1987 Clemson Tigers football team

1987 Clemson Tigers football
ACC champion Florida Citrus Bowl champion
Florida Citrus Bowl, W 35–10 vs. Penn State
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 10
AP	No. 12
1987 record	10–2 (6–1 ACC)
Head coach	Danny Ford (10th season)
Captain	Michael Dean Perry, John Phillips
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium
Seasons ← 1986 1988 →

1987 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings
v t	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 12 Clemson $	6	–	1	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
Virginia	5	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Wake Forest	4	–	3	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
NC State	4	–	3	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Maryland	3	–	3	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
North Carolina	3	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Duke	2	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Georgia Tech	0	–	6	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1987 Clemson Tigers football team was an American football team that represented Clemson University in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) during the 1987 NCAA Division I-A football season. In its tenth season under head coach Danny Ford, the team compiled a 10–2 record (6–1 against conference opponents), won the ACC championship, defeated Penn State in the 1988 Florida Citrus Bowl, was ranked No. 12 in the final AP Poll, and outscored opponents by a total of 333 to 176.^[1][2] The team played its home games at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina.

Michael Dean Perry and John Phillips were the team captains. The team's statistical leaders included quarterback Rodney Williams with 1,486 passing yards, Terry Allen with 973 rushing yards, Gary Cooper with 618 receiving yards, and placekicker David Treadwell with 87 points scored (18 field goals, 33 extra points).^[3]

Schedule[]

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 5	Western Carolina*		Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC	W 43–0	71,465
September 12	at Virginia Tech*	No. 10	Lane Stadium Blacksburg, VA	W 22–10	42,000
September 19	No. 18 Georgia*	No. 8	Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC (rivalry)	W 21–20	81,875
September 26	Georgia Tech	No. 9	Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC (rivalry)	W 33–12	78,832
October 10	Virginia	No. 8	Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC	W 38–21	79,963
October 17	Duke	No. 7	Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC	W 17–10	70,294
October 24	NC State	No. 7	Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC (Textile Bowl)	L 28–30	73,613
October 31	Wake Forest	No. 14	Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC	W 31–17	69,711
November 7	at North Carolina	No. 10	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC	W 13–10	53,115
November 14	Maryland	No. 9	Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC	W 45–16	76,773
November 21	at No. 12 South Carolina*	No. 8	Williams-Brice Stadium Columbia, SC (Palmetto Bowl)	L 7–20	75,043	[4]
January 1, 1988	vs. No. 20 Penn State*	No. 14	Citrus Bowl Orlando, FL (Florida Citrus Bowl)	W 35–10	53,152
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Personnel[]

1987 Clemson Tigers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 13 Rodney Williams Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Danny Ford Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Game summaries[]

at Virginia Tech[]

Maryland[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Maryland	7	3	0	6	16
Clemson	10	14	14	7	45

^[5]

at South Carolina[]

Penn State (Florida Citrus Bowl)[]

Rankings[]

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

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

References[]