1988 NCAA Division I-A season
Number of teams	104
Preseason AP No. 1	Florida State[1]
Postseason
Bowl games	17
Heisman Trophy	Barry Sanders (running back,Oklahoma State)
Champion(s)	Notre Dame (AP, Coaches, FWAA)
Division I-A football seasons
← 1987 1989 →

The1988 NCAA Division I-A football season ended withNotre Dame winning thenational championship. The Fighting Irish won the title via a 34–21 defeat of previously unbeatenWest Virginia in theFiesta Bowl in Tempe, Arizona. With 4 of the final Top 5 teams being independents (with the University of Miami and Florida State joining the Fighting Irish and Mountaineers), 1988 became a focus for fans and critics who wondered how the traditional conferences would deal with the indies (the answer ultimately involved all of these teams joining major conferences).

Notre Dame had several notable victories this season, including a 19–17 victory over No. 9Michigan, won on a last drive field goal, which started off the championship season. The season's marquee game was a 31–30 victory over No. 1Miami. Entering the game, Miami had a 36-game regular season winning streak, 20 straight road victories and a 16-game winning streak overall. This year was also the first timeNotre Dame and USC had ever met when ranked No. 1 and No. 2. Most notable about this game is Notre Dame coachLou Holtz's decision to leave behind two of his stars,Tony Brooks andRicky Watters because they were late, cementing discipline as the main theme of this championship team.

This year's edition of theUCLA–USC rivalry game featured a second rankedUSC and a fourth rankedUCLA. For the second year in a row theRose Bowl berth was on the line but for USC it also had national title implications as the rivalry game with Notre Dame was the following week. USC beat UCLA but lost to Notre Dame, and then lost to Michigan in theRose Bowl.

Oklahoma Staterunning backBarry Sanders ran the Wing T offense all the way to theHeisman Trophy and numerous rushing records.

• Defensive teams can now return blocked PAT kicks and interceptions on two-point conversion attempts for adefensive score worth two points. Fumbles on PAT/two-point conversions cannot be recovered and advanced by the offensive team other than the fumbling player, and the defense cannot convert fumbles into two-point defensive scores. There were two defensive conversions scored in Division I-A; the first was scored by Bill Stone ofRice University in a 54–11 loss toNotre Dame on November 5, 1988,^[2] and the second by Tony Bennett ofMississippi in a 20–12 loss toTennessee on November 12, 1988, both on blocked PAT kicks.^[3][4]
• Teams are permitted to take consecutive time-outs, previously this was prohibited.
• Illegal use of hands penalties are increased from 5 to 10 yards.

• ThePacific Coast Athletic Association (PCAA) changed its name to theBig West Conference, its current name, prior to the season.

Italics denotes I-AA teams.

Note:Appalachian State atWake Forest tied 34–34.

The first AP Poll of the year led off with No. 1Florida State, No. 2Nebraska, No. 3Oklahoma, No. 4Clemson, and No. 5UCLA. Nebraska defeated No. 10Texas A&M in theKickoff Classic on August 27, and the top five teams remained the same going into September.

September 3: No. 1 Florida State opened against No. 6Miami. The Hurricanes had won the previous year’s matchup by a single point, but this year they were far more dominant, shutting out the Seminoles 31-0. No. 2 Nebraska defeated Utah State 63-13, while No. 3 Oklahoma was idle. No. 4 Clemson beat Virginia Tech 40-7, and No. 5 UCLA won 59-6 over San Diego State. The top five in the next poll were No. 1 Miami, No. 2 Nebraska, No. 3 Clemson, No. 4 Oklahoma, and No. 5 UCLA.

September 10: No. 1 Miami was idle. No. 2 Nebraska visited No. 5 UCLA, and the Bruins prevailed 41-28. No. 3 Clemson defeated Furman 23-3, No. 4 Oklahoma opened with a 28-0 shutout of North Carolina, and No. 6USC won 24-20 at Stanford. The top five in the next poll were No. 1 Miami, No. 2 UCLA, No. 3 Clemson, No. 4 Oklahoma, and No. 5 USC.

September 17: No. 1 Miami made a furious comeback, scoring two touchdowns and a field goal in the last five and a half minutes to defeat No. 15Michigan 31-30. No. 2 UCLA overwhelmed Long Beach State 56-3. No. 3 Clemson lost 24-21 to No. 10 Florida State on a “puntrooskie,” a fake punt which set up a 78-yard run and a game-winning field goal for the Seminoles. No. 4 Oklahoma beat Arizona 28-10, No. 5 USC was idle, and No. 6Auburn won 56-7 over Kansas. The next poll featured No. 1 Miami, No. 2 UCLA, No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 4 Auburn, and No. 5 USC.

