1987 North Carolina Tar Heels football team

The 1987 North Carolina Tar Heels football team represented the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill during the 1987 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Tar Heels were led by tenth-year head coach Dick Crum and played their home games at Kenan Memorial Stadium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. They competed as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference, finishing in sixth. Coach Dick Crum resigned at the end of the season, leaving as the school's all-time winningest coach.^[1]

1987 North Carolina Tar Heels football
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Record	5–6 (3–4 ACC)
Head coach	Dick Crum (10th season)
Captain	Carlton Bailey, Mark Maye
Home stadium	Kenan Memorial Stadium
Seasons ← 1986 1988 →

1987 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings

v t e	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

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 5	12:05 p.m.[2]	Illinois*	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC	W 34–14	40,000	[3]
September 12	2:30 p.m.	at No. 1 Oklahoma*	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK	L 0–28	75,004	[4]
September 19	1:00 p.m.	at Georgia Tech	Grant Field Atlanta, GA	W 30–23	33,151	[5]
September 26	2:00 p.m.	at Navy*	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD	W 45–14	23,636	[6]
October 3	1:00 p.m.	No. 6 Auburn*	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC	L 10–20	52,811	[7]
October 10	1:00 p.m.	Wake Forest	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC (rivalry)	L 14–22	52,000	[8]
October 17	12:05 p.m.[9]	at NC State	Carter–Finley Stadium Raleigh, NC (rivalry)	W 17–14	57,400	[10]
October 31	12:05 p.m.[11]	at Maryland	Byrd Stadium College Park, MD	W 27–14	35,425	[12]
November 7	4:00 p.m.[13]	No. 10 Clemson	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC	L 10–13	53,115	[14]
November 14	1:00 p.m.[15]	at Virginia	Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA (South's Oldest Rivalry)	L 17–20	38,400	[16]
November 21	12:05 p.m.[17]	Duke	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC (Victory Bell)	L 10–25	46,000	[18]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

^[19]

Personnel

1987 North Carolina Tar Heels football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB Derrick Fenner FB Kennard Martin	Defense Pos. # Name Class	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Dick Crum Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

References

1. "North Carolina Football Coach Crum Resigns After 5-6 Season". Los Angeles Times. December 1, 1987. p. SD_B5.
2. "The Charlotte Observer from Charlotte, North Carolina on September 5, 1987 · 20 (newspapers.com)".
3. "Punter's run sparks Tar Heels over Illinois". The Pantagraph. September 6, 1987. Retrieved February 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Sooners race by UNC". Bryan-College Station Eagle. September 13, 1987. Retrieved February 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "Maye to the rescue as Tar Heels rally by Jackets". The Tampa Tribune. September 20, 1987. Retrieved February 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "UNC unleashes running game, spanks outclassed Midshipmen". The State. September 27, 1987. Retrieved February 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "Auburn turns to pass, Burger, to defeat North Carolina". The Danville Register. October 4, 1987. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "Hoyle kicks Deacons over UNC". Daily Press. October 11, 1987. Retrieved February 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "The Herald-Sun from Durham, North Carolina on October 17, 1987 · 39 (newspapers.com)".
10. "Tar Heels use ground game, stop Wolfpack". The Rocky Mount Telegram. October 18, 1987. Retrieved February 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
11. "The Chapel Hill News from Chapel Hill, North Carolina on October 30, 1987 · 11 (newspapers.com)".
12. "Fast-starting Tar Heels bounce Terps, 27–14". The Rocky Mount Telegram. November 1, 1987. Retrieved February 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
13. "The Daily Tar Heel. (Chapel Hill, N.C.) 1946-current, November 06, 1987, Page 8, Image 8 · North Carolina Newspapers (digitalnc.org)".
14. "Clemson tops Tar Heels, 13–10". The Miami Herald. November 8, 1987. Retrieved February 1, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
15. "Daily Press from Newport News, Virginia on November 14, 1987 · Page 24 (newspapers.com)".
16. "UVa colors Carolina blue". The News and Advance. November 15, 1987. Retrieved February 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
17. "The Herald-Sun from Durham, North Carolina on November 21, 1987 · 32 (newspapers.com)".
18. "Blue Devils flatten Tar Heels". The News and Observer. November 22, 1987. Retrieved February 1, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
19. "1987 North Carolina Tar Heels Schedule and Results". Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 5, 2017.