1988 Florida State Seminoles football team

1988 Florida State Seminoles football
1988 Florida State Seminoles football
Sugar Bowl champion
Sugar Bowl, W 13–7 vs. Auburn
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 3
AP	No. 3
Record	11–1
Head coach	Bobby Bowden (13th season);
Offensive coordinator	Wayne McDuffie (6th season)
Offensive scheme	I formation, Pro set
Defensive coordinator	Mickey Andrews (5th season)
Base defense	4–3
Captains	Chip Ferguson; Deion Sanders; Alphonso Williams;
Home stadium	Doak Campbell Stadium
	Seasons ← 1987 1989 →

The 1988 Florida State Seminoles football team represented Florida State University as an independent during the 1988 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by 13th-year head coach Bobby Bowden, the Seminoles compiled a record of 11–1 with win in the Sugar Bowl over Auburn. Florida State played home games at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida.

1988 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
v t e	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 1 Notre Dame		–		–		12	–	0	–	0
No. 2 Miami (FL)		–		–		11	–	1	–	0
No. 3 Florida State		–		–		11	–	1	–	0
No. 5 West Virginia		–		–		11	–	1	–	0
Southern Miss		–		–		10	–	2	–	0
No. 13 Syracuse		–		–		10	–	2	–	0
Army		–		–		9	–	3	–	0
Louisville		–		–		8	–	3	–	0
South Carolina		–		–		8	–	4	–	0
Northern Illinois		–		–		7	–	4	–	0
Pittsburgh		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Memphis State		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Southwestern Louisiana		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Rutgers		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Akron		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Penn State		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Tulane		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Temple		–		–		4	–	7	–	0
Tulsa		–		–		4	–	7	–	0
Boston College		–		–		3	–	8	–	0
Cincinnati		–		–		3	–	8	–	0
East Carolina		–		–		3	–	8	–	0
Navy		–		–		3	–	8	–	0
Virginia Tech		–		–		3	–	8	–	0

Rankings from AP Poll

Defensive back Deion Sanders was a Heisman Trophy finalist, finishing in eighth place.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 3	9:00 p.m.	at No. 6 Miami (FL)	No. 1	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL (rivalry)	CBS	L 0–31	77,836	^[1]
September 10	7:00 p.m.	Southern Miss	No. 10	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL		W 49–13	53,129	^[2]
September 17	2:30 p.m.	at No. 3 Clemson	No. 10	Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC (rivalry)	CBS	W 24–21	85,576	^[3]
September 24	4:00 p.m.	Michigan State	No. 9	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL	ESPN	W 30–7	61,757	^[4]
October 1	8:00 p.m.	at Tulane	No. 6	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA		W 48–28	34,364	^[5]
October 8	2:00 p.m.	No. 7 (I-AA) Georgia Southern	No. 6	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL		W 28–10	59,109	^[6]
October 15	2:00 p.m.	East Carolina	No. 5	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL		W 45–21	56,391	^[7]
October 22	2:00 p.m.	Louisiana Tech	No. 5	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL		W 66–3	51,703	^[8]
November 5	8:00 p.m.	at No. 15 South Carolina	No. 5	Williams–Brice Stadium Columbia, SC	ESPN	W 59–0	75,000	^[9]
November 12	7:00 p.m.	Virginia Tech	No. 5	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL		W 41–14	50,910	^[10]
November 26	7:30 p.m.	Florida	No. 5	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL (rivalry)	ESPN	W 52–17	62,693	^[11]
January 2	8:00 p.m.	vs. No. 7 Auburn	No. 4	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA (Sugar Bowl)	ABC	W 13–7	61,934	^[12]
Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time Source: ^[13]

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
AP	1 (44)	1 (41)	10	10	9	6	6	5	7	6	5	5	5	5	4	4	3
Coaches	1 (37)	1 (37)	12	12	9	8	7	6	7	7	8 (1)	5 (1)	5 (1)	5 (1)	4 (1)	4 (1)	3 (1)

Game summaries

At Miami (FL)

Florida State at Miami (FL)

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
#1 Seminoles	0	0	0	0	0
• #6 Hurricanes	3	14	7	7	31

Date: September 3
Location: Miami Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida
Game attendance: 77,836
TV announcers (CBS Sports): Brent Musburger, Pat Haden, and John Dockery

^[14]^[15]

