The 1987 Gator Bowl was a college football bowl game between the South Carolina Gamecocks and the LSU Tigers.[1] LSU defeated South Carolina, 30–13.[2]
| 1987 Mazda Gator Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 31, 1987 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1987 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Gator Bowl Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Jacksonville, Florida | ||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | WR Wendell Davis, LSU RB Harold Green, South Carolina | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Robert C. Wood III (ACC) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 82,119 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Network | CBS | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Verne Lundquist, Dick Vermeil | ||||||||||||||||||||
Background
editSouth Carolina competed as an independent and was tied for fourth-best record among independent schools. LSU finished second in the Southeastern Conference (SEC). [3] The game would be vaunted as a matchup between the "Black Death" defense of SC versus the prolific pro-style LSU offense led by Tommy Hodson at QB and Wendell Davis, one of the best wideouts in all of college football.
Game summary
editFirst quarter
edit- LSU – Wendell Davis, 39-yard pass from Tommy Hodson (David Browndyke kick)
- LSU – Davis, 12-yard pass from Hodson (Browndyke kick)
- South Carolina – Collin Mackie, 44-yard field goal
Second quarter
edit- LSU – Browndyke, 27-yard field goal
- South Carolina – Mackie, 39-yard field goal
- LSU – Browndyke, 18-yard field goal
Third quarter
edit- LSU – Davis, 25-yard pass from Hodson (Browndyke kick)
Fourth quarter
edit- South Carolina – Harold Green, 10-yard run (Mackie kick)
- LSU – Browndyke, 23-yard field goal
Statistics
edit| Statistics | South Carolina | LSU |
|---|---|---|
| First downs | 21 | 17 |
| Rushing yards | 25 | 122 |
| Passing yards | 304 | 224 |
| Total yards | 329 | 346 |
| Passes (Att-Comp-Int) | 47–28–4 | 32–20–0 |
| Punts–average | 2–40.5 | 3–37.6 |
| Fumbles–lost | 2–1 | 5–3 |
| Penalties–yards | 6–49 | 10–107 |
Aftermath
editSouth Carolina was invited to join the Southeastern Conference in 1990, and began playing football in their new conference in 1992. The Gamecocks and Tigers first met as SEC opponents in 1994 at Baton Rouge. South Carolina won that game 18-17, but is 0-7-1 vs. LSU since.
References
edit- ^ "1987 Bowl Games". sports-reference.com. Retrieved December 19, 2015.
- ^ "Tommy Hodson leads LSU to rout of South Carolina in 1987 Gator Bowl top-10 matchup". nola.com. Retrieved December 19, 2015.
- ^ "Gamecocks, Tigers met in 1987 Gator Bowl". gridironnow.com. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved December 19, 2015.
- ^ a b "43rd Gator Bowl" (PDF). taxslayerbowl.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved December 19, 2015.