| 1987 John Hancock Sun Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 25, 1987 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1987 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Sun Bowl | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | El Paso, Texas | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Pat Sweeney (WAC) | ||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | CBS | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Brent Musburger and Pat Haden | ||||||||||||||||||
The 1987 John Hancock Sun Bowl was the 54th annual Sun Bowl. The contest featured the West Virginia Mountaineers and the 11th-ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys. Oklahoma State edged out West Virginia, 35–33. The game was decided with 1:13 to play.[1] The game was played on snowy, cold Christmas Day of 1987 before a crowd of 43,240 in front of a CBS national television audience.
The game featured West Virginia's exciting new quarterback Major Harris, who had defeated Browning Nagle in the offseason for the Mountaineers' starting quarterback position. Nagle later transferred to Louisville. It was also the final college game for Oklahoma State running back Thurman Thomas, went on to Pro Football Hall of Fame career in the National Football League (NFL). Oklahoma State also featured tailback Barry Sanders. Sanders won the Heisman Trophy the following season and also went on to Pro Football Hall of Fame career.