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
Legion Field
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 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 MissNo. 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
  • Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Central time

[20]

Game summaries

Texas A&M

Team 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

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
  • Redshirt

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. Retrieved February 21, 2012.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  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.
  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.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.