459 rushing yards using 17 rushing players, while the Cornhusker defense prevented a touchdown for the third game in a row.

The NCAA touchdown pass record from 1938 was tied by Nebraska for the second time in this season as the Cornhusker offense scored in all four quarters for the 4th game in a row, though the defense finally allowed their first touchdown in 15 quarters.

The Cornhuskers locked up their 19th consecutive 9-win season while piling up 666 total yards of offense as they rocketed to a 28-0 halftime lead before coasting to another win.

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