1988 Alabama Crimson Tide football team

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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 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]

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 106:00 p.m.at Temple*No. 14W 37–028,680[8]
September 241:00 p.m.VanderbiltNo. 13W 44–1070,123[9]
October 111:30 a.m.at
TBS
W 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 TennesseeW 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. 19W 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. 20ESPNW 30–1059,152[18]
December 2411:00 a.m.vs. Army*No. 20CBSW 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

[21]

Vs. Army (Sun Bowl)

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.
  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. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
  7. ^ 1989 Game Recaps, Game No. 11
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  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.