1987 Florida State Seminoles football team

The 1987 Florida State Seminoles football team represented Florida State University as an independent during the 1987 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by 12th-year head coach Bobby Bowden, the Seminoles compiled a record of 11–1 with win in the Fiesta Bowl over Nebraska. Florida State played home games at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida. The team was selected national champion by Berryman.^[1]

1987 Florida State Seminoles football
National champion (Berryman) Fiesta Bowl champion
Fiesta Bowl, W 31–28 vs. Nebraska
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 2
AP	No. 2
Record	11–1
Head coach	Bobby Bowden (12th season)
Offensive coordinator	Wayne McDuffie (5th season)
Offensive scheme	I formation, Pro set
Defensive coordinator	Mickey Andrews (4th season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Doak Campbell Stadium
Seasons ← 1986 1988 →

1987 NCAA Division I-A independents football records

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 1 Miami (FL)		–		–				12	–	0	–	0
No. 4 Syracuse		–		–				11	–	0	–	1
No. 2 Florida State		–		–				11	–	1	–	0
No. 15 South Carolina		–		–				8	–	4	–	0
Pittsburgh		–		–				8	–	4	–	0
Penn State		–		–				8	–	4	–	0
No. 17 Notre Dame		–		–				8	–	4	–	0
Southern Miss		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Rutgers		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Southwestern Louisiana		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Memphis State		–		–				5	–	5	–	1
Northern Illinois		–		–				5	–	5	–	1
West Virginia		–		–				6	–	6	–	0
Tulane		–		–				6	–	6	–	0
Army		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Boston College		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
East Carolina		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Akron		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
Cincinnati		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
Louisville		–		–				3	–	7	–	1
Temple		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
Tulsa		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
Virginia Tech		–		–				2	–	9	–	0
Navy		–		–				2	–	9	–	0
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 5	7:00 p.m.	Texas Tech	No. 8	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL		W 40–16	52,893	[2]
September 12	7:00 p.m.	at East Carolina	No. 8	Ficklen Memorial Stadium Greenville, NC		W 44–3	33,937	[3]
September 19	7:00 p.m.	Memphis State	No. 7	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL		W 41–24	50,191	[4]
September 26	1:00 p.m.	at Michigan State	No. 6	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI		W 31–3	76,887	[5]
October 3	2:30 p.m.	No. 3 Miami (FL)	No. 4	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL (rivalry)	CBS	L 25–26	62,561	[6]
October 10	2:00 p.m.	at Southern Miss	No. 6	M. M. Roberts Stadium Hattiesburg, MS		W 61–10	25,853	[7]
October 17	7:00 p.m.	Louisville	No. 4	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL		W 32–9	53,114	[8]
October 31	3:00 p.m.	Tulane	No. 4	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL		W 73–14	53,210	[9]
November 7	2:30 p.m.	at No. 6 Auburn	No. 4	Jordan-Hare Stadium Auburn, AL	CBS	W 34–6	85,170	[10]
November 14	2:00 p.m.	Furman	No. 4	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL		W 41–10	50,087	[11]
November 28	12:00 p.m.	at Florida	No. 3	Florida Field Gainesville, FL (rivalry)	CBS	W 28–14	74,613	[12]
January 1	1:30 p.m.	vs. No. 5 Nebraska	No. 3	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ (Fiesta Bowl)	NBC	W 31–28	72,112	[13]
Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[14]

Rankings

Further information: 1987 NCAA Division I-A football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	8	8	7	6	4	6	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	3	3	2
Coaches	14	11	7	8	4	8	7	5	5	4	4	4	3	3	3	2

Game summaries

Texas Tech

See also: 1987 Texas Tech Red Raiders football team

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Red Raiders	13	3	0	0	16
• Seminoles	13	17	7	3	40

• Date: September 5
• Location: Doak Campbell Stadium
• Game attendance: 52,893

^[15]

At East Carolina

See also: 1987 East Carolina Pirates football team

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• Seminoles	3	13	14	14	44
Pirates	0	3	0	0	3

• Date: September 12
• Location: Ficklen Memorial Stadium
• Game attendance: 33,937

^[16]

Memphis State

See also: 1987 Memphis State Tigers football team

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Tigers	0	10	7	7	24
• Seminoles	21	3	7	10	41

• Date: September 19
• Location: Doak Campbell Stadium
• Game attendance: 50,191

^[17]

At Michigan State

See also: 1987 Michigan State Spartans football team

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• Seminoles	0	7	10	14	31
Spartans	0	3	0	0	3

• Date: September 26
• Location: Spartan Stadium
  East Lansing, MI
• Game attendance: 76,887

^[18]

Miami (FL)

See also: 1987 Miami Hurricanes football team and Florida State–Miami football rivalry

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• No. 3 Hurricanes	3	0	8	15	26
No. 4 Seminoles	0	10	9	6	25

• Date: October 3
• Location: Doak Campbell Stadium,
  Tallahassee, Florida
• Game attendance: 62,561
• Game weather: 78 °F (26 °C), Sunny, Wind N 15–20 mph (24–32 km/h)
• TV announcers (CBS Sports): Brent Musburger, Pat Haden, and John Dockery