September 24: No. 1 Miami played another Big Ten opponent and had a much easier time, defeating Wisconsin 23-3. No. 2 UCLA was idle, while No. 3 Oklahoma lost 23-7 at No. 5 USC. No. 4 Auburn beat Tennessee 38-6, and No. 8Notre Dame crushed Purdue 52-7. With losses by the sixth- and seventh-ranked teams, the Irish moved into the top five: No. 1 Miami, No. 2 UCLA, No. 3 USC, No. 4 Auburn, and No. 5 Notre Dame.

October 1: No. 1 Miami blew out Missouri 55-0. No. 2 UCLA won 24-17 at No. 16Washington, and conference rival No. 3 USC visited Arizona for a 38-15 victory. No. 4 Auburn defeated North Carolina 47-21, and No. 5 Notre Dame beat Stanford 42-14. The top five remained the same in the next poll.

October 8: No. 1 Miami was idle. No. 2 UCLA beat Oregon State 38-21, and No. 3 USC defeated No. 18Oregon 42-14. In the famous “Earthquake Game,” No. 4 Auburn held a 6-0 lead overLSU near the end of the fourth quarter. But LSU quarterbackTommy Hodson led a late drive which culminated in a touchdown pass for a 7-6 victory, and the crowd cheered so loudly that the noise registered as an earthquake at a nearby laboratory. No. 5 Notre Dame won 30-20 at Pittsburgh, and No. 6 Florida State beat Georgia Southern 28-10. The top five in the next poll were No. 1 Miami, No. 2 UCLA, No. 3 USC, No. 4 Notre Dame, and No. 5 Florida State.

October 15: This week featuredone of the most iconic football games of all time as No. 1 Miami, who had not lost a regular-season game since September 1985, matched up with No. 4 Notre Dame, a traditional power enjoying their best season in several years. The contrast between the buttoned-up Fighting Irish and the flashy Hurricanes was played up as a clash of “Catholics vs. Convicts.” The game turned on a disputed fumble call midway through the fourth quarter, as Miami lost the ball at the Notre Dame one-yard line while they were trailing by just seven points, costing the Hurricanes the chance to tie or take the lead. Miami did score a touchdown with 45 seconds left to cut the score to 31-30, but a failed two-point conversion ensured a win for the Irish. No. 2 UCLA won 38-21 at California, and No. 3 USC beat No. 16 Washington 28-27 in another game which was decided on an unsuccessful two-point attempt. No. 5 Florida State defeated East Carolina 45-21, but still fell out of the top five in the next poll. No. 7 Nebraska, who won 63-42 over No. 10Oklahoma State, moved up: No. 1 UCLA, No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 3 USC, No. 4 Miami, and No. 5 Nebraska.

October 22: No. 1 UCLA won 24-3 at Arizona, No. 2 Notre Dame beat Air Force 41-13, No. 3 USC was idle, No. 4 Miami crushed Cincinnati 57-3, and No. 5 Nebraska visited Kansas State for a 48-3 win. The top five remained the same in the next poll.

October 29: No. 1 UCLA led Washington State by 21 points in the second half, but the Cougars came all the way back to take the lead. A last-minute UCLA drive was halted at WSU’s six-yard line, and Washington State was the winner in a 34-30 upset. No. 2 Notre Dame defeated Navy 22-7, No. 3 USC won 41-20 at Oregon State, and No. 4 Miami beat East Carolina 31-7. No. 5 Nebraska posted an unimpressive win over Missouri, gaining just one first down in the first half before coming back for a 26-18 victory. No. 6 Florida State (idle this week) and No. 7West Virginia (beat Penn State 51-30) moved ahead of the Cornhuskers in the next poll: No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 2 USC, No. 3 Miami, No. 4 West Virginia, and No. 5 Florida State.

November 5: All of the top-ranked teams dominated their opponents by 30 points or more. No. 1 Notre Dame defeated Rice 54-11, No. 2 USC beat California 35-3, No. 3 Miami was a 34-3 victor over Tulsa, No. 4 West Virginia won 51-13 at Cincinnati, and No. 5 Florida State shut out No. 15South Carolina 59-0. The top five remained the same in the next poll.

November 12: No. 1 Notre Dame and No. 3 Miami were idle. No. 2 USC blanked Arizona State 50-0, No. 4 West Virginia won 35-25 at Rutgers, and No. 5 Florida State beat Virginia Tech 41-14. A few conference races were decided this weekend: No. 11Arkansas defeated Texas A&M 25-20 to win the SWC title and aCotton Bowl berth, while No. 13 Michigan clinched the Big Ten championship and aRose Bowl appearance by beating Illinois 38-9. The top five again remained the same in the next poll.

