Remembering The Cowboys of 1988

Nov. 7, 2013

STILLWATER - The Oklahoma State football program welcomes the Cowboys of 1988 back to Boone Pickens Stadium this Saturday to commemorate the 25th anniversary of one of the most memorable seasons in school history.

The 1988 squad finished the season with a 10-2 record and was No. 11 in the final Associated Press poll. Led by Heisman Trophy-winner Barry Sanders, consensus All-America receiver Hart Lee Dykes and quarterback Mike Gundy, OSU led the nation in scoring offense with 48.7 points per game and averaged 530.4 yards per contest. Sanders had the greatest Heisman season of all time with 373 carries for 2,850 yards (7.6 yards per carry) and 42 touchdowns. He set 23 NCAA records that season that still stand today.

"Our players are excited about this team coming back, they certainly are aware of it," Gundy said. "They've asked questions and I told them the truth - if that team was playing in today's football where we had the media coverage and every game was on TV and they showed highlights, then that team would have been all over the television from coast to coast."

Any conversation about the 1988 Oklahoma State team needs to start with Sanders, who amassed 293.8 all-purpose yards per game, rushed for 150 yards or more every game, 200 yards or more in seven games and 300 yards or more in four games. Sanders had at least two rushing touchdowns every game, highlighted by five-touchdown performances in wins over Tulsa, Kansas and in the Holiday Bowl over Wyoming.

"He is the best college football player ever to play the game. You can say what you want. He ran up (42) touchdowns and (2,850) yards back when we only had 65 plays per game - we weren't even in high-tempo offenses," Gundy said. "He very seldom played in the fourth quarter and there were some games where he didn't even play in the second half of the third quarter. The guy could have scored 50 touchdowns in an offense that ran 65 to 68 plays per game. So if he's playing today, he runs up 75 touchdowns very easily and probably rushes for over 4,000 yards."

Gundy was asked if he and his teammates knew in the moment that they were part of the single greatest season for a player in college football history.

"I don't know that we did because back then, there wasn't that much exposure. It took until the end of the season before we knew if people on the east and west coast would vote for him for the Heisman," Gundy said. "Now, if they would have seen his games, he would have won the Heisman after game five or six. I don't know if we knew that. We just played the games and kept on going."

Sanders gained national notoriety not only for his on-field excellence, but also for his humility - most notably, the fact that his typical reaction after a touchdown was to simply flip the ball to an official. No dancing, no preening. Just touchdowns. A lot of them.

Paving the way for Sanders was OSU's offensive line, known as the "War Pigs", a nickname hatched by graduated offensive guard Doug Meacham just before the 1987 Sun Bowl. From left to right, the all-senior group consisted of Mike Wolfe, Chris Stanley, John Boisvert, Jason Kidder and Byron Woodard, with Stanley and Woodard both earning All-Big Eight honors that season.

Also factoring in was fullback Garrett Limbrick, who Gundy told the Tulsa World deserved more credit than he received for his work.

"Garrett was just an offensive lineman in our offense," Gundy said. "They handed him the ball once or twice a game just to keep him from quitting. But he was just a great player in the offense. He was just phenomenal. Garrett was... just really, really good for what we did. Highly intelligent."

With a weapon like Sanders in the backfield, the obvious thought for opposing defenses would be to load up against the run. However, with Gundy at quarterback (173-of-260 for 2,478 yards and 21 touchdowns) and Dykes at receiver (84 catches for 1,441 yards and 15 touchdowns), the Cowboy passing attack commanded respect as well.

"We were very disappointed when we had to punt," Gundy said. "You average (48.7) points per game with 65 plays per game. If you run 90 plays per game, you may average 80 points per game."

OSU's top defensive playmakers that season were Sim Drain (88 tackles, seven tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks and four fumble recoveries), Melvin Gilliam (55 tackles, six passes intercepted and 12 pass breakups), Rod Smith (78 tackles, two interceptions), Brandon Colbert (71 tackles, seven tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks) and David Bailey (67 tackles, nine tackles for loss and three sacks).

Perhaps the single most notable trait of the 1988 OSU defense was how good it was as a collective unit at forcing turnovers. The Cowboys forced 37 turnovers in 12 games that year for an average of more than three turnovers forced per game. OSU forced 19 turnovers in the first four games of the season alone.

Hidden among some of the giants on the team was kicker Cary Blanchard, who earned first-team All-Big Eight honors and still to this day remains on OSU's single-season top 10 for scoring with 114 points that season (13 field goals and 75 PATs). Blanchard was 13-of-15 on his field goal attempts (.867 pct.) - a mark that ranks fifth on OSU's single-season list - and was a perfect 75-for-75 on his PAT attempts.

1988 Schedule and Results

9/10 vs. Miami (Ohio)	W, 52-20
9/24 vs. Texas A&M	W, 52-15
10/1 vs. Tulsa	W, 56-35
10/8 at Colorado	W, 41-21
10/15 at No. 7 Nebraska	L, 42-63
10/22 vs. Missouri	W, 49-21
10/29 at Kansas State	W, 45-27
11/5 vs. No. 8 Oklahoma	L, 28-31
11/12 vs. Kansas	W, 63-24
11/19 at Iowa State	W, 49-28
12/4 vs. Texas Tech*	W, 45-42
12/30 vs. Wyoming^	W, 62-14

* Coca-Cola Bowl (Tokyo, Japan), ^Holiday Bowl (San Diego)

Oklahoma State University Athletics

Related Videos