- 1988 NCAA Division I-A football season
The
1988 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with Notre Dame winning the National Championship. The Fighting Irish won the title via a 34-21 defeat of previously unbeaten West Virginia in theFiesta Bowl in Tempe, Arizona.Notre Dame had several notable victories this season, including a 19-17 victory over #9 Michigan, won on a last drive field goal, which started off the championship season. The season's marquee game was a 31-30 victory over #1 Miami. 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 time Notre Dame and USC had ever met when ranked #1 and #2. Most notable about this game is Notre Dame coach
Lou 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 the
UCLA-USC rivalry game featured a second ranked USC and a sixth ranked UCLA. For the second year in a row the Rose 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 the Rose Bowl.Oklahoma State
running back Barry Sanders ran the Wing T offense all the way to theHeisman Trophy and numerous rushing records.Conference Standings
"W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT = Winning Percentage, Conf. = Conference Record"
#1 and #2 Progress
Notable Rivalry Games
Bowl Games
*Rose Bowl: #11 Michigan 22, #5 USC 14
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*Cotton Bowl: #9 UCLA 17, #8 Arkansas 3
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*Florida Citrus Bowl: #13 Clemson 13, #10 Oklahoma 6
*Orange Bowl: #2 Miami (FL) 23, #6 Nebraska 3
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*John Hancock Bowl: #20 Alabama 29, Army 28
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*
*Peach Bowl: NC State 28, Iowa 23
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*Aloha Bowl: #18 Washington State 24, #14 Houston 22
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Final AP Poll
#Notre Dame
#Miami, FL
#Florida State
#Michigan (Big 10 Champion)
#West Virginia
#UCLA
#Southern California (Pac 10 Champion)
#Auburn (SEC Co-Champion)
#Clemson (ACC Champion)
#Nebraska (Big 8 Champion)
#Oklahoma State
#Arkansas (SWC Champion)
#Syracuse
#Oklahoma
#Georgia
#Washington State
#Alabama
#Houston
#LSU (SEC Co-Champion)
#Indiana
Final Coaches Poll
# Notre Dame (IN)
# Miami (FL)
# Florida St.
# Michigan
# West Virginia
# UCLA
# Auburn (AL)
# Clemson (SC)
# Southern California
# Nebraska
# Oklahoma St.
# Syracuse (NY)
# Arkansas
# Oklahoma
# Georgia
# Washington St.
# Alabama
# North Carolina St.
# Indiana
# Wyoming
Heisman Trophy
#Winner:
#
#
#Steve Walsh, Miami (FL), Jr. QB
#
Other Major Awards
*Maxwell (Player): Barry Sanders, Oklahoma State
*Camp (Back): Barry Sanders, Oklahoma State
*O'Brein 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
Notes
*cite web
last = Leon Moore
first = David
title = L.A. is capital of football for a day
url= http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/pac10/2005-12-02-ucla-usc_x.htm
*cite web
title = What was the greatest Fighting Irish football game in the history of Notre Dame Stadium?
url=http://und.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/082905aaf.html
accessdate = 2005-08-29
*Wood, Bob (Robert) (1989). "Big Ten country : a journey through one football season." Morrow. ISBN 0688089224.
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