The 1987 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

in the

1987 NCAA Division I-A football season The 1987 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with Miami winning its second national championship of the 1980s in an Orange Bowl game featuring a rare No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup between the top ranked Oklahoma Sooners and the Hurricanes. Miami's ...

. Oklahoma was a member of the

Big Eight Conference The Big Eight Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Associatio ...

played its home games in

Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, also known as Owen Field or The Palace on the Prairie, is the football stadium on the campus of the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma. It serves as the home of the Oklahoma Sooners football team. ...

, 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 A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

Barry Switzer Barry Layne Switzer (born October 5, 1937) is a former American football coach and player. He served for 16 years as head football coach at the University of Oklahoma and four years as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football Le ...

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 Rickey Dixon (December 26, 1966 – August 1, 2020) was an American professional football player who was a safety in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Oklahoma Sooners. Dixon was selected by the Cincinnati ...

(who won the

Jim Thorpe Award The Jim Thorpe Award, named in memory of multi-sport athlete Jim Thorpe, has been awarded to the top defensive back in college football since 1986. It is voted on by the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame. In 2017, the award became sponsored by Paycom ...

Mark Hutson Mark Hutson (born August 29, 1966) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head coach at Sallisaw High School. Hutson played college football at the University of Oklahoma, where he was a consensus selection at o ...

Keith Jackson Keith Max Jackson (October 18, 1928 – January 12, 2018) was an American sports commentator, journalist, author, and radio personality, known for his career with ABC Sports (1966–2006). While he covered a variety of sports over his career ...

, Danté Jones, and Darrell Reed After going undefeated in its eleven regular season games, it earned a trip to the

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game in th ...

for an appearance against the

Miami Hurricanes The Miami Hurricanes (known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes) are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic A ...

. During the season, it faced three ranked opponents (In order, #12

Oklahoma State Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

, #1

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

, 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 Jamelle Holieway (born June 25, 1967) is an American former college and professional football player who was a quarterback for the University of Oklahoma. He led the Oklahoma Sooners to a national championship in 1985. Holieway is considered on ...

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 Placekicker, or simply kicker (PK or K), is the player in gridiron football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals and extra points. In many cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist or punter. Spe ...

R. D. Lashar led the team in scoring with 91 points, Reed posted 8

quarterback sack In gridiron football, a sack occurs when the quarterback (or another offensive player acting as a passer) is tackled behind the line of scrimmage before throwing a forward pass, when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage in th ...

s, Jones led the team with 125

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking u ...

and Dixon posted 9

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...

s. Dixon established the current school record total of 9 single-season

s. He set the school record for single-season interception

return yards Return yards is a gridiron football statistical measure that takes several forms. In American and Canadian football, progress is measured by advancing the football towards the opposing team's goal line. Progress can be made during play by the o ...

with 232 that season and the career record with 303, which was broken by

Derrick Strait Derrick Lee Strait (born August 27, 1980) is a former American college and professional football player who was a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL) for three seasons during the early 2000s. He played college football for the Un ...

in 2003.

Schedule

Roster

Game summaries

North Texas

North Carolina

25 Rush, 170 Yds

Tulsa

Iowa State

Texas

Kansas State

Colorado

Kansas

Oklahoma State

Missouri

Nebraska

"Game of the Century II"
The Bow - Patrick Collins

Orange Bowl

Rankings

Awards and honors

* All-American:

, Danté Jones, and Darrell Reed *

: Dixon

Postseason

NFL draft

The following players were drafted into the National Football League following the season.

References

External links

1987 season
at SoonerStats.com {{Big Eight Conference football champions

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

Oklahoma Sooners football seasons Big Eight Conference football champion seasons

Oklahoma Sooners football The Oklahoma Sooners football program is a college football team that represents the University of Oklahoma (variously "Oklahoma" or "OU"). The team is a member of the Big 12 Conference, which is in Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (forme ...