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1987 Oklahoma State Cowboys football
1987 Oklahoma State Cowboys football
Sun Bowl champion
Sun Bowl, W 35–33 vs. West Virginia
Conference	Big Eight Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 12
AP	No. 11
Record	10–2 (5–2 Big 8)
Head coach	Pat Jones (4th season);
Offensive coordinator	Larry Coker (5th season)
Defensive coordinator	Louis Campbell (3rd season)
Home stadium	Lewis Field
	Seasons ← 1986 1988 →

1987 Big Eight Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 3 Oklahoma $	7	–	0	–	0	11	–	1	–	0
No. 6 Nebraska	6	–	1	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
No. 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

The 1987 Oklahoma State Cowboys football team represented the Oklahoma State University in the 1987 NCAA Division I-A college football season. The Cowboys finished the regular season with a 9–2 record.^[1] Thurman Thomas was in his senior year for the Cowboys. In his career at Oklahoma State, Thomas had 897 rushes for 4,595 yards, 43 touchdowns, and 21 100-yard rushing games. He was also a Heisman Trophy candidate and a first team selection on the College Football All-America Team in 1987. In the 1987 Sun Bowl, Thomas ran for 157 yards and four touchdowns in the 35–33 victory over West Virginia, keeping Barry Sanders on the sidelines for the majority of the game. Thomas left OSU as the school's all-time leading rusher and his number 34 is one of only three jerseys retired at Oklahoma State. Sanders replaced Thomas as starter the next year in 1988.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 5	Tulsa*		Boone Pickens Stadium Stillwater, OK (rivalry)		W 39–28	46,700
September 12	at Houston*		Houston Astrodome Houston, TX		W 35–0	16,285
September 19	at Wyoming*		War Memorial Stadium Laramie, WY		W 35–29	20,852
September 26	Southwestern Louisiana*		Lewis Field Stillwater, OK		W 36–0	44,100
October 10	Colorado	No. 19	Lewis Field Stillwater, OK		W 42–17	42,800
October 17	No. 2 Nebraska	No. 12	Lewis Field Stillwater, OK	CBS	L 0–35	50,440
October 24	at Missouri	No. 19	Faurot Field Columbia MI		W 24–20	37,638
October 31	Kansas State	No. 12	Lewis Field Stillwater, OK		W 56–7	40,150
November 7	at No. 1 Oklahoma	No. 12	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK (Bedlam)		L 10–29	75,004
November 14	at Kansas	No. 17	Memorial Stadium Lawrence KS		W 49–17	18,200–18,500
November 21	Iowa State	No. 13	Lewis Field Stillwater, OK		W 48–27	33,400
December 25	vs. West Virginia*	No. 11	Sun Bowl El Paso, TX (Sun Bowl)	CBS	W 35–33	43,240	^[2]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Personnel

1987 Oklahoma State Cowboys football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
WR	`11`	Hart Lee Dykes	Jr
QB	`12`	Mike Gundy	So
RB	`21`	Barry Sanders	So
RB	`34`	Thurman Thomas	Sr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
LB	`53`	Sim Drain III	So
LB		Ricky Shaw	Sr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class

Head coach

Pat Jones

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Larry Coker – Offensive coordinator
Houston Nutt – Quarterback/Wide receivers
Bill Shimek – Running backs
Steve Gardner – Tight ends
Brad Seely – Offensive line
Louis Campbell – Defensive coordinator/defensive backs
George Walstad – Defensive line
Kenith Pope – Defensive ends
Jonny Barr – Linebackers

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Game summaries

Colorado

	1	2	3	4	Total
Colorado	0	10	7	0	17
Oklahoma St	14	0	14	14	42

OSU - Sanders 4 Run (Blanchard kick)
OSU - Dykes 18 Gundy (Blanchard kick)
COL - Simmons 7 Run (Hannah kick)
COL - Hannah 32 FG
OSU - Williams 16 Gundy (Blanchard kick)
OSU - Thomas 5 Run (Blanchard kick)
COL - Bieniemy 6 Run (Hannah kick)
OSU - Limbrick 3 Run (Blanchard kick)
OSU - Sanders 73 punt return (Blanchard kick)
Passing: COL Aunese 5/11, 90 Yds, INT, OSU Gundy 21/28, 257 Yds, 2 TD, INT
Rushing: COL Flannagan 9/52, OSU Thomas 23/110
Receiving: COL Carl 3/61, OSU Dykes 8/114, TD

^[3]

After the season

The 1988 NFL draft was held on April 24–25, 1988. The following Cowboys were selected.^[4]

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL club
2	40	Thurman Thomas	Running back	Buffalo Bills
4	92	Ricky Shaw	Linebacker	New York Giants

Awards and honors

Thurman Thomas, Heisman Trophy finalist
Thurman Thomas, All-America selection

References

^ "1987 Oklahoma State Cowboys Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
^ "Cowboys win Sun in the snow". The El Paso Times. December 26, 1987. Retrieved February 1, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Gainesville Sun. 1987 Oct 11. Retrieved 2019-Jan-07.
^ "1988 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 13, 2021.