1988 Florida Gators football team

The 1988 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida during the 1988 NCAA Division I-A football season. The season was Galen Hall's fifth as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. Hall's 1988 Florida Gators finished with a 7–5 overall record and a Southeastern Conference (SEC) record of 4–3, tying for fourth place among the ten SEC teams.^[1]

1988 Florida Gators football
All-American Bowl, W 14–10 vs. Illinois
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Record	7–5 (4–3 SEC)
Head coach	Galen Hall (5th season)
Offensive coordinator	Lynn Amadee (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Gary Darnell (1st season)
Home stadium	Florida Field
Seasons ← 1987 1989 →

1988 Southeastern Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 19 LSU +	6	–	1	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
No. 8 Auburn +	6	–	1	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 15 Georgia	5	–	2	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
No. 17 Alabama	4	–	3	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
Florida	4	–	3	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
Tennessee	3	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Ole Miss	3	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Kentucky	2	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Vanderbilt	2	–	5	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Mississippi State	0	–	7	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The Gators started the 1988 season 5–0 and were ranked as high as No. 14. During an October game against the Memphis State Tigers, star running back Emmitt Smith injured his knee and was unable to play for a month. Florida lost the Memphis State contest and the next three as well, with the Gator offense unable to score a single touchdown while Smith was sidelined. The offense under coordinator Lynn Amadee struggled all season, with Gator quarterbacks combining to throw three touchdowns and 17 interceptions,^[2] leading one Florida sports columnist to dub the offense the "Amadeeville Horror".^[3] Defensive tackle Trace Armstrong was All-SEC in 1988, setting a new school, single-season record for tackles for a loss with nineteen, including seven sacks. In both 1987 and 1988, walk-on safety Louis Oliver was an All-American.

As of the conclusion of the 2023 season, Florida's 16-0 loss to Auburn on October 29, 1988 is the last time the Gators suffered a shutout, and Florida has scored in an all-time NCAA record 457 consecutive games.^[4]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 3		Montana State*		Florida Field Gainesville, FL		W 69–0	69,121	[5]
September 10	7:00 p.m.	at Ole Miss	No. 18	Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium Jackson, MS		W 27–15	42,000	[6]
September 17		Indiana State*		Florida Field Gainesville, FL		W 58–0	70,147	[7]
September 24		Mississippi State	No. 20	Florida Field Gainesville, FL		W 17–0	73,138	[8]
October 1	3:30 p.m.	No. 14 LSU	No. 17	Florida Field Gainesville, FL (rivalry)	CBS	W 19–6	74,264	[9]
October 8		Memphis State*	No. 14	Florida Field Gainesville, FL		L 11–17	73,194	[10]
October 15		at Vanderbilt	No. 20	Vanderbilt Stadium Nashville, TN	TBS	L 9–24	41,000	[11]
October 29		No. 9 Auburn		Florida Field Gainesville, FL (rivalry)	ESPN	L 0–16	75,199	[12]
November 5		vs. No. 19 Georgia		Gator Bowl Stadium Jacksonville, FL (rivalry)	TBS	L 3–26	81,958	[13]
November 12		at Kentucky		Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, KY (rivalry)		W 24–19	51,191	[14]
November 26	7:30 p.m.	at No. 5 Florida State*		Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL (rivalry)	ESPN	L 17–52	62,693	[15]
December 29		vs. Illinois*		Legion Field Birmingham, AL (All-American Bowl)	ESPN	W 14–10	48,218	[16]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

^[1]

Roster

1988 Florida Gators football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class OL Hesham Ismail Fr FB 38 Willie McGrady So WR 14 Ernie Mills So QB 1 Kyle Morris So RB 22 Emmitt Smith So	Defense Pos. # Name Class DE 93 Trace Armstrong Sr DT 50 Brad Culpepper Fr LB 49 Joey Nicoletto Sr DL 68 Rhondy Weston Sr DB 41 John Spierto Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Galen Hall Coordinators/assistant coaches Lynn Amadee – Offensive coordinator Gary Darnell – Defensive coordinator Charlie Strong – Outside linebackers coach Brian Borland – Graduate assistant Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Rankings

Further information: 1988 NCAA Division I-A football rankings

References

1. 2015 Florida Gators Football Media Guide Archived 2015-12-08 at the Wayback Machine, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, p. 107 (2015). Retrieved August 16, 2015.
2. "1988 Florida Gators Stats".
3. "Brent Pease Gators offense is worse than Jeff Bowden's ever was at FSU - tribunedigital-orlandosentinel". Archived from the original on March 4, 2016.
4. "Florida vs. Oregon State - College Football Game Recap - December 17, 2022".
5. "Gators chew up 'Cats". The Independent-Record. September 4, 1988. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "Trick play helps Gators trip Ole Miss, 27–15". The Pensacola News-Journal. September 11, 1988. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "Florida freshman helps Gators blitz ISU". The Indianapolis Star. September 18, 1988. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "96-yard run keys Florida win over MSU". Enterprise-Journal. September 25, 1988. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "Gator defense intercepts LSU". The Commercial Appeal. October 2, 1988. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
10. "Memphis State shocks Gators". The Bradenton Herald. October 9, 1988. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
11. "Power of gold helps Vanderbilt down Florida". The Jackson Sun. October 16, 1988. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
12. "Tigers maul Gators 16–0". The Palm Beach Post. October 30, 1988. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
13. "Punchless UF crumbles 26–3 to Bulldogs". St. Petersburg Times. November 6, 1988. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
14. "Gators find an offense and victory". Tallahassee Democrat. November 13, 1988. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
15. "Big plays by FSU bury Gators, 52–17". The Miami Herald. November 27, 1988. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
16. "Smith's TDs lift Gators". Birmingham Post-Herald. December 30, 1988. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.