1988 All-America college football team

The 1988 All-America college football team is composed of college football players who were selected as All-Americans by various organizations and writers that chose College Football All-America Teams in 1988. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) recognizes five selectors as "official" for the 1988 season. ^[1] They are: (1) the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA); ^[2] (2) the Associated Press (AP) selected based on the votes of sports writers at AP newspapers; ^[3] (3) the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA); ^[4] (4) the United Press International (UPI) selected based on the votes of sports writers at UPI newspapers; ^[5] and (5) the Walter Camp Football Foundation (WC). ^[6] Other notable selectors included Football News (FN), the Gannett News Service (GNS), ^[7] the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA), ^[8] Scripps Howard (SH), ^[9] and The Sporting News (TSN). ^[10]

Consensus All-Americans

The following charts identify the NCAA-recognized consensus All-Americans for the year 1988 and displays which first-team designations they received.

Offense

Name	Position	School	Number [11]	Official	Other
Barry Sanders	Running back	Oklahoma State	5/4/9	AFCA, AP, FWAA, UPI, WC	GNS, NEA, SH, TSN
Tony Mandarich	Offensive tackle	Michigan State	5/3/8	AFCA, AP, FWAA, UPI, WC	GNS, SH, TSN
Anthony Phillips	Offensive guard	Oklahoma	5/1/6	AFCA, AP, FWAA, UPI, WC	NEA
Jason Phillips	Wide receiver	Houston	4/1/5	AFCA, AP, FWAA, UPI	SH
Mike Utley	Offensive guard	Washington State	4/1/5	AFCA, AP, FWAA, UPI	SH
Hart Lee Dykes	Wide receiver	Oklahoma State	3/3/6	AP, UPI, WC	NEA, SH, TSN
Mark Stepnoski	Offensive guard	Pittsburgh	3/3/6	AFCA, FWAA, WC	GNS, SH, TSN
Anthony Thompson	Running back	Indiana	3/2/5	FWAA, UPI, WC	NEA, TSN
Tim Worley	Running back	Georgia	3/2/5	AFCA, FWAA, WC	GNS, SH
Troy Aikman	Quarterback	UCLA	2/2/4	UPI, WC	GNS, TSN
Steve Walsh	Quarterback	Miami	2/1/3	AP, FWAA	GNS
Marv Cook	Tight end	Iowa	2/1/3	AFCA, UPI	GNS
Jake Young	Center	Nebraska	2/0/2	AP, FWAA
John Vitale	Center	Michigan	2/0/2	UPI, WC

Defense

Name	Position	School	Number [11]	Official	Other
Mark Messner	Defensive tackle	Michigan	5/4/9	AFCA, AP, FWAA, UPI, WC	GNS, NEA, SH, TSN
Broderick Thomas	Linebacker	Nebraska	5/4/9	AFCA, AP, FWAA, UPI, WC	GNS, NEA, SH, TSN
Derrick Thomas	Linebacker	Alabama	5/4/9	AFCA, AP, FWAA, UPI, WC	GNS, NEA, SH, TSN
Deion Sanders	Defensive back	Florida State	5/4/9	AFCA, AP, FWAA, UPI, WC	GNS, NEA, SH, TSN
Tracy Rocker	Defensive tackle	Auburn	5/3/8	AFCA, AP, FWAA, UPI, WC	GNS, SH, TSN
Donnell Woolford	Defensive back	Clemson	4/3/7	AFCA, FWAA, UPI, WC	GNS, SH, TSN
Michael Stonebreaker	Linebacker	Notre Dame	3/3/6	AP, FWAA, WC	GNS, NEA, SH
Darryl Henley	Defensive back	UCLA	3/2/5	AFCA, UPI, WC	SH, TSN
Louis Oliver	Defensive back	Florida	3/2/5	AFCA, AP, WC	NEA, SH
Wayne Martin	Defensive tackle	Arkansas	3/1/4	AP, FWAA, UPI	TSN
Bill Hawkins	Defensive end	Miami	2/1/3	AFCA, WC	SH
Frank Stams	Defensive end	Notre Dame	2/0/2	AP, UPI

