1988 Alabama Crimson Tide football team

1988 Alabama Crimson Tide football
Sun Bowl champion
Sun Bowl, W 29–28 vs. Army
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 17
APNo. 17
Record9–3 (4–3 SEC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorHomer Smith (1st season)
Defensive coordinatorDon Lindsey (2nd season)
Captains
Home stadiumBryant–Denny Stadium
(Capacity: 70,123)
Legion Field
(Capacity: 75,962)
Seasons
← 1987
1989 →
1988 Southeastern Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 19 LSU + 6 – 1 – 0 8 – 4 – 0
No. 8 Auburn + 6 – 1 – 0 10 – 2 – 0
No. 15 Georgia 5 – 2 – 0 9 – 3 – 0
No. 17 Alabama 4 – 3 – 0 9 – 3 – 0
Florida 4 – 3 – 0 7 – 5 – 0
Tennessee 3 – 4 – 0 5 – 6 – 0
Ole Miss 3 – 4 – 0 5 – 6 – 0
Kentucky 2 – 5 – 0 5 – 6 – 0
Vanderbilt 2 – 5 – 0 3 – 8 – 0
Mississippi State 0 – 7 – 0 1 – 10 – 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1988 Alabama Crimson Tide football team (variously "Alabama", "Bama" or "The Tide") represented the University of Alabama in the 1988 NCAA Division I-A football season. It was the Crimson Tide's 96th overall and 55th season as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The team was led by head coach Bill Curry, in his second year, and played their home games at both Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa and Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama. They finished the season with a record of nine wins and three losses (9–3 overall, 4–3 in the SEC) and with a victory in the Sun Bowl over the Army.

Alabama suffered close losses to rivals LSU and Auburn in November, but the low point of the season was a 22–12 loss on homecoming to Ole Miss, Alabama's first ever loss against Ole Miss in the state of Alabama.[1] Alabama had zero yards passing in the game.[2] Highlights included a victory over Penn State, Alabama's third consecutive victory over Tennessee, and a come-from-behind 29–28 victory in the Sun Bowl over Army in which quarterback David Smith threw for 412 yards, an all-time bowl record for an Alabama quarterback.[3][4]

Alabama's road game against Texas A&M, originally scheduled for September 17, was postponed to December 1 when Coach Curry declined to make the trip, worried about oncoming Hurricane Gilbert.[5] When Gilbert made landfall in Mexico and the weather in College Station was clear on gameday, A&M fans called Alabama's coach "Chicken Curry".[6] Alabama won the rescheduled game on December 1 by a final score of 30–10.[7]

The 8-3 victory vs. Penn State was the last time the Crimson Tide hosted a major non-conference opponent at Legion Field. From 1989 through its final game there in 2003, Alabama only played lesser-known non-conference opponents in Birmingham, although series vs. SEC rivals Tennessee and Auburn remained at Legion Field through 1997 and 1998, respectively.

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 106:00 p.m.at Temple*No. 14
W 37–028,680[8]
September 241:00 p.m.VanderbiltNo. 13
W 44–1070,123[9]
October 111:30 a.m.at KentuckyNo. 12
TBSW 31–2753,442[10]
October 811:30 a.m.Ole MissdaggerNo. 12
  • Bryant–Denny Stadium
  • Tuscaloosa, AL (rivalry)
TBSL 12–2270,123[11]
October 1512:00 p.m.at Tennessee
W 28–2093,025[12]
October 221:30 p.m.Penn State*
CBSW 8–375,808–75,962[13]
October 291:00 p.m.at Mississippi StateNo. 19
W 53–3441,088[14]
November 51:30 p.m.No. 13 LSUNo. 18
  • Bryant–Denny Stadium
  • Tuscaloosa, AL (rivalry)
CBSL 18–1970,123[15]
November 121:00 p.m.Southwestern Louisiana*No. 18
  • Legion Field
  • Birmingham, AL
W 17–066,537[16]
November 251:30 p.m.No. 7 AuburnNo. 17
CBSL 10–1575,962[17]
December 17:30 p.m.at Texas A&M*No. 20
ESPNW 30–1059,152[18]
December 2411:00 a.m.vs. Army*No. 20
CBSW 29–2848,719[19]
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Central time

[20]

Roster

1988 Alabama Crimson Tide football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
TE 85 Howard Cross Sr
RB 26 Bobby Humphrey Sr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
LB 86 Keith McCants So
LB 55 Derrick Thomas Sr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
K 17 Philip Doyle So
P 3 Chris Mohr Sr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Season summary