November 19: No. 1 Notre Dame defeated Penn State 21-3. No. 2 USC visited No. 6 UCLA with the Pac-10 title and a spot in the Rose Bowl on the line. Battling a case of the measles, USC quarterbackRodney Peete led the Trojans to a 31-22 victory overTroy Aikman and the Bruins. No. 3 Miami won 44-3 at No. 11 LSU, No. 4 West Virginia finished an undefeated regular season with a 31-9 win over No. 14Syracuse, and No. 5 Florida State was idle. As was customary in the 1980s, the Big 8 title came down to a meeting between No. 7 Nebraska and No. 9 Oklahoma. The Cornhuskers won a 7-3 defensive struggle (their first victory over the Sooners in five years) to earn theOrange Bowl berth. The top five remained the same for the third straight week.

November 25–26: For the first time in the history of their storied rivalry, Notre Dame and USC met when both teams were undefeated and untied. Notre Dame coachLou Holtz benched key playersRicky Watters andTony Brooks for “repeated irresponsible tardiness,” but the No. 1-ranked Fighting Irish nevertheless had little trouble, coming away with a 27-10 victory over the No. 2 Trojans. No. 3 Miami edged No. 8 Arkansas 18-16, holding the Razorbacks to minus-14 yards of offense in the fourth quarter. No. 4 West Virginia had finished their season, and No. 5 Florida State concluded their schedule with a 52-17 defeat of Florida. The last remaining conference race was decided this weekend, as No. 7 Auburn’s 15-10 victory over No. 17Alabama moved the Tigers into a tie for the SEC title with No. 16 LSU. Despite LSU’s head-to-head victory in the earthquake game, theSugar Bowl organizers picked Auburn (who had a better overall record and higher ranking) to represent the conference. The next poll featured No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 2 Miami, No. 3 West Virginia, No. 4 Florida State, and No. 5 USC.

December 3: No. 2 Miami defeated Brigham Young 41-17. The other top-ranked teams had finished their schedules, and the top five remained the same in the final poll before the bowls.

The only two undefeated teams (No. 1 Notre Dame and No. 3 West Virginia) were both independents; they headed to the Fiesta Bowl, which had no conference tie-in, for a de facto national championship game. Fellow independents No. 2 Miami (whose only loss was to Notre Dame) and No. 4 Florida State (whose only loss was to Miami) would respectively play No. 6 Nebraska in the Orange Bowl and No. 7 Auburn in the Sugar Bowl. No. 5 USC (whose only loss wasalso to Notre Dame) met No. 11 Michigan in the Rose Bowl, while No. 8 Arkansas and No. 9 UCLA matched up in the Cotton Bowl.

National championship:

• Fiesta Bowl: No. 1Notre Dame 34, No. 3West Virginia 21

January 2 bowl games:

• Orange Bowl: No. 2Miami (FL) 23, No. 6Nebraska 3
• Sugar Bowl: No. 4Florida State 13, No. 7Auburn 7
• Rose Bowl: No. 11Michigan 22, No. 5USC 14
• Cotton Bowl: No. 9UCLA 17, No. 8Arkansas 3
• Florida Citrus Bowl: No. 13Clemson 13, No. 10Oklahoma 6
• Hall of Fame Bowl: No. 17Syracuse 23, No. 16LSU 10

Other Bowls:

• Gator Bowl: No. 19Georgia 34,Michigan State 27
• Sun Bowl: No. 20Alabama 29,Army 28
• Holiday Bowl: No. 12Oklahoma State 62, No. 15Wyoming 14
• Freedom Bowl:BYU 20,Colorado 17
• Peach Bowl:NC State 28,Iowa 23
• All-American Bowl:Florida 14,Illinois 10
• Liberty Bowl:Indiana 34,South Carolina 10
• Aloha Bowl: No. 18Washington State 24, No. 14Houston 22
• Independence Bowl:Southern Miss 38,UTEP 18
• California Bowl:Fresno State 35,Western Michigan 30

1. Notre Dame
2. Miami (FL)
3. Florida State
4. Michigan
5. West Virginia
6. UCLA
7. Southern California
8. Auburn
9. Clemson
10. Nebraska
11. Oklahoma State
12. Arkansas
13. Syracuse
14. Oklahoma
15. Georgia
16. Washington State
17. Alabama
18. Houston
19. LSU
20. Indiana

1. Notre Dame
2. Miami (FL)
3. Florida State
4. Michigan
5. West Virginia
6. UCLA
7. Auburn
8. Clemson
9. Southern California
10. Nebraska
11. Oklahoma State
12. Syracuse
13. Arkansas
14. Oklahoma
15. Georgia
16. Washington State
17. Alabama
18. North Carolina State
19. Indiana
20. Wyoming

TheHeisman Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player

• Maxwell (Player): Barry Sanders, Oklahoma State
• Camp (Back): Barry Sanders, Oklahoma State
• Davey O'Brien Award (QB): Troy Aikman, UCLA
• Rockne (Lineman): N/A
• Lombardi (Linebacker): Tracy Rocker, Auburn
• Outland (Interior): Tracy Rocker, Auburn
• Coach of the Year: Don Nehlen, West Virginia

• 1988 NCAA Division I-A football season

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