1988 Oklahoma State Cowboys football team

The 1988 Oklahoma State Cowboys football team represented the Oklahoma State University in the 1988 NCAA Division I-A college football season. Future OSU head coach Mike Gundy was the starting QB for the Cowboys, while senior WR Hart Lee Dykes and junior RB Barry Sanders were both named first team All-American. Sanders won the Heisman Trophy as the nation's most outstanding player for the season. Sanders was also the Offensive MVP of the 1988 Holiday Bowl, and Junior LB Sim Drain III was the Defensive MVP.

1988 Oklahoma State Cowboys football
Holiday Bowl champion
Holiday Bowl, W 62–14 vs. Wyoming
ConferenceBig Eight Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 11
APNo. 11
Record10–2 (5–2 Big 8)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorLarry Coker (6th season)
Home stadiumLewis Field
Seasons
← 1987
1989 →
1988 Big Eight Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 10 Nebraska $ 7 0 0 11 2 0
No. 14 Oklahoma 6 1 0 9 3 0
No. 11 Oklahoma State 5 2 0 10 2 0
Colorado 4 3 0 8 4 0
Iowa State 3 4 0 5 6 0
Missouri 2 5 0 3 7 1
Kansas 1 6 0 1 10 0
Kansas State 0 7 0 0 11 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

edit

The Cowboys finished the regular season with a 9–2 record.[1] In 1988, in what has been called the greatest season in college football history,[2] running back Barry Sanders led the nation by averaging 7.6 yards per carry and over 200 yards per game, including rushing for over 300 yards in four games. He set college football season records with 2,628 yards rushing, 3,249 total yards, 234 points, 39 touchdowns, of which 37 were rushing (also a record), five consecutive 200 yard games, scored at least two touchdowns in 11 consecutive games, and nine times he scored at least three touchdowns. Sanders also ran for 222 yards and scored five touchdowns in his three quarters of action in the Holiday Bowl, a game that was not included with his season statistics.[3]

DateOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 10Miami (OH)*W 52–2043,200
September 24Texas A&M*No. 18
  • Lewis Field
  • Stillwater, OK
W 52–1550,440
October 1Tulsa*No. 13
  • Lewis Field
  • Stillwater, OK \ (rivalry)
W 56–3545,100
October 8at ColoradoNo. 13W 41–2141,854
October 15at No. 7 NebraskaNo. 10CSNL 42–6376,432
October 22Missouri No. 15
  • Lewis Field
  • Stillwater, OK
W 49–2146,900
October 29at Kansas StateNo. 12W 45–2716,000
November 5No. 8 OklahomaNo. 12
  • Lewis Field
  • Stillwater, OK (Bedlam)
ESPNL 28–3150,440
November 12KansasNo. 14
  • Lewis Field
  • Stillwater, OK
W 63–2440,100
November 19at Iowa StateNo. 13W 49–2838,163
December 4vs. Texas Tech*No. 12CBSW 45–4256,000
December 30vs. No. 15 Wyoming*No. 12ESPNW 62–1460,641
  • *Non-conference game
  •  Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Personnel

edit
1988 Oklahoma State Cowboys football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
C 51 John Boisvert Sr
RB   Vernon Brown So
  Don Cox Sr
WR 11 Hart Lee Dykes Sr
QB   Kenny Ford Fr
WR 19 Jarrod Green Jr
QB 12 Mike Gundy Jr
RB 23 Gerald Hudson So
  Bill Jones Sr
G 73 Jason Kidder Sr
TE Robert Kirksey
  Matt Kolb Sr
FB 32 Garrett Limbrick Sr
WR 17 Curtis Mayfield So
RB Mitch Nash Sr
WR 29 Brent Parker So
RB 21 Barry Sanders Jr
QB   Chris Smith So
G 59 Chris Stanley Sr
TE 93 Vance Vice Jr
OL     Web
RB   Cecil Wilson So
OT 62 Mike Wolfe Sr
OT 56 Byron Woodard Sr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
DL 98 David Bailey
CB 1 Mike Clark
DL 91 Brandon Colbert
LB 58 Torrance Cummings
LB 53 Sim Drain III Jr
DL Rod Gaines Sr
CB 2 Melvin Gilliam
DL 31 Devin Jones
DL 60 Marcus Jones Sr
DB 4 Jason Juhl
CB 5 Joe King
FS 3 Chris Lowery
DL 57 Shawn Mackey
  Greg McCalister Sr
SS 7 Lamar McGriggs
DL Ruben Oliver So
LB 37 Bobby Raynor So
DL Stacey Satterwhite
DB 45 Rod Smith
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
K 25 Cary Blanchard Fr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  •   Injured
  •   Redshirt

