1988 Alabama Crimson Tide football team

The 1988 Alabama Crimson Tide football team (variously "Alabama", "UA", "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 Army.

1988 Alabama Crimson Tide football
Sun Bowl champion
Sun Bowl, W 29–28 vs. Army
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 17
APNo. 17
1988 record9–3 (4–3 SEC)
Head coachBill Curry (2nd season)
Offensive coordinatorHomer Smith (1st season)
Defensive coordinatorDon Lindsey (2nd season)
Captains
Home stadiumBryant–Denny Stadium
(Capacity: 70,123)
Legion Field
(Capacity: 75,962)
1988 Southeastern Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 8 Auburn + 6 –1 –0  10 –2 –0
No. 19 LSU + 6 –1 –0  8 –4 –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

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]

Schedule
DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 106:00 p.m.at Temple*No. 14
W 37–028,680
September 241:00 p.m.VanderbiltNo. 13
W 44–1070,123
October 111:30 a.m.at KentuckyNo. 12
WTBSW 31–2753,442
October 811:30 a.m.Ole MissNo. 12
WTBSL 12–2270,123
October 1512:00 p.m.at Tennessee
W 28–2093,025
October 221:30 p.m.Penn State*
CBSW 8–375,962
October 291:00 p.m.at Mississippi StateNo. 19
W 53–3441,088
November 51:30 p.m.No. 13 LSUNo. 18
CBSL 18–1970,123
November 121:00 p.m.Southwestern Louisiana*No. 18
W 17–066,537
November 251:30 p.m.vs. No. 7 AuburnNo. 17
CBSL 10–1575,962
December 17:30 p.m.at Texas A&M*No. 20
ESPNW 30–1059,152
December 2411:00 a.m.vs. Army*No. 20
CBSW 29–2848,719
Source: Rolltide.com All-time Football Results: 1988 Season[8]

Roster
1988 Alabama Crimson Tide football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
TE 85 Howard Cross Sr
RB 26 Bobby Humphrey Sr
 Defense
Pos.#NameClass
LB 86 Keith McCants So
LB 55 Derrick Thomas Sr
 Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
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

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; wind 5 N
See also: 1988 Texas A&M Aggies football team

[9]

vs. Army (Sun Bowl)
Main article: 1988 Sun Bowl
See also: 1988 Army Cadets football team

1989 NFL Draft
Main article: 1989 NFL Draft
PlayerPositionRoundPickNFL club
Derrick ThomasLinebacker14Kansas City Chiefs
Greg GilbertLinebacker5136Chicago Bears
Chris MohrPunter6146Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Howard CrossTight end6158New York Giants
George BethuneLinebacker7188Los Angeles Rams

[10]

References

General

  • "1988 Game Recaps". 1989 Alabama Football Media Guide (PDF). Tuscaloosa, Alabama: UA Athletics Media Relations Office. 1989. 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.
  3. "Best of the Sun Bowl". El Paso Times. November 19, 2006.
  4. White, Jr., Gordon S. (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. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
  7. 1989 Game Recaps, Game No. 11
  8. "All-time Football Results: 1988 Season". RollTide.com. University of Alabama Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. Archived from the original on December 2, 2011. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
  9. 1989 Alabama Football Media Guide. Retrieved 2015-Sep-27.
  10. "1989 NFL Draft". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
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