CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1988 Nebraska

11–⁠2 (7–⁠0 Big Eight), coached by Tom Osborne, finished No. 10 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Nebraska in 1988, game by game: won vs. No. 10 Texas A&M 23–14; won vs. Utah State 63–13; lost at No. 5 UCLA 28–41; won vs. Arizona State 47–16; won vs. UNLV 48–6; won at Kansas 63–10; won vs. No. 10 Oklahoma State 63–42; won at Kansas State 48–3; won vs. Missouri 26–18; won at Iowa State 51–16; won vs. No. 19 Colorado 7–0; won at No. 9 Oklahoma 7–3; lost vs. No. 2 Miami 3–23+53−20Won 23–14 vs. No. 10 Texas A&M+9No. 10 Texas A&MWon 63–13 vs. Utah State+50Utah StateLost 28–41 at No. 5 UCLA-13No. 5 UCLAWon 47–16 vs. Arizona State+31Arizona StateWon 48–6 vs. UNLV+42UNLVWon 63–10 at Kansas+53KansasWon 63–42 vs. No. 10 Oklahoma State+21No. 10 Oklahoma StateWon 48–3 at Kansas State+45Kansas StateWon 26–18 vs. Missouri+8MissouriWon 51–16 at Iowa State+35Iowa StateWon 7–0 vs. No. 19 Colorado+7No. 19 ColoradoWon 7–3 at No. 9 Oklahoma+4No. 9 OklahomaLost 3–23 vs. No. 2 Miami-20No. 2 Miami
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 27vs10Texas A&MW 23–⁠1451%
Sep 3vsUtah StateW 63–⁠1385%
Sep 10at5UCLAL 28–⁠4145%
Sep 24vsArizona StateW 47–⁠1669%
Oct 1vsUNLVW 48–⁠687%
Oct 8atKansasW 63–⁠1090%
Oct 15vs10Oklahoma StateW 63–⁠4262%
Oct 22atKansas StateW 48–⁠393%
Oct 29vsMissouriW 26–⁠1890%
Nov 5atIowa StateW 51–⁠1681%
Nov 12vs19ColoradoW 7–⁠076%
Nov 19at9OklahomaW 7–⁠343%
Jan 2Bowls & playoffvs2MiamiOrange BowlL 3–⁠2344%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Miami 23–⁠3 in the Orange Bowl; No. 10 in the final AP poll; Big Eight champions.

In program history: The 15th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 129 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 2
  2. Wk 2: 2
  3. Wk 3: 2
  4. Wk 4: 11
  5. Wk 5: 10
  6. Wk 6: 9
  7. Wk 7: 9
  8. Wk 8: 7
  9. Wk 9: 5
  10. Wk 10: 5
  11. Wk 11: 7
  12. Wk 12: 7
  13. Wk 13: 7
  14. Wk 14: 6
  15. Wk 15: 6
  16. Wk 16: 6
  17. Final: 10

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1988.

Big Eight champions7–⁠0 in the conference

2 consensus All-AmericansJake Young, C; Broderick Thomas, LB

Record
11–⁠2
Conference
7–⁠0 first in Big Eight
AP final
No. 10 peak No. 2
Points
477–⁠205
Coach
Tom Osborne
Elo
1759 +90 this season
SP+ rating
21.7 No. 10 of 102; offense No. 13, defense No. 26
SRS
17.1 No. 12 of 105 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Charlie McBride
Offense
I formation
Defense
5–⁠2

Drafted in 1989

The 1989 draft
Rd 1Broderick Thomas LBTampa Bay Buccaneers
Rd 5Lawrence Pete DTDetroit Lions

All-Big Eight

11 first team, 2 second team

First team

  • Steve TaylorQBAP-1
  • Ken ClarkRBAP-1
  • Todd MillikanTEAP-1
  • Jake YoungCAP-1
  • Bob SledgeOTAP-1
  • Broderick ThomasDEAP-1
  • Willie GriffinDLAP-1
  • Lawrence PeteNGAP-1
  • LeRoy EtienneLBAP-1
  • Charles FryarDBAP-1
  • Tim JacksonDBAP-1

Second team

  • Andy KeelerOGAP-2
  • Reggie CooperDBAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1988 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1988 Big Eight standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Nebraska7–⁠011–⁠210
Oklahoma6–⁠19–⁠314
Oklahoma State5–⁠210–⁠211
Colorado4–⁠38–⁠4
Iowa State3–⁠45–⁠6
Missouri2–⁠53–⁠7–⁠1
Kansas1–⁠61–⁠10
Kansas State0–⁠70–⁠11

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.