The1987 Orange Bowl was the 53rdedition of thecollege footballbowl game, played at theOrange Bowl inMiami,Florida, on Thursday, January 1. Part of the1986–87 bowl game season, it matched theninth-rankedArkansas Razorbacks of theSouthwest Conference (SWC) and the #3Oklahoma Sooners of theBig Eight Conference.^[2] Heavily favored Oklahoma won 42–8.^[3][4][5]

The Razorbacks lost twice, toTexas Tech andBaylor. This was Arkansas' first Orange Bowlappearancein nine years; that1978 game was a 31–6 upset rout ofOklahoma.

The Sooners won theBig Eight Conference title for the third straight year and appeared in a third consecutive Orange Bowl.^[2] Only a 28–16 loss atMiami in late September cost them a shot at a second straight title. Standout linebackerBrian Bosworth was suspended for this game after testing positive forsteroids.^[6] Bosworth came out with the Oklahoma team captains for the pregame coin toss, but was told by the officials he couldn't participate and was ordered back to the sidelines. As ha walked back, the Oklahoma students in attendance stood and cheered in support.

The game followed theRose Bowl onNBC, and kicked off around 8:30 p.m.EST;^[2] it was the sole game in that time slot, as theSugar Bowl was played earlier in the day onABC.

Following a scoreless first quarter,Spencer Tillman gave Oklahoma the lead in the second quarter with two touchdown runs, the latter occurring after an Arkansas turnover, and it was 14–0 at halftime. QuarterbackJamelle Holieway added his own two touchdown runs to make it 28–0 after three quarters. Arkansas threw five interceptions, as Anthony Stafford and Duncan Parham added touchdown runs of their own to make it 42–0 for Oklahoma. In the final half-minute, Arkansas scored on a one-yard touchdown run by fullback Derrick Thomas (and atwo-point conversion) to avoid ashutout.^[3][4][7]

First quarter

No scoring

Second quarter

• Oklahoma –Spencer Tillman 77-yard run (Tim Lashar kick)
• Oklahoma – Tillman 21-yard run (Lashar kick)

Third quarter

• Oklahoma –Jamelle Holieway 2-yard run (Lashar kick)
• Oklahoma – Holieway 4-yard run (Lashar kick)

Fourth quarter

• Oklahoma – Anthony Stafford 13-yard run (Lashar kick)
• Oklahoma – Duncan Parham 49-yard run (Lashar kick)
• Arkansas – Derrick Thomas 1-yard run (James Shibest pass fromJohn Bland)

Source:^[3][4]

Statistics	Arkansas	Oklahoma
First Downs	17	11
Rushes–yards	45–48	48–366
Passing yards	192	47
Passes (C–A–I)	16–33–5	2–5–0
Total Offense	78–240	53–413
Return yards	18	58
Punts–average	9–41	5–47
Fumbles–lost	2–0	3–2
Turnovers	5	2
Penalties–yards	3–25	4–40
Time of possession	35:29	24:31

Source:^[3][4]

While on the sidelines, Bosworth displayed a shirt referring to theNCAA as "National Communists Against Athletes." After this game, he was dismissed from the team, and later declared himself eligible for theNFL supplemental draft in June, where he was selected by theSeattle Seahawks.^[8][9]

In thefinal AP poll, Oklahoma remained at third and Arkansas fell to fifteenth.^[10][11]

Oklahoma returned to the Orange Bowl thenext year for a fourth consecutive appearance, but through 2025, Arkansas has not been back.

The Sooners and Razorbacks next met in theCotton Bowl following the2001 season, with Oklahoma winning 10-3. By that time, Arkansas was a member of theSoutheastern Conference and Oklahoma a member of theBig 12; the Southwest Conference ceased to exist after the 1995 football season, with four members joining the Big 8 schools to form the Big 12.

In 2024, Oklahoma and Arkansas will be in the same conference for the first time since 1924 when the Sooners join the SEC. However, the teams are not scheduled to play in 2024 or 2025.

• 1986–87 NCAA football bowl games
• Orange Bowl
• Arkansas Razorbacks football bowl games
• Oklahoma Sooners football bowl games
• January 1987 sports events in the United States
• 1987 in sports in Florida
• American football competitions in Miami

• Use mdy dates from August 2023
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata