1987 Sugar Bowl

1987USF&G Sugar Bowl
53rdedition
Nebraska Cornhuskers LSU Tigers (9-2) (9-2) Big 8 SEC 30 15 Head coach: Tom Osborne Head coach: Bill Arnsparger AP Coaches 6 5 AP Coaches 5 6
1 2 3 4 Total Nebraska 0 10 7 13 30 LSU 7 0 0 8 15
Date	January 1, 1987
Season	1986
Stadium	Louisiana Superdome
Location	New Orleans,Louisiana
MVP	Steve Taylor(Nebraska QB)
Favorite	Nebraska by 4½ points
Referee	Wendell Shelton (SWC)
Attendance	76,234
United States TV coverage
Network	ABC
Announcers	Keith Jackson,Tim Brant

The1987 Sugar Bowlwas the 53rdeditionof thecollege footballbowl game,played at theLouisiana SuperdomeinNew Orleans,Louisiana,on Thursday, January 1. Part of the1986–87 bowl gameseason, it featured thefifth-rankedLSU Tigersof theSoutheastern Conference(SEC) and number 6Nebraska Cornhuskersof theBig Eight Conference.Favored Nebraska trailed early and won, 30–15.

It was the third time in five seasons that the teams had met in a major bowl game(1983 Orange,1985 Sugar),and Nebraska won all three.

Teams

Main article:1986 NCAA Division I-A football season

Nebraska

Main article:1986 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

LSU

Main article:1986 LSU Tigers football team

Game summary

Both televised byABC,the game followed theFlorida Citrus Bowland kicked off shortly after 2:30 p.m.CST,two hours after the Cotton Bowl started onCBS,and ninety minutes before theRose BowlonNBC.

LSU chose to wear white jerseys as the designated home team, despite an NCAA rule passed in 1983 which required the visiting team to wear white jerseys. LSU traditionally wore white at home from1958–82,and has done so again since1995,when the NCAA partially revoked the 1983 rule, allowing home teams to wear white with consent of the visitors. In 1997, the SEC ruled home teams would have jersey color choice without consent of the visitors for conference games.

On the first play from scrimmage, underdog LSU gained 43 yards on a pass toWendell Davisfrom freshman quarterbackTommy Hodson;the Tigers scored six plays later on a one-yard touchdown run fromHarvey Williams.In the second quarter,Dale Kleinkicked a 42-yard field goal for the Huskers and quarterbackSteve Taylorscored on a two-yard run to give Nebraskaa 10–7leadat halftime.

Early in the second half, fullbackTyreese Knoxscored from a yard out and Nebraska leda 17–7after three quarters. Tight endTodd Millikancaught a short touchdown pass from Taylor early in the fourth, and Knox added another one-yard run for thirty unanswered points and the score was30–7with under four minutes remaining. Hodson threw a 24-yard touchdown pass toTony Moss(with atwo-point conversion) to tighten the final scoreto 30–15.

Nebraska's Taylor was named the game's most valuableplayer;the Huskers climbed to fifth in thefinal AP polland LSU fellto tenth.

After the game, Tom Osborne said "We weren't playing for the national championship, the Big Eight Championship was out the window. The only thing we had left was the Sugar Bowl."

Scoring

First quarter

• LSU –Harvey Williams1 run (David Browndyke kick)

Second quarter

• Nebraska – Field goal, Dale Klein 42
• Nebraska –Steve Taylor2 run (Klein kick)

Third quarter

• Nebraska – Tyreese Knox 1 run (Klein kick)

Fourth quarter

• Nebraska – Todd Millikan 3 pass from Taylor (Klein kick)
• Nebraska – Knox 1 run (kick failed)
• LSU – Tony Moss 24 pass fromTommy Hodson(Alvin Lee pass from Hodson)

Source:

Statistics

Statistics	Nebraska	LSU
First Downs	22	10
Rushes–yards	60–242	29–32
Passing yards	110	159
Passes	11–20–0	14–30–2
Total Offense	80–352	59–191
Punts–average	4–30.5	6–42.0
Fumbles–lost	5–2	6–1
Turnovers	2	3
Penalties–yards	5–78	12–130
Time of possession	39:13	20:47

Source:

Aftermath

The victory improved Nebraska to 5–0–1 all-time vs. LSU. The Cornhuskers defeated the Tigers 17–12 in the1971 Orange Bowl(to secure the national title) and 10–7 in the1975season opener at Lincoln. They played to a 6–6 tie at Baton Rouge to open the1976season and Nebraska defeated the LSU Tigers in the1983 Orange Bowl21-20.

This was the final game for LSU under head coachBill Arnsparger;he had accepted theathletic directorposition at conference rivalFlorida,announced immediately after the Tigers' regular season finale withTulaneonNovember 29.Arnsparger led LSU to the SEC championship this season, its first since1970,but his minimal recruiting skills and0–3bowl record (two of those losses to the Cornhuskers) left many LSU fans in disfavor of him. Arnsparger departed with a 26–8–2 (.750) record and recommended his 33-year-old defensive coordinatorMike Archeras his successor.

Archer coached the next four seasons at LSU with a 27–18–1 (.598) record, but Arnsparger's lack of recruiting put him in a hole. Most of Arnsparger's best players, such as NT Henry Thomas, OG Eric Andolsek, C Nacho Albergamo, and FS Chris Carrier, were all recruited by the previous head coach,Jerry Stovall(although Arnsparger recruited QB Tommy Hodson). LSU played inbowlsin the following two seasons, but then suffered through six consecutive losing seasons from 1989-94, the first two under Archer and the next four underCurley Hallman.LSU's next bowl game was the1995 Independence BowlunderGerry DiNardo.

LSU did not return to the Sugar Bowl (or any major bowl) until it won the SEC championship in2001under second-year coachNick Saban.The Tigers then rolled overIllinois47-34 in the2002 Sugar BowlbehindRohan Davey's 444 yards passing. LSU subsequently won the2004 Sugar Bowlfollowing the2003 season(vs.Oklahomato win theBowl Championship Seriesnational championship) and the2007 Sugar Bowlfollowing the2006s season(vs.Notre Dame). Additionally, LSU has played in three national championship games at New Orleans since its most recent Sugar Bowl, defeatingOhio Statein2007,losing toAlabamain2011and defeatingClemsonin2019.

Nebraska continued its winning football underTom Osbornewithnational championshipsin1994and1995.They tied for another in1997and played for another in2001underFrank Solich.

The Cornhuskers have not played in the Sugar Bowl since this game. They are 3-1 in the Sugar Bowl, previously losing toAlabamain1967and defeatingFloridain1974,in addition to the victory over LSU in 1985. Nebraska's only game in the state ofLouisianasince the 1987 Sugar Bowl was a 27-23 loss toOle Missin the2002 Independence BowlatShreveport.