American college football season
The1988 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team represented theUniversity of Nebraska–Lincoln in the1988 NCAA Division I-A football season . The team was coached byTom Osborne and played their home games inMemorial Stadium inLincoln, Nebraska .
Date Time Opponent Rank Site TV Result Attendance Source August 27 7:00 pm vs. No. 10Texas A&M * No. 2 Raycom W 23–1458,172 [ 1] September 3 1:30 pm Utah State * No. 2 W 63–1376,233 [ 2] September 10 7:00 pm at No. 5UCLA * No. 2 ABC L 28–4184,086 [ 3] September 24 6:00 pm Arizona State * No. 9 Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE ESPN W 47–1676,312 [ 4] October 1 1:30 pm UNLV * No. 9 Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE W 48–676,398 [ 5] October 8 1:00 pm atKansas No. 9 W 63–1032,500 [ 6] October 15 1:30 pm No. 10Oklahoma State No. 7 Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE W 63–4276,432 [ 7] October 22 1:30 pm atKansas State No. 5 W 48–335,000 [ 8] October 29 1:30 pm Missouri No. 5 Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE (rivalry ) W 26–1876,316 [ 9] November 5 1:00 pm atIowa State No. 7 W 51–1650,158 [ 10] November 12 1:30 pm No. 19Colorado No. 7 Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE (rivalry ) W 7–076,359 [ 11] November 19 2:30 pm at No. 9Oklahoma No. 7 CBS W 7–375,004 [ 12] January 2 , 19897:00 pm vs. No. 2Miami (FL) * No. 6 NBC L 3–2379,480 [ 13] *Non-conference game HomecomingRankings fromAP Poll released prior to the game All times are inCentral time
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Roster and coaching staff [ edit ] 1988 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team roster Players Coaches Offense Pos. # Name Class IB 4 George Achola So C 59 Jeff Anderson Jr G 53 Mark Antonietti Sr SE 18 Tony Avant Jr SE 82 Chip Bahe Jr WB 21 Richard Bell Jr G 69 Bill Bobbora Jr WB 33 Dana Brinson Sr FB 29 Bryan Carpenter Jr IB 32 Ken Clark Jr IB 1 Ray Coleman Sr WB 6 Brad Devall So QB 12 Jerry Dunlap So C 54 David Edeal So OT 73 Steve Engstrom So OT 77 Terry Eyman So C 52 Roger Fitzke Jr IB 3 Leodis Flowers Fr TE 80 Chris Garrett Fr TE 87 Keith Gawrick So QB 14 Gerry Gdowski Jr OT 70 Doug Glaser Jr SE 19 Morgan Gregory Jr OT 61 Mike Griffin Jr TE 94 Corey Grobe Sr FB 24 Brian Harchelroad Jr FB 37 Tim Johnk So QB 2 Mickey Joseph Fr G 65 Andy Keeler Sr FB 36 Barry Kitrell Sr IB 34 Tyreese Knox Sr TE 85 Monte Kratzenstein Jr SE 83 Tim McCoy Jr TE 43 Todd Millikan Sr G 76 John Nelson Sr TE 86 Chris O'Gara Jr QB 11 Mike Preston Jr OT 78 Tom Punt So IB 20 Terry Rodgers Jr G 64 John Roschal Jr OT 72 Brad Rother Jr FB 25 Sam Schmidt Jr OT 62 Bob Sledge Sr QB 9 Steve Taylor Sr WB 22 Nate Turner Fr WB 31 Jamie Worden Sr C 68 Jake Young Jr
Defense Special teams Pos. # Name Class PK 44 Gregg Barrios So P 48 Scott Beckler Jr PK 16 Chris Drennan Jr P/PK 13 Tom Janky So P 46 John Kroeker Sr
Head coach Coordinators/assistant coaches Charlie McBride 8th season as DC/DL coach 12th year at Nebraska Alma mater:Colorado Ron Brown 2nd season as WR/TE coach 2nd year at Nebraska Alma mater:Brown Dan Young 6th season as OL/K coach 6th year at Nebraska Alma mater:Reed Milt Tenopir 15th season as OL coach 15th year at Nebraska Alma mater:Sterling Tony Samuel 3rd season as OLB coach 3rd year at Nebraska Alma mater:Nebraska George Darlington DB coach 16th year at Nebraska Alma mater:Rutgers Frank Solich 6th season as RB coach 10th year at Nebraska Alma mater:Nebraska Boyd Epley 20th season as S&C coach 20th year at Nebraska Alma mater:Nebraska Jack Pierce 10th year at Nebraska John Melton 16th season as LB coach 27th year at Nebraska Alma mater:Wyoming Legend (C) Team captain(S) Suspended(I) Ineligible Injured RedshirtRoster Last update: 2011-01-17
Defense
FS Tim Jackson Marvin Sanders Wendell Wooten
OUTSIDE INSIDE INSIDE OUTSIDE Jeff Mills Leroy Etienne Chris Caliendo Broderick Thomas Jon Marco Randall Jobman Pat Tyrance Mike Croel Kurt Broer Mark Hagge Brad Ferguson Dan Svehla
SS Reggie Cooper Mark Blazek Scott Vampola
CB Charles Fryar Tahaun Lewis Jon Crippen
DE NT DE Kent Wells Lawrence Pete Willie Griffin Paul Brungardt Mike Murray Joe Sims Ray Valladao Junior Monarrez Le Andre Anderson
CB Lorenzo Hicks Bruce Pickens John Custard
Offense
WR Morgan Gregory Nate Turner Chip Bahe
LT LG C RG RT Bob Sledge Andy Keeler Jake Young John Nelson Doug Glaser Tom Punt Mark Antonietti Jeff Anderson Bill Bobbora Terry Eyman Steve Engstrom Jim Wanek Roger Fitzke Chris O'Gara Steve Engstrom
TE Todd Millikan Monte Kratzenstein Corey Grobe
WR Richard Bell Dana Brinson Jamie Worden
QB Steve Taylor Gerry Gdowski Mickey Joseph
RB Ken Clark Tyreese Knox Terry Rodgers Leodis Flowers
FB Bryan Carpenter Lance Lewis Brian Harchelroad