Special teams

Name	Position	School	Number [11]	Official	Other
Kendall Trainor	Kicker	Arkansas	4/2/6	AFCA, AP, UPI, WC	SH, TSN
Keith English	Punter	Colorado	3/3/6	AP, UPI, WC	GNS, NEA, TSN

Offense

Quarterbacks

• Troy Aikman , UCLA (CFHOF) (UPI-1, WC, GNS, TSN)
• Steve Walsh , Miami (AP-1, FWAA, GNS)
• Rodney Peete, USC (AP-2; AFCA, GNS, SH)
• Major Harris, West Virginia (AP-3; GNS)

Running backs

• Barry Sanders , Oklahoma State (CFHOF) (AFCA, AP-1, FWAA, UPI-1, WC, GNS, SH, TSN)
• Anthony Thompson , Indiana (UPI-1, AP-2; FWAA, WC, TSN)
• Tim Worley , Georgia (AP-2; AFCA, FWAA, WC, GNS, SH)
• Darren Lewis, Texas A&M (AP-1, GNS, TSN)
• Cleveland Gary, Miami (Fla.) (AP-3; FN)
• Tony Boles, Michigan (AP-3)

Wide receivers

• Hart Lee Dykes , Oklahoma State (AP-1, UPI-1, WC, SH, TSN)
• Jason Phillips , Houston (AFCA, AP-1, UPI-1, FWAA, SH)
• Erik Affholter, USC (AFCA, AP-2, TSN)
• Clarkston Hines, Duke (AP-2, FWAA)
• Naz Worthen, North Carolina State (GNS)
• Andre Rison, Michigan State (GNS)
• Boo Mitchell, Vanderbilt (AP-3)
• Kendal Smith, Utah State (AP-3)

Tight ends

• Marv Cook , Iowa (AFCA, AP-2, UPI-1, GNS)
• Troy Sadowski, Georgia (WC)
• Wesley Walls, Mississippi (AP-1)
• Walter Reeves, Auburn (TSN)
• Charles Arbuckle, UCLA (SH)
• Scott Galbraith, USC (AP-3)

Centers

• Jake Young , Nebraska (AP-1, FWAA)
• John Vitale , Michigan (UPI-1, AP-2; WC)
• Jeff Uhlenhake, Ohio State (TSN)
• Bern Brostek, Washington (GNS)
• Jeff Garnica, North Carolina (AP-3)

Offensive guards

• Anthony Phillips , Oklahoma (AFCA, AP-1, FWAA, UPI-1, WC)
• Mike Utley , Washington State (AFCA, AP-1, UPI-1, FWAA, SH)
• Mark Stepnoski , Pittsburgh (AFCA, AP-2; FWAA, WC, GNS, SH, TSN)
• Steve Wisniewski, Penn State (AFCA, GNS, TSN)
• Rick Phillips, West Virginia (AP-2 [OT]; SH)
• Joe Wolf, Boston College (AP-2)
• Freddie Childress, Arkansas (AP-3)
• John Stroia, West Virginia (AP-3)

Offensive tackles

• Tony Mandarich , Michigan State (AFCA, AP-1, FWAA, UPI-1, WC, GNS, SH, TSN)
• Andy Heck, Notre Dame (AP-1, UPI-1, TSN)
• Pat Tomberlin, Florida State (AP-2, WC, SH)
• Tom Ricketts, Pittsburgh (GNS)
• Kevin Haverdink, Western Michigan (AP-3)
• Jim Thompson, Auburn (AP-3)

Defense

Defensive ends

• Bill Hawkins , Miami (AFCA, WC, SH)
• Frank Stams , Notre Dame (AP-1, UPI-1)
• Trace Armstrong, Florida (GNS, TSN)

Defensive tackles

• Mark Messner , Michigan (AFCA, AP-1, FWAA, UPI-1, WC, GNS, SH, TSN)
• Tracy Rocker , Auburn (CFHOF) (AFCA, AP-1, FWAA, UPI-1, WC, GNS, SH, TSN)
• Wayne Martin , Arkansas (AP-1, UPI-1, FWAA, TSN)
• Tim Ryan, USC (FWAA)
• Dave Haight, Iowa (WC)
• Benji Roland, Auburn (TSN [NG])