Southern Miss

	1	2	3	4	Total
Southern Miss	0	10	0	3	13
Florida St	14	14	14	7	49

At Clemson

Florida State at Clemson

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• #10 Seminoles	0	7	14	3	24
#3 Tigers	7	7	0	7	21

Date: September 17
Location: Memorial Stadium
Game attendance: 82,500

^[16]

Michigan State

Michigan State at Florida State

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Spartans	0	0	7	0	7
• #9 Seminoles	7	6	0	17	30

Date: September 24
Location: Doak Campbell Stadium
Game attendance: 61,757

At Tulane

	1	2	3	4	Total
Florida St	10	21	0	17	48
Tulane	0	14	7	7	28

Georgia Southern

	1	2	3	4	Total
Georgia Southern	0	0	3	7	10
Florida St	7	0	0	21	28

East Carolina

	1	2	3	4	Total
East Carolina	0	14	0	7	21
Florida St	14	14	3	14	45

Louisiana Tech

	1	2	3	4	Total
Louisiana Tech	0	3	0	0	3
Florida St	28	7	17	14	66

At South Carolina

	1	2	3	4	Total
Florida St	14	17	14	14	59
South Carolina	0	0	0	0	0

Virginia Tech

	1	2	3	4	Total
Virginia Tech	0	7	0	7	14
Florida St	0	14	20	7	41

Florida

	1	2	3	4	Total
Florida	7	3	0	7	17
Florida St	21	3	21	7	52

Vs. Auburn—Sugar Bowl

Florida State vs. Auburn

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• #4 Seminoles	10	3	0	0	13
#7 Tigers	0	7	0	0	7

Date: January 2
Location: Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans
Game start: 7:45 p.m. CST
Elapsed time: 3:11
Game attendance: 61,934
Game weather: Indoors
Referee: John Soffey
TV announcers (ABC): Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, Dan Dierdorf

^[17]

Roster

1988 Florida State Seminoles football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
FB	`22`	Edgar Bennett	So
RB	`31`	Marion Butts	Sr
TB	`13`	Dexter Carter	Jr
QB	`5`	Chip Ferguson	Sr
QB	`14`	Brad Johnson	Fr
RB	`33`	Sammie Smith	Jr
QB	`11`	Casey Weldon	Fr
QB	`4`	Peter Tom Willis	Jr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DB	`6`	LeRoy Butler	Jr
DL	`53`	Odell Haggins	Jr
CB	`2`	Deion Sanders	Sr
DB	`28`	Dedrick Dodge	So

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
K	`9`	Richie Andrews	So

Head coach

Bobby Bowden

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Wayne McDuffie (Offensive coordinator)
Mickey Andrews (Defensive coordinator)
Skip Holtz (Graduate assistant)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

1989 NFL draft

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Deion Sanders	Cornerback	1	5	Atlanta Falcons
Sammie Smith	Running back	1	9	Miami Dolphins
Pat Tomberlin	Guard	4	99	Indianapolis Colts
Marion Butts	Running back	7	183	San Diego Chargers
Victor Floyd	Running back	11	287	San Diego Chargers
Stan Shiver	Defensive back	12	310	Green Bay Packers

^[18]

References

↑ "Miami blows away No. 1 Florida State". The Charlotte Observer. September 4, 1988. Retrieved May 30, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
↑ "Seminoles regroup, rout Southern Miss, 49–13". The Orlando Sentinel. September 11, 1988. Retrieved March 28, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
↑ "Fake punt with 1:33 to go helps FSU beat Clemson". The Miami Herald. September 18, 1988. Retrieved February 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
↑ "Seminoles' defense heats up". Florida Today. September 25, 1988. Retrieved May 30, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
↑ "FSU tames Tulane, 48–28, as Sammie gains 212 yards". The Miami Herald. October 2, 1988. Retrieved February 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
↑ "FSU escapes with victory". The Tampa Tribune. October 9, 1988. Retrieved May 30, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
↑ "Parker sparkles in FSU's 45–21 victory over East Carolina". Tallahassee Democrat. October 16, 1988. Retrieved March 5, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
↑ "Ferguson is lone sore spot as Florida St. romps, 66–3". The Miami Herald. October 23, 1988. Retrieved July 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
↑ "Seminoles destroy South Carolina 59–0". The Palm Beach Post. November 6, 1988. Retrieved February 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
↑ "20-point period fires up FSU, 41–14". The Miami Herald. November 13, 1988. Retrieved February 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
↑ "Big plays by FSU bury Gators, 52–17". The Miami Herald. November 27, 1988. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
↑ "'Prime Time' steals the show". Birmingham Post-Herald. January 3, 1989. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
↑ "1988 Football - Year in Review".
↑ NoleFan.Org
↑ "MIAMI CRUSHES FLORIDA STATE". Chicago Tribune. September 4, 1988. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
↑ Gainesville Sun. 1988 Sep 18. Retrieved 2017-Aug-27.
↑ "SUGAR BOWL: FLORIDA STATE 13, AUBURN 7 : In Prime Time, Sanders and Florida State Stop Auburn Short". Los Angeles Times. January 3, 1989. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
↑ "1989 NFL Draft". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved November 23, 2019.

