1988 College Football All-America Team Official list of the best college football players of 1988
The 1988 College Football All-America team is composed of college football players who were selected as All-Americans by various organizations and writers that chose College Football All-America Teams in 1988. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) recognizes five selectors as "official" for the 1988 season.[ 1] They are: (1) the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA);[ 2] (2) the Associated Press (AP) selected based on the votes of sports writers at AP newspapers;[ 3] (3) the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA);[ 4] (4) the United Press International (UPI) selected based on the votes of sports writers at UPI newspapers;[ 5] and (5) the Walter Camp Football Foundation (WC).[ 6] Other notable selectors included Football News (FN), the Gannett News Service (GNS),[ 7] the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA),[ 8] Scripps Howard (SH),[ 9] and The Sporting News (TSN).[ 10]
Consensus All-Americans
The following charts identify the NCAA-recognized consensus All-Americans for the year 1988 and displays which first-team designations they received.
Offense
Name
Position
School
Number[ 11]
Official
Other
Barry Sanders
Running back
Oklahoma State
5/4/9
AFCA, AP, FWAA, UPI, WC
GNS, NEA, SH, TSN
Tony Mandarich
Offensive tackle
Michigan State
5/3/8
AFCA, AP, FWAA, UPI, WC
GNS, SH, TSN
Anthony Phillips
Offensive guard
Oklahoma
5/1/6
AFCA, AP, FWAA, UPI, WC
NEA
Jason Phillips
Wide receiver
Houston
4/1/5
AFCA, AP, FWAA, UPI
SH
Mike Utley
Offensive guard
Washington State
4/1/5
AFCA, AP, FWAA, UPI
SH
Hart Lee Dykes
Wide receiver
Oklahoma State
3/3/6
AP, UPI, WC
NEA, SH, TSN
Mark Stepnoski
Offensive guard
Pittsburgh
3/3/6
AFCA, FWAA, WC
GNS, SH, TSN
Anthony Thompson
Running back
Indiana
3/2/5
FWAA, UPI, WC
NEA, TSN
Tim Worley
Running back
Georgia
3/2/5
AFCA, FWAA, WC
GNS, SH
Troy Aikman
Quarterback
UCLA
2/2/4
UPI, WC
GNS, TSN
Steve Walsh
Quarterback
Miami
2/1/3
AP, FWAA
GNS
Marv Cook
Tight end
Iowa
2/1/3
AFCA, UPI
GNS
Jake Young
Center
Nebraska
2/0/2
AP, FWAA
John Vitale
Center
Michigan
2/0/2
UPI, WC
Defense
Name
Position
School
Number[ 11]
Official
Other
Mark Messner
Defensive tackle
Michigan
5/4/9
AFCA, AP, FWAA, UPI, WC
GNS, NEA, SH, TSN
Broderick Thomas
Linebacker
Nebraska
5/4/9
AFCA, AP, FWAA, UPI, WC
GNS, NEA, SH, TSN
Derrick Thomas
Linebacker
Alabama
5/4/9
AFCA, AP, FWAA, UPI, WC
GNS, NEA, SH, TSN
Deion Sanders
Defensive back
Florida State
5/4/9
AFCA, AP, FWAA, UPI, WC
GNS, NEA, SH, TSN
Tracy Rocker
Defensive tackle
Auburn
5/3/8
AFCA, AP, FWAA, UPI, WC
GNS, SH, TSN
Donnell Woolford
Defensive back
Clemson
4/3/7
AFCA, FWAA, UPI, WC
GNS, SH, TSN
Michael Stonebreaker
Linebacker
Notre Dame
3/3/6
AP, FWAA, WC
GNS, NEA, SH
Darryl Henley
Defensive back
UCLA
3/2/5
AFCA, UPI, WC
SH, TSN
Louis Oliver
Defensive back
Florida
3/2/5
AFCA, AP, WC
NEA, SH
Wayne Martin
Defensive tackle
Arkansas
3/1/4
AP, FWAA, UPI
TSN
Bill Hawkins
Defensive end
Miami
2/1/3
AFCA, WC
SH
Frank Stams
Defensive end
Notre Dame
2/0/2
AP, UPI
Special teams
Name
Position
School
Number[ 11]
Official
Other
Kendall Trainor
Kicker
Arkansas
4/2/6
AFCA, AP, UPI, WC
SH, TSN
Keith English
Punter
Colorado
3/3/6
AP, UPI, WC
GNS, NEA, TSN
Offense
Quarterbacks
Troy Aikman , UCLA (CFHOF) (UPI-1, WC, GNS, TSN)
Steve Walsh , Miami (AP-1, FWAA, GNS)
Rodney Peete , USC (AP-2; AFCA, GNS, SH)
Major Harris , West Virginia (AP-3; GNS)
Running backs
Barry Sanders , Oklahoma State (CFHOF) (AFCA, AP-1, FWAA, UPI-1, WC, GNS, SH, TSN)
Anthony Thompson , Indiana (UPI-1, AP-2; FWAA, WC, TSN)
Tim Worley , Georgia (AP-2; AFCA, FWAA, WC, GNS, SH)
