1987 Air Force Falcons football team

The 1987 Air Force Falcons football team represented the United States Air Force Academy in the 1987 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Falcons offense scored 405 points while the defense allowed 269 points. At season's end, the Falcons appeared in the 1987 Freedom Bowl. In the Ram–Falcon Trophy match, the Falcons beat the Colorado State Rams to win the trophy. Air Force also won the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy, emblematic of beating both Army and Navy.

1987 Air Force Falcons football
Freedom Bowl, L 28–33 vs. Arizona State
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
Record	9–4 (6–2 WAC)
Head coach	Fisher DeBerry (4th season)
Offensive scheme	Wishbone triple option
Home stadium	Falcon Stadium
Seasons ← 1986 1988 →

1987 Western Athletic Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Wyoming $	8	–	0	–	0			10	–	3	–	0
BYU	7	–	1	–	0			9	–	4	–	0
Air Force	6	–	2	–	0			9	–	4	–	0
UTEP	5	–	3	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
San Diego State	4	–	4	–	0			5	–	7	–	0
Hawaii	3	–	5	–	0			5	–	7	–	0
Utah	2	–	6	–	0			5	–	7	–	0
Colorado State	1	–	7	–	0			1	–	11	–	0
New Mexico	0	–	8	–	0			0	–	11	–	0
$ – Conference champion

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 5	at Wyoming	War Memorial Stadium Laramie, WY		L 13–27	28,071
September 12	TCU*	Falcon Stadium Colorado Springs, CO		W 21–10	41,000
September 19	San Diego State	Falcon Stadium Colorado Springs, CO		W 49–7	35,035
September 26	at Colorado State	Hughes Stadium Fort Collins, CO (Battle for the Ram–Falcon Trophy)		W 27–19	23,137
October 3	Utah	Falcon Stadium Colorado Springs, CO		W 48–27	35,108
October 10	at Navy*	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD		W 23–13	35,622
October 17	No. 11 Notre Dame*	Falcon Stadium Colorado Springs, CO (rivalry)		L 14–35	51,112
October 24	UTEP	Falcon Stadium Colorado Springs, CO		W 35–7	36,922
October 31	at BYU	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT	ESPN	L 13–24	65,384
November 7	Army*	Falcon Stadium Colorado Springs, CO		W 27–10	49,183
November 14	at New Mexico	University Stadium Albuquerque, NM		W 73–26	15,309
November 21	at Hawaii	Aloha Stadium Honolulu, HI (rivalry)	ESPN	W 34–31	43,340
December 30	vs. Arizona State*	Anaheim Stadium Anaheim, CA (Freedom Bowl)		L 28–33	33,261
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Personnel

1987 Air Force Falcons football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB Troy Calhoun Jr QB Dee Dowis So	Defense Pos. # Name Class DT 87 Chad Hennings Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Fisher DeBerry Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Season summary

At BYU

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Air Force	10	0	3	0	13
BYU	0	14	10	0	24

Game information

First quarter AFA – Steve Yarborough 32-yard field goal. Air Force 3–0. AFA – Anthony Roberson 3-yard run (Steve Yarborough kick). Air Force 10–0. Second quarter BYU – Mike O'Brien 3-yard run (Leonard Chitty kick). Air Force 10–7. BYU – Fred Whittingham 5-yard pass from Sean Covey (Leonard Chitty kick). BYU 14–10. Third quarter BYU – Leonard Chitty 26-yard field goal. BYU 17–10. BYU – Mike O'Brien 2-yard run (Leonard Chitty kick). BYU 24–10. AFA – Steve Yarborough 32-yard field goal. BYU 24–13. Fourth quarter No scoring Top passers AFA – Dee Dowis – 2/7, 25 yards, 3 INT BYU – Sean Covey – 18/29, 294 yards, TD Top rushers AFA – Quinton Roberts – 15 rushes, 85 yards BYU – Mike O'Brien – 16 rushes, 73 yards, 2 TD Top receivers AFA – Tyler Barth – 1 reception, 13 yards BYU – Rich Zayas – 3 receptions, 118 yards

Air Force Falcons (6–2) at BYU Cougars (4–3)

at Cougar Stadium, Provo, Utah

• Date: October 31, 1987
• Game attendance: 65,384
• Box Score

Army

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Army	0	3	7	0	10
Air Force	7	7	7	6	27

Army Cadets (3–5) at Air Force Falcons (6–3)

at Falcon Stadium, Colorado Springs, Colorado

• Date: November 7, 1987
• Game attendance: 49,183
• ^[1]

Air Force wins Commander-in-Chief Trophy

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Army	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
Air Force	Passing
	Rushing	Dee Dowis	129 Yds, TD
	Receiving

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP ARMY AFA 1 10 86 Air Force Anthony Roberson 1-yard touchdown run, kick good 0 7 2 7:02 Army 32-yard field goal by Bit Rambusch 3 7 2 0:30 16 83 Air Force Dee Dowis 3-yard touchdown run, kick good 3 14 3 7:25 Army Mike Mayweather 46-yard touchdown reception from Tory Crawford, kick good 10 14 3 3:59 Air Force Albert Booker 1-yard touchdown run, kick good 10 21 4 Air Force Interception return 24 yards for touchdown by Kevin Hughes 10 27 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 10 27

Postseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1988 NFL draft

The following Falcon was selected in the National Football League draft following the season.^[2]

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL Team
11	290	Chad Hennings	Defensive tackle	Dallas Cowboys

Awards and honors

• Rip Burgwald, Bullard Award
• Chad Hennings, Outland Trophy^[3]

References

1. Bote, Terry (November 7, 1987). "Air Force 27, Army 10". UPI Archives. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
2. "1988 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
3. "Do You Know Which Team Has the Most College Football Championships?". Archived from the original on May 3, 2008. Retrieved January 21, 2009.