Linebackers

• Broderick Thomas , Nebraska (AFCA, AP-1 [DE], FWAA, UPI-1, WC, GNS, SH, TSN)
• Derrick Thomas , Alabama (CFHOF) (AFCA, AP-1, FWAA, UPI-1, WC, GNS, SH, TSN)
• Michael Stonebreaker , Notre Dame (CFHOF) (AP-1, FWAA, WC, GNS, SH)
• Keith DeLong, Tennessee (AP-1 UPI-1, GNS, TSN)
• Percy Snow, Michigan State (TSN)
• Carnell Lake, UCLA (FWAA)
• Britt Hager, Texas (AFCA, SH)
• Jerry Olsavsky, Pittsburgh (AFCA)

Defensive backs

• Deion Sanders , Florida State (CFHOF) (AFCA, AP-1, FWAA, UPI-1, WC, GNS, SH, TSN)
• Donnell Woolford , Clemson (AFCA, FWAA, UPI-1, WC, GNS, SH, TSN)
• Darryl Henley , UCLA (AFCA, UPI-1, WC, SH, TSN)
• Louis Oliver , Florida (AFCA, AP-1, WC, SH)
• Markus Paul, Syracuse (AP-1, FWAA, TSN)
• Mark Carrier, USC (UPI-1)
• Greg Jackson, LSU (GNS)
• Bubba McDowell, Miami (Fla) (GNS)

Special teams

Kickers

• Kendall Trainor , Arkansas (AFCA, AP-1, UPI-1, WC, SH, TSN)
• Chris Jacke, UTEP (FWAA, GNS)

Punters

• Keith English , Colorado (AP-1, UPI-1, WC, GNS, TSN)
• Pat Thompson, BYU (AFCA, FWAA, SH)

Returners

• Tyrone Thurman, Texas Tech (AP-1)
• James Henry, Southern Mississippi (TSN)

Key

• Bold – Consensus All-American ^[1]
• -1 – First-team selection
• -2 – Second-team selection
• -3 – Third-team selection
• CFHOF = College Football Hall of Fame inductee

Official selectors

• AFCA – American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), selected by the members of the AFCA for the Kodak All-America team ^[2]
• AP – Associated Press ^[3]
• FWAA – Football Writers Association of America ^{[12] [4]}
• UPI – United Press International ^[5]
• WC – Walter Camp Football Foundation ^[6]

Other selectors

• FN – Football News
• GNS – Gannett News Service ^[7]
• NEA – Newspaper Enterprise Association, in conjunction with World Almanac ^[8]
• SH – Scripps Howard ^[9]
• TSN – The Sporting News ^[10]

See also

• 1988 All-Atlantic Coast Conference football team
• 1988 All-Big Eight Conference football team
• 1988 All-Big Ten Conference football team
• 1988 All-Pacific-10 Conference football team
• 1988 All-SEC football team

References

1. "Football Award Winners" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). 2016. pp. 3, 14. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
2. "1988 Kodak All-America Team". Asbury Park Press. November 22, 1988. p. D2.
3. "AP All-America". The Cincinnati Enquirer. December 9, 1988. p. F2.
4. "Football Writers Association All-America Team". The Indianapolis Star. December 2, 1988. p. C6.
5. "UPI All-America Team". The Indianapolis Star. December 15, 1988. p. C10.
6. "Walter Camp All-America Team". Southern Illinoisan. November 24, 1988. p. 18.
7. "GNS All-America Team". The Des Moines Register. November 30, 1988. p. 2S.
8. "NEA All-American Team". Martinez News-Gazette (CA). December 8, 1988. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "Scripps Howard All-America Team". The Pittsburgh Press. November 25, 1988. p. D6.
10. "The Sporting News All-America Team". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. December 16, 1988. p. 6D.
11. This column lists the number of selectors choosing the player as a first-team All-American as follows: official selectors/other selectors/total selectors.
12. Ted Gangi (ed.). "FWAA All-America Since 1944: The All-Time Team" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2019. Retrieved May 18, 2016.