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. Barry Sanders was in his junior year for the Cowboys.

1988 Oklahoma State Cowboys football
Holiday Bowl champion
Holiday Bowl, W 62–14 vs. Wyoming
Conference	Big Eight Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 11
AP	No. 11
1988 record	10–2 (5–2 Big 8)
Head coach	Pat Jones (5th season)
Offensive coordinator	Larry Coker (6th season)
Home stadium	Lewis Field (Capacity: 50,440)

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

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] Sanders won the Heisman Trophy as the season's most outstanding player.[4] However, he left Oklahoma State before his senior season to enter the NFL draft.

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 10	Miami (OH)*		Lewis Field Stillwater, Oklahoma		W 52-20	43,200
September 24	Texas A&M*	No. 18	Lewis Field Stillwater, Oklahoma		W 52-15	50,440
October 1	Tulsa*	No. 13	Lewis Field Stillwater, Oklahoma (rivalry)		W 56-35	45,100
October 8	at Colorado	No. 13	Folsom Field Boulder, Colorado		W 41-21	41,854
October 15	at No. 7 Nebraska	No. 10	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, Nebraska		L 42-63	76,432
October 22	Missouri	No. 15	Lewis Field Stillwater, Oklahoma		W 49-21	46,900
October 29	at Kansas State	No. 12	KSU Stadium Manhattan, Kansas		W 45-27	16,000
November 5	No. 8 Oklahoma	No. 12	Lewis Field Stillwater, Oklahoma (Bedlam)	ESPN	L 28-31	50,440
November 12	Kansas	No. 14	Lewis Field Stillwater, Oklahoma		W 63-24	40,100
November 19	at Iowa State	No. 13	Cyclone Stadium Ames, Iowa		W 49-28	38,163
December 4	vs. Texas Tech*	No. 12	Tokyo Dome Tokyo, Japan (Coca-Cola Classic rivalry)	CBS	W 45-42	56,000
December 30	vs. No. 15 Wyoming*	No. 12	Jack Murphy Stadium San Diego (Holiday Bowl)	ESPN	W 62-14	60,641
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[5]

Roster

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 OG 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 OG 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 Pat Jones Coordinators/assistant coaches Larry Coker, Offensive coordinator Houston Nutt, Wide receivers Brad Seely, Offensive line Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
AP	NR	NR	NR	20	18	13	13	10	15	12	12	14	13	12	12	12	11
Coaches	NR	NR	NR	NR	20	14	13	10	16	12	12	15	14	12	12	12	11

[6]

Game summaries

Miami (OH)

Texas A&M

Tulsa

at Colorado

at Nebraska

Oklahoma State Cowboys at Nebraska Cornhuskers – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
#10 Cowboys	0	21	7	14	42
#7 Cornhuskers	35	14	7	7	63

at Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, NE

• Date: October 15
• Game attendance: 76,432
• [7]

Game information
First quarter Second quarter Third quarter Fourth quarter Leading Passers OKST – Mike Gundy -   NEB –   Leading Rushers OKST – Barry Sanders - 35 carries, 189 yards, 4 TD NEB – Ken Clark - 27 carries, 256 yards, 3 TD Leading Receivers OKST –   NEB –

Missouri

at Kansas State

Oklahoma State Cowboys at Kansas State Wildcats – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
#12 Cowboys	21	3	14	7	45
Wildcats	14	3	3	7	27

at KSU Stadium, Manhattan, KS

• Date: October 29
• Game attendance: 16,000
• [8]

Game information

First quarter KSU – Washington 13-yard pass from Carl Straw (Porter kick). Wildcats 7–0. OKST – Parker 63-yard pass from Mike Gundy (Blanchard kick). Tied 7–7. KSU – Friedrich fumble recover in end zone (Porter kick). Wildcats 14–7. OKST – Barry Sanders 26-yard run (Blanchard kick). Tied 14–14. OKST – Barry Sanders 38-yard run (Blanchard kick). Cowboys 21–14. Second quarter OKST – Cary Blanchard 35-yard field goal. Cowboys 24–14. KSU – Mark Porter 32-yard field goal. Cowboys 24–17. Third quarter OKST – Hart Lee Dykes 28-yard pass from Mike Gundy (Blanchard kick). Cowboys 31–17. KSU – Mark Porter 37-yard field goal. Cowboys 31–20. OKST – Vance Vice 1-yard pass from Mike Gundy (Blanchard kick). Cowboys 38–20. Fourth quarter KSU – Lee Pickett 1-yard run (Porter kick). Cowboys 38–27. OKST – Barry Sanders 17-yard run (Blanchard kick), 6:38. Cowboys 45–27. Leading Passers KSU –   OKST – Mike Gundy - 15/19, 228 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT Leading Rushers KSU –   OKST – Barry Sanders - 37 carries, 320 yards, 3 TD Leading Receivers KSU –   OKST – Hart Lee Dykes - 9 receptions, 127 yards, TD

Oklahoma

Oklahoma Sooners at Oklahoma State Cowboys – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
#8 Sooners	21	3	0	7	31
#12 Cowboys	7	7	0	14	28

at Lewis Field, Stillwater, OK

• Date: November 5
• Game weather: Partly cloudy, 58° F, Wind NNW 16 MPH with gusts up to 30-40 MPH
• Game attendance: 50,440
• TV announcers (ESPN): Roger Twibell, Lee Corso

Game information

First quarter OKLA – Gaddis 13-yard run (Lashar kick). OKLA 7–0. OKLA – Gaddis 44-yard run (Lashar kick). OKLA 14–0. Drive: 1 plays, 44 yards, 0:07. OKST – Mike Gundy 4-yard run (Blanchard kick), 6:52. OKLA 14–7. OKLA – Perry 7-yard run (Lashar kick). OKLA 21–7. Drive: 11 plays, 80 yards, 4:17. Second quarter OKST – Hart Lee Dykes 2-yard pass from Mike Gundy (Blanchard kick). OKLA 21–14. Drive: 8 plays, 89 yards, 3:48. OKLA – Lashar 27-yard field goal, 2:08. OKLA 24–14. Fourth quarter OKST – Barry Sanders 1-yard run (Blanchard kick), 13:37. OKLA 24–21. OKST – Barry Sanders 1-yard run (Blanchard kick), 8:45. OKST 28–24. Drive: 8 plays, 72 yards, 3:12. OKLA – Thompson 18-yard run (Lashar kick), 2:33. OKLA 31–28. Drive: 13 plays, 80 yards, 6:12. Leading Passers OKLA –   OKST – Mike Gundy -   Leading Rushers OKLA –   OKST – Barry Sanders - 39 carries, 215 yards, 2 TD Leading Receivers OKLA –   OKST –

Kansas

at Iowa State

vs. Texas Tech

vs. Wyoming

Wyoming Cowboys vs. Oklahoma State Cowboys – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
#12 Cowboys	7	10	28	17	62
#15 Cowboys	7	0	7	0	14

at Jack Murphy Stadium, San Diego, CA

• Date: December 30
• Game attendance: 60,641
• TV announcers (ESPN): Bob Carpenter, Kevin Kiley, Sharlene Hawkes

Game information

First quarter OKST – Barry Sanders 33-yard run (Blanchard kick). OKST Cowboys 7–0. WYO – Randy Welniak 4-yard run (kick). Tied 7–7. Second quarter OKST – Barry Sanders 2-yard run (Blanchard kick). OKST Cowboys 14–7. OKST – Cary Blanchard 33-yard field goal. OKST Cowboys 17–7. Third quarter OKST – Mike Gundy 12-yard pass to Brent Parker (Blanchard kick). OKST Cowboys 24–7. WYO – Randy Welniak 4-yard run (kick). OKST Cowboys 24–14. OKST – Barry Sanders 67-yard run (Blanchard kick). OKST Cowboys 31–14. OKST – Barry Sanders 1-yard run (Blanchard kick). OKST Cowboys 38–14. OKST – Barry Sanders 10-yard run (Blanchard kick). OKST Cowboys 45–14. Fourth quarter OKST – Cary Blanchard 19-yard field goal. OKST Cowboys 48–14. OKST – Mike Gundy 25-yard pass to Hart Lee Dykes (Blanchard kick). OKST Cowboys 55–14. OKST – Chris Smith 5-yard run (Blanchard kick). OKST Cowboys 62–14. Leading Passers OKST – Mike Gundy - 20/24, 315 yards, 2 TD WYO – Randy Welniak -   Leading Rushers OKST – Barry Sanders - 29 carries, 222 yards, 5 TD WYO –   Leading Receivers OKST – Hart Lee Dykes - 10 receptions, 163 yards, TD WYO –

1989 NFL Draft

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

• Barry Sanders, Heisman Trophy,[10] Maxwell Award, Walter Camp Award, Sporting News College Football Player of the Year, Big 8 Offensive Player of the Year, Unanimous First-team All-American
• Hart Lee Dykes, Consensus First-team All-American

References

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 2007-08-12. 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 21 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-29.
4. "Heisman Trophy / 1988 - 54th Award". Archived from the original on 15 June 2009. Retrieved 2007-08-12.
5. "CMでも話題の独特な音を奏でる沖縄民謡を分析♪". Archived from the original on 2010-06-12.
6. "Oklahoma State 1988 AP Football Rankings". collegepollarchive.com. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
7. "Cornhuskers Strike Early and Often to Continue Domination Over Cowboys With 63-42 Victory". Omaha World-Herald. October 15, 1988. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
8. "Flashback". October 5, 2006. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
9. "1989 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com".
10. "Heisman Winners". Heisman Trophy. Archived from the original on 16 September 2009.