1987 South Carolina Gamecocks football team

The 1987 South Carolina Gamecocks football team represented the University of South Carolina as an independent team in the 1987 NCAA Division I-A football season. They finished with eight wins and four losses (8–4) and with a loss against LSU in the 1987 Gator Bowl. The Gamecocks were led by head coach Joe Morrison.

1987 South Carolina Gamecocks football
Gator Bowl, L 13–30 vs. LSU
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 15
AP	No. 15
1987 record	8–4
Head coach	Joe Morrison (5th season)
Defensive coordinator	Joe Lee Dunn (1st season)
Home stadium	Williams-Brice Stadium

1987 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
	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	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 5	Appalachian State		Williams-Brice Stadium Columbia, SC		W 24–3	68,830
September 12	Western Carolina		Williams-Brice Stadium Columbia, SC		W 31-6	66,573
September 26	at No. 20 Georgia		Sanford Stadium Athens, GA (rivalry)		L 6-13	82,122
October 3	at No. 2 Nebraska		Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE	ESPN	L 21-30	76,061
October 10	Virginia Tech		Williams-Brice Stadium Columbia, SC		W 40-10	73,150
October 17	Virginia		Williams-Brice Stadium Columbia, SC		W 58-10	67,638
October 24	East Carolina		Williams-Brice Stadium Columbia, SC		W 34-12	69,131
October 31	NC State	No. 19	Williams-Brice Stadium Columbia, SC (rivalry)		W 48-0	74,200
November 14	at Wake Forest	No. 14	BB&T Field Winston-Salem, NC		W 30-0	34,720
November 21	No. 8 Clemson	No. 12	Williams-Brice Stadium Columbia, SC (Palmetto Bowl)	ESPN	W 20-7	75,043	[1]
December 5	at No. 2 Miami	No. 8	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL	ESPN	L 16-20	63,317
December 31	vs. LSU	No. 8	Gator Bowl Stadium Jacksonville, FL (Gator Bowl)	CBS	L 13-30	82,119
Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to the game

[2]

Roster

1987 South Carolina Gamecocks football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 9 Todd Ellis T 78 Mark Fryer C 57 Woody Meyers WR 2 Sterling Sharpe G 71 Paul Shivers	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB 27 Brad Edwards DT 54 Roy Hart DT 95 Brendan McCormack LB 48 Matt McKernan DE 92 Kurt Wilson	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 8 Collin Mackie	Head coach Joe Morrison Coordinators/assistant coaches Joe Lee Dunn (Defensive coordinator) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Rankings

Further information: 1987 NCAA Division I-A football rankings

Game summaries

at Georgia

See also: 1987 Georgia Bulldogs football team and Georgia–South Carolina football rivalry

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
7–33–2	1986	L 26–31

at Nebraska

See also: 1987 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0–2	1986	L 24–27

South Carolina at Nebraska

1 2 3 4 Total Gamecocks 0 7 14 0 21 • No. 2 Cornhuskers 3 10 0 17 30 Date: October 3 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, NE Game attendance: 76,061

[3]

Virginia Tech

See also: 1987 Virginia Tech Hokies football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
7–7–1	1986	T 27–27

Clemson

See also: 1987 Clemson Tigers football team and Clemson–South Carolina rivalry

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
31–49–4	1986	T 21–21

at Miami (FL)

South Carolina at Miami (FL)

1 2 3 4 Total No. 8 Gamecocks 6 7 0 3 16 • No. 2 Hurricanes 7 7 6 0 20 Date: December 5, 1987 Location: Miami Orange Bowl, Miami Game start: 8:00 PM Game attendance: 76,640 Game weather: 59° F, Clear, Wind S 10-15 MPH Referee: Terry Monk TV announcers (ESPN): Jim Kelly and Kevin Kiley

Scoring summary 1 10:40 SC Mackie 40-yard field goal SC 3-0 1 8:33 SC Mackie 48-yard field goal SC 6-0 1 Miami Irvin 46-yard pass from Walsh (Cox kick) Miami 7-6 2 9:55 SC Sterling Sharpe 47-yard pass from Todd Ellis (Mackie kick) SC 13-7 2 8:06 Miami Bratton 5-yard run (Cox kick) Miami 14-13 3 Miami Brian Blades 56-yard pass from Walsh (kick failed) Miami 20-13 4 13:51 SC Mackie 28-yard field goal Miami 20-16

See also: 1987 Miami Hurricanes football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
5–7	1986	L 14–34

[4]

References

1. "Carolina defense prevails: Gamecocks 20, Tigers 7". The Greenville News. November 22, 1987. pp. 1C, 5C – via Newspapers.com.
2. "1987 Football Schedule". Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
3. "COLLEGE FOOTBALL : Close Call Wakes Up Nebraska : Cornhuskers Win With Fourth-Quarter Rally, 30-21". Los Angeles Times. October 4, 1987. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
4. "COLLEGE FOOTBALL; Miami Survives By 20-16". The New York Times. December 6, 1987. Retrieved August 11, 2019.