1988 Sun Bowl

The 1988 John Hancock Sun Bowl, part of the 1988 bowl game season, took place on December 24, 1988, at the Sun Bowl Stadium in El Paso, Texas. The competing teams were the Alabama Crimson Tide, representing the Southeastern Conference (SEC), and the Army Cadets, competing as a football independent. The game put Alabama's air attack against Army's ground attack, and ended with Alabama just edging past Army in the fourth quarter to win the game 29–28.

1988 John Hancock Sun Bowl
55th Sun Bowl
Army Cadets Alabama Crimson Tide (9–2) (8–3) Independent SEC 28 29 Head coach:  Jim Young Head coach:  Bill Curry AP Coaches 20 20
1 2 3 4 Total Army 7 7 14 0 28 Alabama 3 10 7 9 29
Date	December 24, 1988
Season	1988
Stadium	Sun Bowl Stadium
Location	El Paso, Texas
MVP	David Smith, Alabama QB Derrick Thomas, Alabama LB
Attendance	48,719
United States TV coverage
Network	CBS
Announcers	Verne Lundquist and Pat Haden

Teams

Alabama

The 1988 Alabama squad finished the regular season with an 8–3 record and losses against Ole Miss, LSU and Auburn. The appearance marked the third for Alabama in the Sun Bowl, and their 41st overall bowl game appearance.

Army

The 1988 Army squad finished the regular season with a record of 9–2 with losses coming against Washington and Boston College. The appearance in the Sun Bowl marked the first for Army in the game, and their third overall bowl game appearance.

Game summary

The Cadets opened the scoring with a one-yard Mike Mayweather touchdown run to take a 7–0 lead.[1] The Crimson Tide responded with a 37-yard Philip Doyle field goal to cut the lead to 7–3 at the end of the first.[1] In the second quarter, Army again scored on the run with Bryan McWilliams reaching the endzone on a 30-yard run.[1] Alabama again responded with a 22-yard Philip Doyle field goal and a 7-yard Marco Battle touchdown reception from David Smith to close the gap to 14–13 at the half.[1] Army went into halftime with a 14–13 lead by putting up 232 yards on the ground.

Alabama put together a 69-yard drive to take its first lead 20–14 in the game half way through the third quarter on a 23-yard Greg Payne touchdown reception.[1] Army answered with another touchdown on the next drive to take the lead back at 21-20. On Alabama's next drive David Smith was intercepted by Army's O'Neal Miller who returned it 57 yards for a touchdown and a 28-20 lead. In the fourth quarter Alabama put together two scoring drives for a 32-yard Doyle field goal and a 2-yard David Casteal run to regain the lead at 29–28.[2]

Army put up 350 yards on the ground against Alabama's 5th-ranked defense that gave up less than 100 yards per game on average during the season. Army Coach Jim Young said about the game "Alabama was one of the better teams in the country. We played them and beat them in everything except the score."[3] The El Paso Times ranks this game 11th among the top Sun Bowl games ever.[2]

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP Army Alabama 1 12:04 7 70 2:56 Army Mike Mayweather 1-yard touchdown run, Keith Walker kick good 7 0 1 1:25 14 65 4:30 Alabama 37-yard field goal by Philip Doyle 7 3 2 14:02 6 69 2:23 Army Bryan McWilliams 30-yard touchdown run, Keith Walker kick good 14 3 2 7:33 11 67 6:29 Alabama 22-yard field goal by Philip Doyle 14 6 2 0:35 8 76 Alabama Marco Battle 7-yard touchdown reception from David Smith, Philip Doyle kick good 14 13 3 4:23 8 69 2:50 Alabama Greg Payne 23-yard touchdown reception from David Smith, Philip Doyle kick good 14 20 3 1:22 6 69 2:50 Army Mike Mayweather 3-yard touchdown run, Keith Walker kick good 21 20 3 0:07 1 57 Army Interception returned 57 yards for touchdown by O'Neal Miller, Keith Walker kick good 28 20 4 7:25 12 49 4:12 Alabama 22-yard field goal by Philip Doyle 28 23 4 4:01 5 54 2:16 Alabama David Casteal 2-yard touchdown run, 2-point run failed 28 29 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 28 29

Legacy

Alabama quarterback David Smith later became a college football referee in the SEC; games he officiated include the 2013 Senior Bowl and 2018 Sun Bowl.[4][5]

References

1. Hurt, Cecil (December 25, 1988). "Smith rallies Tide in Sun". The Tuscaloosa News. p. 1B. Retrieved January 30, 2011.
2. "Best of the Sun Bowl: #11". El Paso Times. November 19, 2006. Retrieved January 30, 2011.
3. "Black Knight Flashback: 1988". GoArmySports.com. Army Athletic Communications. October 29, 2009. Retrieved January 30, 2011.
4. Hicks, Tommy (January 26, 2013). "Former Alabama quarterback finally makes it to Senior Bowl". al.com. Retrieved December 31, 2018.
5. @CAPTMCMcCarron (December 31, 2018). "The referee for today's @HyundaiSunBowl was the quarterback for Alabama in the 1988 Sun Bowl" (Tweet). Retrieved December 31, 2018 – via Twitter.