| Year Game Played: | 1987 |
| Title Sponsor: | Mazda |
| Game Name: | Gator Bowl |
| Football Season: | 1987 |
| Visitor Name Short: | South Carolina |
| Visitor Nickname: | Gamecocks |
| Home Name Short: | LSU |
| Home Nickname: | Tigers |
| Visitor Record: | 8–3 |
| Visitor Conference: | Independent |
| Home Record: | 9–1–1 |
| Home Conference: | SEC |
| Visitor Coach: | Joe Morrison |
| Home Coach: | Mike Archer |
| Visitor Rank Ap: | 9 |
| Visitor Rank Coaches: | 9 |
| Home Rank Ap: | 7 |
| Home Rank Coaches: | 7 |
| Visitor 1Q: | 3 |
| Visitor 2Q: | 3 |
| Visitor 3Q: | 0 |
| Visitor 4Q: | 7 |
| Home 1Q: | 14 |
| Home 2Q: | 6 |
| Home 3Q: | 7 |
| Home 4Q: | 3 |
| Date Game Played: | December 31 |
| Stadium: | Gator Bowl Stadium |
| City: | Jacksonville, Florida |
| Mvp: | WR Wendell Davis, LSU RB Harold Green, South Carolina |
| Referee: | Robert C. Wood III (ACC) |
| Attendance: | 82,119 |
| Us Network: | CBS |
| Us Announcers Link: | List of announcers of major college bowl games |
| Us Announcers: | Verne Lundquist, Dick Vermeil |
| Different Next: | 1989 (Jan) |
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]
South 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.
| 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 |
South 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.