# 1987 Oklahoma Sooners football team

The 1987 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma in the 1987 NCAA Division I-A football season. Oklahoma was a member of the Big Eight Conference played its home games in Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, where it has played its home games since 1923. The team posted an 11–1 overall record and a 7–0 conference record to the Conference title outright under head coach Barry Switzer who took the helm in 1973. This was Switzer's twelfth conference title, fourth consecutive conference title and eighth undefeated conference record in fifteen seasons.
The team was led by All-Americans Rickey Dixon (who won the Jim Thorpe Award), Mark Hutson, Keith Jackson, Danté Jones, and Darrell Reed After going undefeated in its eleven regular season games, it earned a trip to the Orange Bowl for an appearance against the Miami Hurricanes. During the season, it faced three ranked opponents (In order, #12 Oklahoma State, #1 Nebraska, and #2 Miami). Both of its last two games were #1 vs. #2 matches with the last being a national title game in which it endured its only loss to the resulting national champion Hurricanes. The game marked the third Miami victory over Oklahoma in three seasons to former Switzer assistant coach Jimmy Johnson.
Jamelle Holieway led the team in rushing for the second season with 807 yards and in passing for the third of four times with 548 yards, Jackson led the team in receiving for the third straight season with 403 yards, Placekicker R. D. Lashar led the team in scoring with 91 points, Reed posted 8 quarterback sacks, Jones led the team with 125 tackles and Dixon posted 9 interceptions. Dixon established the current school record total of 9 single-season interceptions. He set the school record for single-season interception return yards with 232 that season and the career record with 303, which was broken by Derrick Strait in 2003.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 5 | 1:30 p.m. | North Texas State* | No. 1 | Oklahoma Memorial StadiumNorman, OK | | W 69–14 | 75,004 |
| September 12 | 1:30 p.m. | North Carolina* | No. 1 | Oklahoma Memorial StadiumNorman, OK | | W 28–0 | 75,004 |
| September 26 | 1:30 p.m. | at Tulsa* | No. 1 | Skelly StadiumTulsa, OK | | W 65–0 | 47,350 |
| October 3 | 1:30 p.m. | at Iowa State | No. 1 | Cyclone StadiumAmes, IA | PPV | W 56–3 | 36,050 |
| October 10 | 1:45 p.m. | vs. Texas* | No. 1 | Cotton BowlDallas, TX (Red River Shootout) | CBS | W 44–9 | 75,587 |
| October 17 | 1:10 p.m. | at Kansas State | No. 1 | KSU StadiumManhattan, KS | | W 59–10 | 27,200 |
| October 24 | 6:30 p.m. | Colorado | No. 1 | Oklahoma Memorial StadiumNorman, OK | ESPN | W 24–6 | 75,004 |
| October 31 | 1:00 p.m. | at Kansas | No. 1 | Memorial StadiumLawrence, KS | | W 71–10 | 23,500 |
| November 7 | 1:00 p.m. | No. 12 Oklahoma State | No. 1 | Oklahoma Memorial StadiumNorman, OK (Bedlam Series) | | W 29–10 | 75,004 |
| November 14 | 1:30 p.m. | Missouri | No. 1 | Oklahoma Memorial StadiumNorman, OK (rivalry) | PPV | W 17–13 | 75,004 |
| November 21 | 2:30 p.m. | at No. 1 Nebraska | No. 2 | Memorial StadiumLincoln, NE (rivalry) | CBS | W 17–7 | 76,663 |
| January 1, 1988 | 7:00 p.m. | at No. 2 Miami (FL)* | No. 1 | Orange BowlMiami, FL (Orange Bowl) | NBC | L 14–20 | 74,760 |
| *Non-conference gameRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Central time |||||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking ( ) = First-place votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Final |
| AP | 1 (55) | 1 (54) | 1 (54) | 1 (53) | 1 (44) | 1 (46) | 1 (47) | 1 (42) | 1 (40) | 1 (38) | 1 (36) | 2 (20) | 1 (54) | 1 (48) | 1 (47) | 3 |
| Coaches Poll | 1 | 1 (44) | 1 (45) | 1 (45) | 1 (46) | 1 (45) | 1 (43) | 1 (45) | 1 (43) | 1 (43) | 1 (38) | 2 (27) | 1 (48) | 1 (41) | 1 (41) | 3 |

## Game summaries
### North Carolina

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Tar Heels | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| • Sooners | 0 | 21 | 7 | 0 | 28 |
Jamelle Holieway 25 Rush, 170 Yds

### Texas

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • #1 Oklahoma | 0 | 13 | 21 | 10 | 44 |
| Texas | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 9 |

### Kansas State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • #1 Oklahoma | 14 | 17 | 14 | 14 | 59 |
| Kansas State | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 10 |

### Colorado

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Colorado | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| • #1 Oklahoma | 10 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 24 |

### Oklahoma State

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Oklahoma St | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
| Oklahoma | 10 | 0 | 6 | 13 | 29 |
at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium • Norman, Oklahoma
* Date: November 7
* Game attendance: 75,004
Game information :
OKLA - Holieway 5 yard run (Lashar kick)
OSU - Blanchard 38 yard field goal
OKLA - Lashar 35 yard field goal
OKLA - Hall 3 yard run (kick failed)
OSU - Sanders 1 yard run (Blanchard kick)
OKLA - Johnson 10 yard interception return (run failed)
OKLA - Dixon 95 yard interception return (Lashar kick)
Oklahoma St
Gundy 11/27, 115 Yds, 4 INT
Thomas 15 Rush, 173 Yds
Green 3 Rec, 47 Yds
Oklahoma
Holieway 0/6, 0 Yds, INT
Anderson 30 Rush, 191 Yds
Holieway 18 Rush, 123 Yds, TD :

### Missouri

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Missouri | 0 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 13 |
| Oklahoma | 3 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 17 |

### Nebraska

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Oklahoma | 0 | 0 | 14 | 3 | 17 |
| Nebraska | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
at Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, Nebraska
* Date: November 21
* Game weather: Sunny
* Game attendance: 76,663
* Referee: John McClintock
* TV announcers (CBS): Brent Musburger and Pat Haden
* HuskerMax
Game information :
Oklahoma
Charles Thompson 2/9, 25 Yds
Patrick Collins 13 Rush, 131 Yds, TD
Keith Jackson 1 Rec, 21 Yds
Nebraska
Steve Taylorr 6/18, 58 Yds, 3 INT
Keith Jones 15 Rush, 94 Yds, TD
Richard Bell 2 Rec, 18 Yds :
"Game of the Century II" The Bow - Patrick Collins
Scoring summary :
| Quarter | Time | Drive | Drive | Drive | Team | Scoring information | Score | Score |
| Quarter | Time | Plays | Yards | TOP | Team | Scoring information | OU | NEB |
| 1 | 1:28 | | 84 | | Nebraska | Jones 25-yard touchdown run, Drennan kick good | 7 | 0 |
| 3 | 12:48 | 2 | 13 | | Oklahoma | Stafford 11-yard touchdown run, Lashar kick good | 7 | 7 |
| 3 | 1:39 | | | | Oklahoma | Collins 65-yard touchdown run, Lashar kick good | 14 | 7 |
| 4 | 7:40 | | | | Oklahoma | 27-yard field goal by Lashar | 17 | 7 |
| "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | 17 | 7 |

### Orange Bowl
## Awards and honors

* All-American: Rickey Dixon, Mark Hutson, Keith Jackson, Danté Jones, and Darrell Reed
* Jim Thorpe Award: Dixon

## After the season
### NFL Draft

The following players were selected in the 1988 NFL draft following the season.
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | NFL team |
| 1 | 5 | Rickey Dixon | Defensive back | Cincinnati Bengals |
| 1 | 13 | Keith Jackson | Tight end | Philadelphia Eagles |
| 2 | 51 | Dante Jones | Linebacker | Chicago Bears |
| 3 | 67 | Mark Hutson | Guard | Dallas Cowboys |
| 4 | 99 | Greg Johnson | Tackle | Miami Dolphins |
| 4 | 106 | Lydell Carr | Running back | New Orleans Saints |
| 5 | 116 | Darrell Reed | Linebacker | Green Bay Packers |
| 5 | 133 | Troy Johnson | Linebacker | Chicago Bears |
| 6 | 148 | Jon Phillips | Guard | Phoenix Cardinals |
| 6 | 164 | Derrick White | Defensive back | Minnesota Vikings |
| 7 | 171 | Derrick Crudup | Defensive back | Los Angeles Raiders |
| 7 | 189 | Caesar Rentie | Tackle | Chicago Bears |
| 8 | 200 | Patrick Collins | Running back | Green Bay Packers |