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American college football season
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]
Date Time Opponent Rank Site TV Result Attendance Source September 10 6:00 p.m. at Temple * No. 14 W 37–028,680 [ 8]
September 24 1:00 p.m. Vanderbilt No. 13 W 44–1070,123 [ 9]
October 1 11:30 a.m. at Kentucky No. 12 TBS W 31–2753,442 [ 10]
October 8 11:30 a.m. Ole Miss No. 12 Bryant–Denny Stadium Tuscaloosa, AL (rivalry ) TBS L 12–2270,123 [ 11]
October 15 12:00 p.m. at Tennessee W 28–2093,025 [ 12]
October 22 1:30 p.m. Penn State * CBS W 8–375,808–75,962 [ 13]
October 29 1:00 p.m. at Mississippi State No. 19 W 53–3441,088 [ 14]
November 5 1:30 p.m. No. 13 LSU No. 18 Bryant–Denny Stadium Tuscaloosa, AL (rivalry ) CBS L 18–1970,123 [ 15]
November 12 1:00 p.m. Southwestern Louisiana * No. 18 Legion Field Birmingham, AL W 17–066,537 [ 16]
1:30 p.m. No. 7 Auburn No. 17 CBS L 10–1575,962 [ 17]
7:30 p.m. at Texas A&M * No. 20 ESPN W 30–1059,152 [ 18]
December 24 11:00 a.m. vs. Army * No. 20 CBS W 29–2848,719 [ 19]
*Non-conference game HomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time
[ 20]
1988 Alabama Crimson Tide football team roster
Players
Coaches
Offense
Defense
Special teams
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
Injured
Redshirt
1
2 3 4 Total
• Alabama
7
6 0 17
30
Texas A&M
3
0 7 0
10
Date: December 1Location: Kyle Field Game attendance: 59,152Game 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
[ 21]
Vs. Army (Sun Bowl)[ edit ]
[ 22]
General
Specific
^ Hurt, Cecil (October 9, 1988). "History shines on Ole Miss as Rebs tumble Tide 22–12". The Tuscaloosa News . Google News. p. 1B.
^ Reed, William F. (October 17, 1988). "College Football: Down in Dixie" . Sports Illustrated . SI.com. Retrieved February 21, 2012 .
^ "Best of the Sun Bowl". El Paso Times . November 19, 2006.
^ White, Gordon S. Jr. (December 25, 1988). "Tide Edges Cadets in Sun Bowl". The New York Times . nytimes.com.
^ Hurt, Cecil (September 17, 1988). "Curry, Sherrill in storm of controversy". The Tuscaloosa News . Google News. p. 15.
^ Reed, William F. (December 12, 1988). "Chicken Curry and Aggie stew" . Sports Illustrated . SI.com. Retrieved February 21, 2012 .
^ 1989 Game Recaps, Game No. 11
^ "Temple routed by Tide" . The Philadelphia Inquirer . September 11, 1988. Retrieved February 20, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "Tide swamps Commodores; victory costly" . The Tennessean . September 25, 1988. Retrieved February 20, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "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 .
^ "22–12, Rebs take historic win over Bama" . The Clarion-Ledger . October 9, 1988. Retrieved February 20, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "Sputtering UT slips again" . The Tennessean . October 16, 1988. Retrieved February 20, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "Drenched in red, Penn State leaves Alabama" . The Morning Call . October 23, 1988. Retrieved February 20, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "State comes on too little, too late to overtake Bama" . The Clarion-Ledger . October 30, 1988. Retrieved February 20, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "LSU outkicks Bama" . Daily World . November 6, 1988. Retrieved February 20, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "Punchless Cajuns fall to Alabama 17–0" . The Daily Advertiser . November 13, 1988. Retrieved February 20, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "Big-play Tigers stop Tide" . The Montgomery Advertiser . November 26, 1988. Retrieved February 20, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "Alabama blows Aggies away in 4th quarter" . Fort Worth Star-Telegram . December 2, 1988. Retrieved February 20, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
^ " 'Bama turns tide, beats Army" . El Paso Times . December 25, 1988. Retrieved February 20, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "1988 Alabama football archives" . RollTide.com . University of Alabama Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. Retrieved February 20, 2021 .
^ 1989 Alabama Football Media Guide. Retrieved 2015-Sep-27.
^ "1989 NFL Draft" . Pro Football Reference . Retrieved November 23, 2019 .
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