Texas A&M

1 234Total
• Alabama 7 6017 30
Texas A&M 3 070 10
  • Date: December 1
  • Location: Kyle Field
  • Game attendance: 59,152
  • Game weather: 45 °F (7 °C); wind 5 mph (8.0 km/h) N
Scoring summary
Q19:07ALAStewart 10 yard pass from Smith (Doyle kick)ALA 7–0
Q15:43A&MSlater 49 yard field goalALA 7–3
Q25:02ALADoyle 39 yard field goalALA 10–3
Q22:50ALADoyle 42 yard field goalALA 13–3
Q310:40A&MWilson 1 yard run (Slater kick)ALA 13–10
Q410:13ALATurner 8 yard pass from Smith (Doyle kick)ALA 20–10
Q46:42ALADoyle 30 yard field goalALA 23–10
Q42:41ALAHill 10 yard run (Doyle kick)ALA 30–10
See also: 1988 Texas A&M Aggies football team

[21]

Vs. Army (Sun Bowl)

Main article: 1988 Sun Bowl
See also: 1988 Army Cadets football team

1989 NFL Draft

Main article: 1989 NFL draft
Player Position Round Pick NFL club
Derrick Thomas Linebacker 1 4 Kansas City Chiefs
Greg Gilbert Linebacker 5 136 Chicago Bears
Chris Mohr Punter 6 146 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Howard Cross Tight end 6 158 New York Giants
George Bethune Linebacker 7 188 Los Angeles Rams

[22]

References

General

  • "1988 Game Recaps". 1989 Alabama Football Media Guide (PDF). Tuscaloosa, Alabama: UA Athletics Media Relations Office. 1989. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 22, 2015. Retrieved February 21, 2012.

Specific

  1. ^ Hurt, Cecil (October 9, 1988). "History shines on Ole Miss as Rebs tumble Tide 22–12". The Tuscaloosa News. Google News. p. 1B.
  2. ^ Reed, William F. (October 17, 1988). "College Football: Down in Dixie". Sports Illustrated. SI.com. Archived from the original on July 17, 2012. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
  3. ^ "Best of the Sun Bowl". El Paso Times. November 19, 2006.
  4. ^ White, Gordon S. Jr. (December 25, 1988). "Tide Edges Cadets in Sun Bowl". The New York Times. nytimes.com.
  5. ^ Hurt, Cecil (September 17, 1988). "Curry, Sherrill in storm of controversy". The Tuscaloosa News. Google News. p. 15.
  6. ^ Reed, William F. (December 12, 1988). "Chicken Curry and Aggie stew". Sports Illustrated. SI.com. Archived from the original on February 2, 2013. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
  7. ^ 1989 Game Recaps, Game No. 11
  8. ^ "Temple routed by Tide". The Philadelphia Inquirer. September 11, 1988. Retrieved February 20, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Tide swamps Commodores; victory costly". The Tennessean. September 25, 1988. Retrieved February 20, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "UK left with tears after Tide rushes in with crusher at 0:10". The Courier-Journal. October 2, 1988. Retrieved February 20, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "22–12, Rebs take historic win over Bama". The Clarion-Ledger. October 9, 1988. Retrieved February 20, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Sputtering UT slips again". The Tennessean. October 16, 1988. Retrieved February 20, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Drenched in red, Penn State leaves Alabama". The Morning Call. October 23, 1988. Retrieved February 20, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "State comes on too little, too late to overtake Bama". The Clarion-Ledger. October 30, 1988. Retrieved February 20, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "LSU outkicks Bama". Daily World. November 6, 1988. Retrieved February 20, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Punchless Cajuns fall to Alabama 17–0". The Daily Advertiser. November 13, 1988. Retrieved February 20, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "Big-play Tigers stop Tide". The Montgomery Advertiser. November 26, 1988. Retrieved February 20, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "Alabama blows Aggies away in 4th quarter". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. December 2, 1988. Retrieved February 20, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "'Bama turns tide, beats Army". El Paso Times. December 25, 1988. Retrieved February 20, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ "1988 Alabama football archives". RollTide.com. University of Alabama Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
  21. ^ 1989 Alabama Football Media Guide. Retrieved 2015-Sep-27.
  22. ^ "1989 NFL Draft". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved November 23, 2019.