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[1] "Miami blows away No. 1 Florida State". The Charlotte Observer. September 4, 1988. Retrieved May 30, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.

[2] "Seminoles regroup, rout Southern Miss, 49–13". The Orlando Sentinel. September 11, 1988. Retrieved March 28, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

[3] "Fake punt with 1:33 to go helps FSU beat Clemson". The Miami Herald. September 18, 1988. Retrieved February 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[4] "Seminoles' defense heats up". Florida Today. September 25, 1988. Retrieved May 30, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.

[5] "FSU tames Tulane, 48–28, as Sammie gains 212 yards". The Miami Herald. October 2, 1988. Retrieved February 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.

[6] "FSU escapes with victory". The Tampa Tribune. October 9, 1988. Retrieved May 30, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.

[7] "Parker sparkles in FSU's 45–21 victory over East Carolina". Tallahassee Democrat. October 16, 1988. Retrieved March 5, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

[8] "Ferguson is lone sore spot as Florida St. romps, 66–3". The Miami Herald. October 23, 1988. Retrieved July 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

[9] "Seminoles destroy South Carolina 59–0". The Palm Beach Post. November 6, 1988. Retrieved February 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[10] "20-point period fires up FSU, 41–14". The Miami Herald. November 13, 1988. Retrieved February 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[11] "Big plays by FSU bury Gators, 52–17". The Miami Herald. November 27, 1988. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

[12] "'Prime Time' steals the show". Birmingham Post-Herald. January 3, 1989. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

[13] "1988 Football - Year in Review".

[14] NoleFan.Org

[15] "MIAMI CRUSHES FLORIDA STATE". Chicago Tribune. September 4, 1988. Retrieved November 23, 2019.

[16] Gainesville Sun. 1988 Sep 18. Retrieved 2017-Aug-27.

[17] "SUGAR BOWL: FLORIDA STATE 13, AUBURN 7 : In Prime Time, Sanders and Florida State Stop Auburn Short". Los Angeles Times. January 3, 1989. Retrieved November 23, 2019.

[18] "1989 NFL Draft". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved November 23, 2019.

[1]


1	11:46	MIA	Carlos Huerta 46-yard field goal	MIA 3-0

2	14:27	MIA	Cleveland Gary 2-yard run (Carlos Huerta kick)	MIA 10-0

2	0:11	MIA	Rob Chudzinski 19-yard pass from Steve Walsh (Carlos Huerta kick)	MIA 17-0

3	8:54	MIA	Leonard Conley 5-yard pass from Steve Walsh (Carlos Huerta kick)	MIA 24-0

4	1:30	MIA	Pee Wee Smith 17-yard pass from Craig Erickson (Carlos Huerta kick)	MIA 31-0


Q1	CLEM	Cooper 61 yard pass from C. Davis (Seyle kick)	CLEM 7–0

Q2	FSU	D. Carter 40 yard pass from Ferguson (Andrews kick)	Tie 7–7

Q2	CLEM	R. Williams 7 yard run (Seyle kick)	CLEM 14–7

Q3	FSU	D. Sanders 76 yard punt return (Andrews kick)	Tie 14–14

Q3	FSU	D. Williams 1 yard run (Andrews kick)	FSU 21–14

Q4	CLEM	T. Johnson 19 yard run	Tie 21–21

Q4	FSU	Andrews 19 yard field goal	FSU 24–21


1	9:48	FSU	Dayne Williams 2-yard run (Richie Andrews kick)	FSU 7–0
1	5:57	FSU	Bill Mason 35-yard field goal	FSU 10–0

2	11:00	FSU	Bill Mason 31-yard field goal	FSU 13–0
2	4:09	AUB	Walter Reeves 20-yard pass from Reggie Slack (Win Lyle kick)	FSU 13–7