Texas A&M vs Nebraska [box score]
Utah State at Nebraska [box score]
Nebraska at UCLA [box score]
Team 1 2 3 4 Total Nebraska 0 13 7 8 28 •UCLA 28 10 3 0 41
Arizona State at Nebraska [box score]
UNLV at Nebraska [box score]
Team 1 2 3 4 Total UNLV 0 0 0 6 6 •Nebraska 7 13 15 13 48
Nebraska at Kansas [box score]
Team 1 2 3 4 Total •Nebraska 28 21 7 7 63 Kansas 0 10 0 0 10
Oklahoma State at Nebraska [box score]
Nebraska at Kansas State [box score]
Missouri at Nebraska [box score]
Team 1 2 3 4 Total Missouri 3 3 9 3 18 •Nebraska 0 0 17 9 26
Nebraska at Iowa State [box score]
Colorado at Nebraska [box score]
Team 1 2 3 4 Total Colorado 0 0 0 0 0 •Nebraska 0 0 7 0 7
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Team Category Player Statistics Nebraska Passing Steve Taylor 2/12, 48 Yds, INT Rushing Ken Clark 24 Rush, 167 Yds Receiving Richard Bell 2 Rec, 48 Yds Oklahoma Passing Charles Thompson 3/9, 39 Yds, INT Rushing Mike Gaddis 12 Rush, 45 Yds Receiving Artie Guess 1 Rec, 28 Yds
Orange Bowl (vs Miami (FL))[ edit ] Miami vs Nebraska [box score]
Team 1 2 3 4 Total •Miami 7 13 0 3 23 Nebraska 0 0 3 0 3
Ranking movementsLegend: ██ Increase in ranking██ Decrease in ranking Week Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Final AP 2 2 2 11 10 9 9 7 5 5 7 7 7 6 6 6 10 Coaches 10
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Award Name(s) All-America 1st team Broderick Thomas , Jake YoungBig 8 coach of the Year Tom Osborne Big 8 Defensive Player of the Year Broderick Thomas Big 8 Defensive Newcomer of the Year Bruce Pickens All-Big 8 1st team Dana Brinson,Ken Clark , LeRoy Etienne, Charles Fryar, Willie Griffin, Tim Jackson, Andy Keeler, Todd Millikan,Lawrence Pete , Bob Sledge, Steve Taylor, Broderick Thomas, Jake Young All-Big 8 2nd team Reggie Cooper, Doug Glaser All-Big 8 honorable mention Richard Bell, Mark Blazek, Chris Caliendo, Bryan Carpenter, Morgan Gregory, John Kroeker, Jeff Mills, John Nelson
NFL and pro players [ edit ] The following Nebraska players who participated in the 1988 season later moved on to the next level and joined a professional or semi-pro team as draftees or free agents.[ 18]
^ "Nebraska rally in 2d half overcomes A&M, 23–14" .The Star-Ledger . August 28, 1988. RetrievedJune 3, 2025 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Nebraska plasters Utah State" .The Charlotte Observer . September 4, 1988. RetrievedJune 3, 2025 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "UCLA overpowers Nebraska" .Honolulu Star-Bulletin & Advertiser . September 11, 1988. RetrievedJune 3, 2025 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "No. 10 Nebraska socks Sun Devils" .The Sioux City Journal . September 25, 1988. RetrievedJune 3, 2025 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Osborne irked despite romp by Nebraska" .The Des Moines Register . October 2, 1988. RetrievedJune 3, 2025 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Huskers' quick getaway buries Jayhawks, 63–10" .Sunday Telegraph . October 9, 1988. RetrievedJune 3, 2025 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Cornhuskers outgun Cowboys" .Sunday Journal-Star . October 16, 1988. RetrievedJune 3, 2025 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Huskers romp to record" .Tulsa World . October 23, 1988. RetrievedJune 3, 2025 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Nebraska rallies past MU" .St. Louis Post-Dispatch . October 30, 1988. RetrievedJune 3, 2025 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Cornhuskers make life gloomy for Cyclones" .The Gazette . November 6, 1988. RetrievedJune 3, 2025 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Nebraska outlasts error-prone Buffs, sets up OU showdown" .The Grand Island Independent . November 13, 1988. RetrievedJune 3, 2025 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "NU Black Shirts rough up Sooners" .The Grand Island Independent . November 20, 1988. RetrievedJune 3, 2025 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Miami's Johnson: 'We're best team right now' " .St. Louis Post-Dispatch . January 4, 1989. RetrievedJune 3, 2025 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Football - 1988 Schedule/Results" . University of Nebraska–Lincoln Athletics Department. RetrievedMay 29, 2009 .^ "1988 Nebraska Cornhuskers Schedule and Results" .SR/College Football . Sports Reference LLC. RetrievedJune 3, 2025 .^ "1988 Nebraska vs. Oklahoma" .HuskerMax . 2022. RetrievedDecember 30, 2022 .^ 1988 Husker Honors ^ "All Time NFL Huskers" .Archived from the original on August 15, 2009. RetrievedMay 15, 2009 .
Venues Rivalries Games Culture and lore People Seasons National championship seasons inbold
MVIAA Big Eight National championships in bold