1987 NCAA Tournament
The 1987 Tournament was based on the final AP rankings. Last year's champion Miami,Fl was beat in the Elite Eight in triple overtime by Michigan State. First round upsets were #12 Clemson over #5 LSU 20-14 and #15 South Carolina over #2 Florida State 16-9.
National Semi Final #1 (Michigan St. Spartans vs Syracuse Orangemen)
December 26, 1987 @ The Rose Bowl, Temp 50, Clear, No wind
The Michigan State Spartans rallied with two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to come from behind and stun the Syracuse Orangemen 17-10 and claim their first ever birth in the championship game.
Points were tough to come by in the game so the fourth quarter scores seemed like a points explosion. Tim Vesling's 43 yd field goal were the only points of the first quarter. Michigan St tied the game midway through the second quarter on a John Langeloh 35 yd kick. Syracuse found the end zone before halftime when Don McPherson hooked up on a 20 yd scoring pass to Tommy Kane. At the half, Syracuse is up 10-3. Neither team could score in the third quarter, but the Spartans tied the game early in the fourth quarter on a 2 yd run by Lorenzo White. Syracuse got the ball back and went three and out. The Spartans took over at their own 37 yd line and just over six minutes left in the game. The big play came on third and two when Bobby McAllister connected with Andre Rison for 47 yards down to the Syracuse two yard line. After losing two yards, White scored his second touchdown of the game to put the Spartans up 17-10. Syracuse got the ball and needing a touchdown to tie the game made it down to the MSU 34 yard line. But on fourth and 17, McPherson was forced to scramble only made half the distance. MSU then ran out the clock for the win. MVP: Lorenzo White (Michigan St) - Rushing: 133 yds, 2 TD, winning TD with 4:50 remaining. For Michigan St: Bobby McAllister 5/9, 86 yds, sacked 6 times...Lorenzo White 34 car, 133 yds, 2TD...Andre Rison 3 rec for 67 yds For Syracuse: Don McPherson 12/25, 137 yds, TD, 2 INT...Daryl Johnston 11 car, 41 yds...Tommy Kane 3 rec for 32 yds, TD...Rob Burnett 2 sk |
National Semi Final #2 (Auburn Tigers vs Oklahoma Sooners)
December 26, 1987 @ Louisiana Superdome, Temp Outside 40, Inside 62,
The Oklahoma Sooners raced out to an early 14-0 lead and were never challenged by the Auburn Tigers as they rolled to a 42-3 win and a birth in their record tying sixth championship game. The Oklahoma defense intercepted eight Auburn passes in the game.
Rickey Dixon picked off a Jeff Burger pass and returned it 13 yards for a score to put the Sooners up 7-0 early. Later in the first, Keith Kaspar picked of Burger setting up a Jamelle Holieway to Keith Jackson 25 yd TD pass to make it 14-0. Auburn got a Brian Shulman 28 yd field goal in the second quarter to make it 14-3 at the half. From that point on it was all Sooners. Holieway ran for two scores in the third quarter to make it 28-3. Rotnei Anderson ran in for a touchdown in the 4th and Derrick Crudup put the icing on the cake with another interception (his third of the game) return for a score to make the final 42-3. MVP: Derrick Crudup (Oklahoma) 4 Tkl, 3 INT, TD For Auburn: Jeff Burger 8/18, 85 yds, 5 INT...Vincent Harris 11 car, 69 yds...Freddie Weygand 2 rec, 37 yds...Kurt Ogletree 13 Tkl...Tracy Rocker 11 Tkl...Kurt Crain 10 Tkl For Oklahoma: Jamelle Holieway 2/3, 35 yds, TD, 93 yds rushing, 2 TD...Lydell Carr 81 yds rushing...Patrick Collins 77 yds rushing...Keith Jackson 1 rec, 25 yds, TD...Derrick Crudup 3 INT...Troy Johnson 2 INT... |
National Championship (Michigan St. Spartans vs Oklahoma Sooners)
January 2nd, 1988 @ The Cotton Bowl, Temp 31, Cloudy, Wind 9 mph
The Michigan State Spartans defeated the Oklahoma Sooners 16-13 in overtime to win their first ever national championship. It was the sixth championship game loss for the Sooners. The most in tournament history. They are now 0-6 all time and none may have been more painful than this one.
It took until late in the first quarter for any scoring and it was the Sooners who tallied first. Jamelle Holieway tossed a 17 yd TD pass to Keith Jackson on a first and goal play and it was 7-0 Oklahoma heading to the second quarter. Late in the second quarter it was the Spartan's special teams that got them on the scoreboard. They blocked a Todd Thomsen punt and M Chamberlain scooped up the loose ball, running four yards for the game tying touchdown. After forcing the Sooners to three and out on their next series, the Spartans used their two minute offense to set up a John Langeloh 43 yd field goal attempt. The kick was good and at the half, MSU takes a 10-7 lead into the locker room. Langeloh kicked a 42 yd field goal on MSU's first drive of the second half to extend their lead to 13-7. That would be the score heading into the fourth quarter. With just over 10 minutes to play Langeloh missed a 42 yd kick and then with 2:39 left in the game he missed from 47 yds out. Oklahoma got the ball back with 2:35 on the clock and Holieway went to work. He carried the ball seven times over the course of the two minute offense employed by Oklahoma. With 54 seconds left the Sooners had first and goal from the MSU 5 yd line. On third and goal from the two, Holieway scored to tie the game at 13-13. 16 seconds remained in the game and R.D. Lashar came on for the game winning extra point...he missed it. The Spartans erupted and the game headed to overtime. MSU got the ball first to start the overtime and they settled for a Langeloh 36 yd field goal. MSU goes up 16-13 and the Sooners can win the game with a touchdown. On 4th and four from the MSU 19 yd line the Sooners had a decision to make. Lashar was iffy from that distance. Should they go for it? The odds of getting four yards with Holieway and company seemed better than the odds of the kick being good. They decided to go for it. Holieway kept the ball on an option call and was pushed out of bounds after a gain of just two yards. He was short and the Michigan State Spartans are the champions of 1987! MVP: John Langeloh (Michigan St) 3 field goals For MSU: Bobby McAllister 4/11, 28, INT...Lorenzo White 31 car, 161 yds...Blake Ezor 11 car, 34 yds...Tim Moore 11 Tkl...Travis Davis 10 Tkl...John Langeloh 3/7 FG For Oklahoma: Jamelle Holieway 4/6, 41yds, TD, 91 yds rushing, TD...Anthony Stafford 42 yds rushing...Lydell Carr 41 yds rushing...Keith Jackson 2 rec, 21 yds, TD... |