Rankings

edit
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked
Week
PollPre123456789101112131415Final
AP2018131310151212141312121211
Coaches20141310161212151412121211

[4]

Game summaries

edit

Miami (OH)

edit

Texas A&M

edit

Tulsa

edit

At Colorado

edit

At Nebraska

edit
Oklahoma State Cowboys at Nebraska Cornhuskers – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
#10 Cowboys 0 21 71442
#7 Cornhuskers 35 14 7763

at Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, NE

  • Date: October 15
  • Game attendance: 76,432
  • [5]
Game information

Missouri

edit

At Kansas State

edit
Oklahoma State Cowboys at Kansas State Wildcats – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
#12 Cowboys 21 3 14745
Wildcats 14 3 3727

at KSU Stadium, Manhattan, KS

  • Date: October 29
  • Game attendance: 16,000
  • [6]
Game information

Oklahoma

edit
#8 Oklahoma Sooners (7–1) at #12 Oklahoma State Cowboys (8–1)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Oklahoma 21 3 0731
Oklahoma St 7 7 01428

at Lewis Field, Stillwater, Oklahoma

  • Date: November 5, 1988
  • Game weather: Partly cloudy, 58 °F (14 °C)
  • Game attendance: 50,440
  • TV announcers (ESPN): Roger Twibell and Lee Corso
  • [7]

Oklahoma State's Brent Parker dropped a potential game-winning touchdown pass in the end zone with 43 seconds left.[8]

External videos
  Full game
  Game highlights
Team Category Player Statistics
Oklahoma Passing Charles Thompson 2/5, 24 Yds
Rushing Mike Gaddis 18 Rush, 213 Yds, 2 TD
Receiving Leon Perry 1 Rec, 17 Yds
Oklahoma St Passing Mike Gundy 18/28, 228 Yds, TD, 3 INT
Rushing Barry Sanders 39 Rush, 215 Yds, 2 TD
Receiving Hart Lee Dykes 9 Rec, 122 Yds, TD

Kansas

edit

At Iowa State

edit

Vs. Texas Tech

edit

Vs. Wyoming

edit
Wyoming Cowboys vs. Oklahoma State Cowboys – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
#12 Cowboys 7 10 281762
#15 Cowboys 7 0 7014

at Jack Murphy Stadium, San Diego, CA

Game information

1989 NFL Draft

edit

The following players were drafted into professional football following the season.

Player Position Round Pick Franchise
Barry Sanders Running back 1 3 Detroit Lions
Hart Lee Dykes Wide receiver 1 16 New England Patriots

[9]

Awards and honors

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "1988 Oklahoma State Cowboys Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  2. ^ Merron, Jeff. "Best individual college football seasons". ESPN. Retrieved August 12, 2007. Marron wrote, The only serious question when composing this list was "Who's No. 2?
  3. ^ "1988 Holiday Bowl Summary". Archived from the original on December 21, 2007. Retrieved December 29, 2007.
  4. ^ "Oklahoma State 1988 AP Football Rankings". collegepollarchive.com. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
  5. ^ "Cornhuskers Strike Early and Often to Continue Domination Over Cowboys With 63-42 Victory". Omaha World-Herald. October 15, 1988. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
  6. ^ "Flashback". October 5, 2006. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  7. ^ "1988 Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma State". SoonerStats.com. 2022. Retrieved December 28, 2022.
  8. ^ "A penalty, a dropped pass and Sooners win, 31-28." Eugene Register-Guard. pg. 8F. 1988 Nov 6. Retrieved 2022-Dec-28.
  9. ^ "1989 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Archived from the original on December 21, 2007. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
  10. ^ "Heisman Winners". Heisman Trophy. Archived from the original on September 16, 2009.