Scoring summary

1	2:58	Miami	Greg Cox 29-yard field goal	Miami 3–0
2		FSU	D. Williams 1-yard run (Schmidt kick)	FSU 7–3
2	2:37	FSU	Derek Schmidt 36-yard field goal	FSU 10–3
3	7:50	FSU	Williams blocked punt return (kick failed)	FSU 16–3
3	2:37	FSU	Derek Schmidt 25-yard field goal	FSU 19–3
3		Miami	Bratton 49-yard pass from Walsh (Brian Blades pass from Walsh)	FSU 19–11
4		Miami	Irvin 26-yard pass from Walsh (Williams pass from Walsh)	Tied 19–19
4	2:22	Miami	Irvin 73-yard pass from Walsh (Cox kick)	Miami 26–19
4	0:42	FSU	Lewis 18-yard pass from McManus (pass failed)	Miami 26–25

^[19]

At Southern Miss

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• Seminoles	21	10	14	16	61
Golden Eagles	7	3	0	0	10

• Date: October 10
• Location: M. M. Roberts Stadium
• Game attendance: 25,853

^[20]

Louisville

See also: 1987 Louisville Cardinals football team

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinals	3	0	0	6	9
• Seminoles	6	12	7	7	32

• Date: October 17
• Location: Doak Campbell Stadium
• Game attendance: 53,114

^[21]

Tulane

See also: 1987 Tulane Green Wave football team

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Green Wave	7	0	0	7	14
• Seminoles	7	31	28	7	73

• Date: October 31
• Location: Doak Campbell Stadium
• Game attendance: 53,210

^[22]

At Auburn

See also: 1987 Auburn Tigers football team

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• Seminoles	14	13	0	7	34
Tigers	0	3	3	0	6

• Date: November 7
• Location: Jordan–Hare Stadium
• Game attendance: 85,170

^[23]

Furman

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Paladins	7	0	0	3	10
• Seminoles	10	10	7	14	41

• Date: November 14
• Location: Doak Campbell Stadium
• Game attendance: 50,087

^[24]

At Florida

See also: 1987 Florida Gators football team and Florida–Florida State football rivalry

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• Seminoles	3	6	11	8	28
Gators	7	7	0	0	14

• Date: November 28
• Location: Florida Field
• Game attendance: 74,613

Scoring summary

Q1	10:10	FSU	Schmidt 26 yard field goal	FSU 3–0
Q1	2:21	FLA	E. Smith 5 yard run (McGinty kick)	FLA 7–3
Q2	14:55	FLA	E. Smith 4 yard run (McGinty kick)	FLA 14–3
Q2	2:44	FSU	Schmidt 23 yard field goal	FLA 14–6
Q2	0:00	FSU	Schmidt 53 yard field goal	FLA 14–9
Q3	10:59	FSU	Schmidt 37 yard field goal	FLA 14–12
Q3	4:50	FSU	D. Williams 1 yard run (Bennett run)	FSU 20–14
Q4	10:36	FSU	D. Williams 1 yard run (Gainer pass from McManus)	FSU 28–14

^[25]

Vs. Nebraska (Fiesta Bowl)

See also: 1987 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team and 1988 Fiesta Bowl

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 5 Cornhuskers	14	0	14	0	28
• No. 3 Seminoles	0	21	3	7	31

• Date: January 1
• Location: Sun Devil Stadium
• Game attendance: 72,112

Scoring summary

1		Neb	Keith Jones 3-yard run (Chris Drennan kick)	Neb 7–0
1		Neb	Dana Brinson 52-yard punt return (Drennan kick)	Neb 14–0
2		FSU	Herb Gainer 10-yard pass from Danny McManus (Derek Schmidt kick)	Neb 14–7
2		FSU	Dayne Williams 4-yard run (Schmidt kick)	Tied 14–14
2		FSU	Gainer 25-yard pass from McManus (Schmidt kick)	FSU 21–14
3		Neb	Steve Taylor 2-yard run (Drennan kick)	Tied 21–21
3		FSU	Schmidt 32-yard field goal	FSU 24–21
3		Neb	Tyreese Knox 4-yard run (Drennan kick)	Neb 28–24
4		FSU	Ronald Lewis 15-yard pass from McManus (Schmidt kick)	FSU 31–28

^[26]

Roster

1987 Florida State Seminoles football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 8 Terry Anthony So G 61 Jim Bekas Fr FB 22 Edgar Bennett Fr OT 50 John Brown  So TB 13 Dexter Carter So TE 85 Pat Carter Sr WR 29 Lawrence Dawsey  Fr WR 1 Scott DiMare  So OT 69 Joey Ionata  Jr OT 73 Anthony Johnson Jr QB 14 Brad Johnson Fr TE 45 Reggie Johnson  Fr TB 10 Brady Jones So RB 33 Sammie Smith So QB 11 Casey Weldon Fr TE 87 Gaylon White  Sr WR 23 Pat White  So WR 82 Randy White  Sr QB 4 Peter Tom Willis So	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB 6 LeRoy Butler So LB 47 Kevin Grant  So FS 21 John Hadley  Jr LB 53 Odell Haggins  So DB 22 Kenny Kitchens Jr CB 32 Martin Mayhew  Sr LB 38 Paul McGowan Sr FS 40 Greg Newell  Sr DT 74 Henry Ostaszewski Fr DT 75 Joe Ostaszewski Fr LB 48 David Palmer Sr CB 2 Deion Sanders Jr LB 93 Shelton Thompson  So	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 18 Derek Schmidt Sr P 12 Rick Tuten Sr	Head coach Bobby Bowden Coordinators/assistant coaches Wayne McDuffie (Offensive coordinator) Mickey Andrews (Defensive coordinator) Skip Holtz (Graduate assistant) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt