1988 Nebraska Cornhuskers football
Big 8 champion
Orange Bowl, L 3–23 vs. Miami (FL)
Conference	Big Eight Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 10
AP	No. 10
Record	11–2 (7–0 Big 8)
Head coach	Tom Osborne (16th season)
Offensive coordinator	Tom Osborne (19th season)
Offensive scheme	I formation
Defensive coordinator	Charlie McBride (8th season)
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium
Seasons ← 1987 1989 →

1988 Big Eight Conference football standings
v t e	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

The 1988 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team represented the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the 1988 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was coached by Tom Osborne and played their home games in Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Schedule

^[1]

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 27	7:00 pm	vs. No. 10 Texas A&M*	No. 2	Giants Stadium East Rutherford, New Jersey (Kickoff Classic)	Raycom	W 23–14	58,162
September 3	1:30 pm	Utah State*	No. 2	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, Nebraska		W 63–13	76,233
September 10	7:00 pm	at No. 5 UCLA*	No. 2	Rose Bowl Pasadena, California	ABC	L 28–41	84,086
September 24	6:00 pm	Arizona State*	No. 9	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, Nebraska	ESPN	W 47–16	76,312
October 1	1:30 pm	UNLV*	No. 9	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, Nebraska		W 48–6	76,398
October 8	1:00 pm	at Kansas	No. 9	Memorial Stadium Lawrence, Kansas (rivalry)		W 63–10	32,500
October 15	1:30 pm	No. 10 Oklahoma State	No. 7	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, Nebraska		W 63–42	76,432
October 22	1:30 pm	at Kansas State	No. 5	KSU Stadium Manhattan, Kansas (rivalry)		W 48–3	35,000
October 29	1:30 pm	Missouri	No. 5	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, Nebraska (rivalry)		W 26–18	76,316
November 5	1:00 pm	at Iowa State	No. 7	Cyclone Stadium Ames, Iowa		W 51–16	50,158
November 12	1:30 pm	No. 19 Colorado	No. 7	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, Nebraska (rivalry)		W 7–0	76,359
November 19	2:30 pm	at No. 9 Oklahoma	No. 7	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, Oklahoma (rivalry)	CBS	W 7–3	75,004
January 2	7:00 pm	vs. No. 2 Miami (FL)*	No. 6	Miami Orange Bowl Miami (Orange Bowl) (rivalry)	NBC	L 3–23	79,480
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Roster and coaching staff

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

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DT	`96`	Le Andre Anderson	So
S	`23`	Mark Blazek	Sr
OLB	`81`	Kurt Broer	Sr
DT	`95`	Paul Brungardt	So
LB	`37`	Peter Buchanan	Sr
LB	`49`	Chris Caliendo	Jr
SS	`17`	Reggie Cooper	So
CB	`45`	Jon Crippen	So
OLB	`88`	Mike Croel	So
CB	`28`	John Custard	Sr
DT	`98`	Joe D'Alesio	Jr
SS	`7`	Jim Dobesh	So
DT	`90`	Tye Doll	Jr
MG	`63`	Brian Edgren	So
MG	`97`	Pat Engelbert	So
LB	`47`	LeRoy Etienne	Sr
LB	`51`	Brad Ferguson	Jr
CB	`10`	Charles Fryar	Sr
DT	`84`	Willie Griffin	Sr
LB	`39`	Mark Hagge	Jr
CB	`8`	Lorenzo Hicks	Sr
S	`4`	Tim Jackson	Sr
LB	`55`	Randall Jobman	Jr
LB	`67`	Rob Leuck	Jr
CB	`18`	Lance Lewis	Fr
CB	`5`	Tahaun Lewis	So
OLB	`93`	Jon Marco	Sr
LB	`35`	Brian Miller	Sr
MG	`99`	Kevin Miller	Jr
OLB	`42`	Jeff Mills	Jr
MG	`13`	Junior Monarrez	Jr
MG	`74`	Mike Murray	Jr
MG	`96`	Lawrence Pete	Sr
CB	`38`	Bruce Pickens	So
MG	`92`	Sean Putnam	Sr
QB	`14`	Pete Maletto	So
CB	`26`	Marvin Sanders	Jr
CB		Bill Settles
DT	`56`	Joe Sims	So
DT	`66`	Kurt Skradis	Sr
OLB	`87`	Dan Svehla	So
OLB	`89`	Broderick Thomas	Sr
LB	`40`	Pat Tyrance	So
DT	`75`	Ray Valladao	Jr
SS	`41`	Scott Vampola	Jr
CB	`27`	Cartier Walker	Sr
LB	`57`	Kenny Walker	So
MG	`61`	Jim Wanek	So
DT	`91`	Kent Wells	Jr
S	`1`	Rick Wendland	Jr
S	`15`	Wendell Wooten	Sr

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

Tom Osborne
   16th season
   25th year at Nebraska
   Alma mater: Nebraska

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
Redshirt

Roster
Last update: 2011-01-17

Depth chart

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	David Edeal	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
Sam Schmidt

Special teams
PK Gregg Barrios Chris Drennan
P John Kroeker

Game summaries

Texas A&M

Texas A&M vs Nebraska [box score]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Texas A&M	7	0	0	7	14
• Nebraska	0	3	9	11	23

Date: 1988-08-27
Location: Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey
Game attendance: 58,162

Utah State

Utah State at Nebraska [box score]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Utah State	0	0	7	6	13
• Nebraska	14	14	14	21	63

Date: 1988-09-03
Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska
Game attendance: 76,233

At UCLA

Nebraska at UCLA [box score]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Nebraska	0	13	7	8	28
• UCLA	28	10	3	0	41

Date: 1988-09-10
Location: Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California
Game attendance: 84,086
TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson, Bob Griese, and Mike Adamle

Arizona State

Arizona State at Nebraska [box score]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Arizona State	13	3	0	0	16
• Nebraska	9	21	0	17	47

Date: 1988-09-24
Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska
Game attendance: 76,312

UNLV

UNLV at Nebraska [box score]

	1	2	3	4	Total
UNLV	0	0	0	6	6
• Nebraska	7	13	15	13	48

Date: 1988-10-01
Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska
Game attendance: 76,398

At Kansas

Nebraska at Kansas [box score]

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Nebraska	28	21	7	7	63
Kansas	0	10	0	0	10

Date: 1988-10-08
Location: Memorial Stadium, Lawrence, Kansas
Game attendance: 32,500

Oklahoma State

Oklahoma State at Nebraska [box score]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Oklahoma State	0	21	7	14	42
• Nebraska	35	14	7	7	63

Date: 1988-10-15
Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska
Game attendance: 76,432

At Kansas State

Nebraska at Kansas State [box score]

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Nebraska	14	20	14	0	48
Kansas State	3	0	0	0	3

Date: 1988-10-22
Location: KSU Stadium, Manhattan, Kansas
Game attendance: 35,000

Missouri

Missouri at Nebraska [box score]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Missouri	3	3	9	3	18
• Nebraska	0	0	17	9	26

Date: 1988-10-29
Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska
Game attendance: 76,316

At Iowa State

Nebraska at Iowa State [box score]

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Nebraska	7	24	7	13	51
Iowa State	0	0	3	13	16

Date: 1988-11-05
Location: Cyclone Stadium, Ames, Iowa
Game attendance: 35,000

Colorado

Colorado at Nebraska [box score]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Colorado	0	0	0	0	0
• Nebraska	0	0	7	0	7

Date: 1988-11-12
Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska
Game attendance: 76,359

At Oklahoma

#7 Nebraska Cornhuskers (10–1) at #9 Oklahoma Sooners (9–1)

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Nebraska	7	0	0	0	7
Oklahoma	0	0	3	0	3

at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, Norman, Oklahoma

Date: November 19, 1988
Game time: 3:30 p.m. EDT
Game weather: Rain
Game attendance: 75,004
TV announcers (CBS): Brent Musburger
Box Score, Box Score

^[2]

External videos
Full game
Game highlights

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

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Drive			Team	Scoring information	Score
Quarter	Time	Plays	Yards	TOP	Team	Scoring information	NU	OU
1	11:06	9	80		Nebraska	Steve Taylor 1-yard touchdown run, Gregg Berrios kick good	7	0
3	1:50	6	19		Oklahoma	29-yard field goal by R.D. Lashar	7	3
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.							7	3

Orange Bowl (vs Miami (FL))

Miami vs Nebraska [box score]

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Miami	7	13	0	3	23
Nebraska	0	0	3	0	3

Date: 1989-01-02
Location: Miami Orange Bowl, Miami
Game attendance: 79,480

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ 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

Awards

^[3]

Award	Name(s)
All-America 1st team	Broderick Thomas, Jake Young
Big 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

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.^[4]

Name	Team
Richard Bell	Pittsburgh Steelers
Dana Brinson	San Diego Chargers
Pete Buchanan	Toronto Argonauts
Ken Clark	Indianapolis Colts
Reggie Cooper	Dallas Cowboys
Mike Croel	Denver Broncos
LeRoy Etienne	San Francisco 49ers
Tim Jackson	Dallas Cowboys
Keith Jones	Cleveland Browns
Jeff Mills	San Diego Chargers
Lawrence Pete	Detroit Lions
Bruce Pickens	Atlanta Falcons
Tim Rother	Los Angeles Raiders
Joe Sims	Atlanta Falcons
Steve Taylor	Edmonton Eskimos
Broderick Thomas	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Nate Turner	Buffalo Bills
Kenny Walker	Denver Broncos
Kent Wells	New York Giants

References

^ "Football - 1988 Schedule/Results". University of Nebraska–Lincoln Athletics Department. Retrieved May 29, 2009.
^ "1988 Nebraska vs. Oklahoma". HuskerMax. 2022. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
^ 1988 Husker Honors
^ "All Time NFL Huskers". Archived from the original on August 15, 2009. Retrieved May 15, 2009.

v t e Nebraska Cornhuskers football
Venues	Lincoln Park (1890–1895) "M" Street Park (1894–1996) Antelope Field (1897–1908) Nebraska Field (1909–1922) Memorial Stadium (1923–present)
Bowls and rivalries	Bowl games Colorado Iowa Kansas Kansas State Miami (FL) Minnesota Missouri Oklahoma Wisconsin
Culture and lore	History Herbie Husker Lil' Red "Dear Old Nebraska U" "Hail Varsity" Cornhusker Marching Band Blackshirts Origin of "Cornhuskers" nickname 1939 Kansas State game Game of the Century (1971 Oklahoma game) Fumblerooski 1982 Penn State game Flea Kicker Black 41 Flash Reverse Pass 2009 Big 12 Championship Game Yes Man
People	Head coaches All-Americans NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold

v t e Big Eight Conference football champions
MVIAA	Iowa & Nebraska (1907) Kansas (1908) Missouri (1909) Nebraska (1910) Iowa State & Nebraska (1911) Iowa State & Nebraska (1912) Missouri & Nebraska (1913) Nebraska (1914) Nebraska (1915) Nebraska (1916) Nebraska (1917) Missouri (1919) Oklahoma (1920) Nebraska (1921) Drake & Nebraska (1922) Kansas & Nebraska (1923) Missouri (1924) Missouri (1925) Oklahoma A&M (1926) Missouri (1927)
Big Six	Nebraska (1928) Nebraska (1929) Kansas (1930) Nebraska (1931) Nebraska (1932) Nebraska (1933) Kansas State (1934) Nebraska (1935) Nebraska (1936) Nebraska (1937) Oklahoma (1938) Missouri (1939) Nebraska (1940) Missouri (1941) Missouri (1942) Oklahoma (1943) Oklahoma (1944) Missouri (1945) Kansas & Oklahoma (1946) Kansas & Oklahoma (1947)
Big Seven	Oklahoma (1948) Oklahoma (1949) Oklahoma (1950) Oklahoma (1951) Oklahoma (1952) Oklahoma (1953) Oklahoma (1954) Oklahoma (1955) Oklahoma (1956) Oklahoma (1957) Oklahoma (1958) Oklahoma (1959)
Big Eight	Missouri (1960) Colorado (1961) Oklahoma (1962) Nebraska (1963) Nebraska (1964) Nebraska (1965) Nebraska (1966) Oklahoma (1967) Kansas & Oklahoma (1968) Missouri & Nebraska (1969) Nebraska (1970) Nebraska (1971) Nebraska (1972) Oklahoma (1973) Oklahoma (1974) Nebraska & Oklahoma (1975) Colorado, Oklahoma, & Oklahoma State (1976) Oklahoma (1977) Nebraska & Oklahoma (1978) Oklahoma (1979) Oklahoma (1980) Nebraska (1981) Nebraska (1982) Nebraska (1983) Nebraska & Oklahoma (1984) Oklahoma (1985) Oklahoma (1986) Oklahoma (1987) Nebraska (1988) Colorado (1989) Colorado (1990) Colorado & Nebraska (1991) Nebraska (1992) Nebraska (1993) Nebraska (1994) Nebraska (1995)
National championships in bold