Darren Lewis , Texas A& M (AP-1, GNS, TSN)
Cleveland Gary , Miami (Fla.) (AP-3; FN)
Tony Boles , Michigan (AP-3)
Wide receivers
Hart Lee Dykes , Oklahoma State (AP-1, UPI-1, WC, SH, TSN)
Jason Phillips , Houston (AFCA, AP-1, UPI-1, FWAA, SH)
Erik Affholter , USC (AFCA, AP-2, TSN)
Clarkston Hines , Duke (AP-2, FWAA)
Naz Worthen , North Carolina State (GNS)
Andre Rison , Michigan State (GNS)
Boo Mitchell, Vanderbilt (AP-3)
Kendal Smith , Utah State (AP-3)
Tight ends
Centers
Offensive guards
Anthony Phillips , Oklahoma (AFCA, AP-1, FWAA, UPI-1, WC)
Mike Utley , Washington State (AFCA, AP-1, UPI-1, FWAA, SH)
Mark Stepnoski , Pittsburgh (AFCA, AP-2; FWAA, WC, GNS, SH, TSN)
Steve Wisniewski , Penn State (AFCA, GNS, TSN)
Rick Phillips, West Virginia (AP-2 [OT]; SH)
Joe Wolf , Boston College (AP-2)
Freddie Childress , Arkansas (AP-3)
John Stroia, West Virginia (AP-3)
Offensive tackles
Tony Mandarich , Michigan State (AFCA, AP-1, FWAA, UPI-1, WC, GNS, SH, TSN)
Andy Heck , Notre Dame (AP-1, UPI-1, TSN)
Pat Tomberlin , Florida State (AP-2, WC, SH)
Tom Ricketts , Pittsburgh (GNS)
Kevin Haverdink , Western Michigan (AP-3)
Jim Thompson, Auburn (AP-3)
Defense
Defensive ends
Defensive tackles
Mark Messner , Michigan (AFCA, AP-1, FWAA, UPI-1, WC, GNS, SH, TSN)
Tracy Rocker , Auburn (CFHOF) (AFCA, AP-1, FWAA, UPI-1, WC, GNS, SH, TSN)
Wayne Martin , Arkansas (AP-1, UPI-1, FWAA, TSN)
Tim Ryan , USC (FWAA)
Dave Haight , Iowa (WC)
Benji Roland , Auburn (TSN [NG])
Linebackers
Broderick Thomas , Nebraska (AFCA, AP-1 [DE], FWAA, UPI-1, WC, GNS, SH, TSN)
Derrick Thomas , Alabama (CFHOF) (AFCA, AP-1, FWAA, UPI-1, WC, GNS, SH, TSN)
Michael Stonebreaker , Notre Dame (CFHOF) (AP-1, FWAA, WC, GNS, SH)
Keith DeLong , Tennessee (AP-1 UPI-1, GNS, TSN)
Percy Snow , Michigan State (TSN)
Carnell Lake , UCLA (FWAA)
Britt Hager , Texas (AFCA, SH)
Jerry Olsavsky , Pittsburgh (AFCA)
Defensive backs
Deion Sanders , Florida State (CFHOF) (AFCA, AP-1, FWAA, UPI-1, WC, GNS, SH, TSN)
Donnell Woolford , Clemson (AFCA, FWAA, UPI-1, WC, GNS, SH, TSN)
Darryl Henley , UCLA (AFCA, UPI-1, WC, SH, TSN)
Louis Oliver , Florida (AFCA, AP-1, WC, SH)
Markus Paul , Syracuse (AP-1, FWAA, TSN)
Mark Carrier , USC (UPI-1)
Greg Jackson , LSU (GNS)
Bubba McDowell , Miami (Fla) (GNS)
Special teams
Kickers
Punters
Returners
Key
Official selectors
Other selectors
See also
References
^ a b "Football Award Winners" (PDF) . National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). 2016. pp. 3, 14. Retrieved March 18, 2017 .
^ a b "1988 Kodak All-America Team" . Asbury Park Press . November 22, 1988. p. D2.
^ a b "AP All-America" . The Cincinnati Enquirer . December 9, 1988. p. F2.
^ a b "Football Writers Association All-America Team" . The Indianapolis Star . December 2, 1988. p. C6.
^ a b "UPI All-America Team" . The Indianapolis Star . December 15, 1988. p. C10.
^ a b "Walter Camp All-America Team" . Southern Illinoisan . November 24, 1988. p. 18.
^ a b "GNS All-America Team" . The Des Moines Register . November 30, 1988. p. 2S.
^ a b "NEA All-American Team" . Martinez News-Gazette (CA) . December 8, 1988. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
^ a b "Scripps Howard All-America Team" . The Pittsburgh Press . November 25, 1988. p. D6.
^ a b "The Sporting News All-America Team" . St. Louis Post-Dispatch . December 16, 1988. p. 6D.
^ a b c This column lists the number of selectors choosing the player as a first-team All-American as follows: official selectors/other selectors/total selectors.
^ Ted Gangi (ed.). "FWAA All-America Since 1944: The All-Time Team" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2019. Retrieved May 18, 2016 .
Offense Defense Special teams