1988 Alabama Crimson Tide football team

1988 Alabama Crimson Tide football
Sun Bowl champion
Sun Bowl, W 29–28 vs. Army
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 17
AP	No. 17
Record	9–3 (4–3 SEC)
Head coach	Bill Curry (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Homer Smith (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Don Lindsey (2nd season)
Captains	Derrick Thomas David Smith
Home stadium	Bryant–Denny Stadium (Capacity: 70,123) Legion Field (Capacity: 75,962)
Seasons ←  1987 1989  →

1988 Southeastern Conference football standings

v t e	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

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 10	6:00 p.m.	at Temple *	No. 14	Veterans Stadium Philadelphia, PA		W 37–0	28,680	[8]
September 24	1:00 p.m.	Vanderbilt	No. 13	Bryant–Denny Stadium Tuscaloosa, AL		W 44–10	70,123	[9]
October 1	11:30 a.m.	at Kentucky	No. 12	Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, KY	TBS	W 31–27	53,442	[10]
October 8	11:30 a.m.	Ole Miss	No. 12	Bryant–Denny Stadium Tuscaloosa, AL (rivalry)	TBS	L 12–22	70,123	[11]
October 15	12:00 p.m.	at Tennessee		Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN (Third Saturday in October)		W 28–20	93,025	[12]
October 22	1:30 p.m.	Penn State *		Legion Field Birmingham, AL (rivalry)	CBS	W 8–3	75,808–75,962	[13]
October 29	1:00 p.m.	at Mississippi State	No. 19	Scott Field Starkville, MS (rivalry)		W 53–34	41,088	[14]
November 5	1:30 p.m.	No. 13 LSU	No. 18	Bryant–Denny Stadium Tuscaloosa, AL (rivalry)	CBS	L 18–19	70,123	[15]
November 12	1:00 p.m.	Southwestern Louisiana *	No. 18	Legion Field Birmingham, AL		W 17–0	66,537	[16]
November 25	1:30 p.m.	No. 7 Auburn	No. 17	Legion Field Birmingham, AL (Iron Bowl)	CBS	L 10–15	75,962	[17]
December 1	7:30 p.m.	at Texas A&M *	No. 20	Kyle Field College Station, TX	ESPN	W 30–10	59,152	[18]
December 24	11:00 a.m.	vs. Army *	No. 20	Sun Bowl El Paso, TX (Sun Bowl)	CBS	W 29–28	48,719	[19]
*Non-conference game Homecoming 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 Bill Curry Coordinators/assistant coaches Homer Smith –Offensive coordinator Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Season summary

Texas A&M

1 2 3 4 Total •Alabama 7 6 0 17 30 Texas A&M 3 0 7 0 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 Q1 9:07 ALA Stewart 10 yard pass from Smith (Doyle kick) ALA 7–0 Q1 5:43 A&M Slater 49 yard field goal ALA 7–3 Q2 5:02 ALA Doyle 39 yard field goal ALA 10–3 Q2 2:50 ALA Doyle 42 yard field goal ALA 13–3 Q3 10:40 A&M Wilson 1 yard run (Slater kick) ALA 13–10 Q4 10:13 ALA Turner 8 yard pass from Smith (Doyle kick) ALA 20–10 Q4 6:42 ALA Doyle 30 yard field goal ALA 23–10 Q4 2:41 ALA Hill 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.