1988 Michigan State Spartans football team

1988 Michigan State Spartans football
1988 Michigan State Spartans football
Gator Bowl, L 27–34 vs. Georgia
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	6–5–1 (6–1–1 Big Ten)
Head coach	George Perles (6th season);
Offensive coordinator	Morris Watts (3rd season)
Defensive coordinator	Norm Parker (1st season)
MVP	Kurt Larson
Captain	Kurt Larson, Tony Mandarich, Bobby McAllister, John Miller
Home stadium	Spartan Stadium
	Seasons ← 1987 1989 →

The 1988 Michigan State Spartans football team represented Michigan State University in the 1988 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Spartans played their home games at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan and were coached by George Perles. The team finished second in the Big Ten Conference with a 6–1–1 conference record, and a 6–5–1 overall record.^[1]^[2] Michigan State was invited to the 1989 Gator Bowl, losing to Georgia 27–34.

1988 Big Ten Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 4 Michigan $	7	–	0	–	1	9	–	2	–	1
Michigan State	6	–	1	–	1	6	–	5	–	1
Illinois	5	–	2	–	1	6	–	5	–	1
Iowa	4	–	1	–	3	6	–	4	–	3
No. 20 Indiana	5	–	3	–	0	8	–	3	–	1
Purdue	3	–	5	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Ohio State	2	–	5	–	1	4	–	6	–	1
Northwestern	2	–	5	–	1	2	–	8	–	1
Wisconsin	1	–	7	–	0	1	–	10	–	0
Minnesota	0	–	6	–	2	2	–	7	–	2

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 10	1:00 p.m.	Rutgers*	No. 15	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI		L 13–17	70,693
September 17	12:00 p.m.	No. 8 Notre Dame*		Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI (rivalry)	ABC	L 3–20	77,472
September 24	4:00 p.m.	at No. 9 Florida State*		Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL	ESPN	L 7–30	61,757
October 1	3:30 p.m.	Iowa		Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	ABC	T 10–10	76,348
October 8	12:15 p.m.	at No. 17 Michigan		Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry)		L 3–17	106,208
October 15	1:00 p.m.	Northwestern		Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI		W 36–3	76,952
October 22	2:00 p.m.	at Illinois		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL		W 28–21	65,771
October 29	12:15 p.m.	Ohio State		Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI		W 20–10	77,111
November 5	1:30 p.m.	at Purdue		Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN		W 48–3	55,639
November 12	3:30 p.m.	at Indiana		Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN (rivalry)	ABC	W 38–12	50,738
November 19	1:00 p.m.	Wisconsin		Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI		W 36–0	76,372
January 1, 1989	8:00 p.m.	vs. Georgia*		Gator Bowl Stadium Jacksonville, FL (Gator Bowl)	ESPN	L 27–34	76,236	^[3]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

1988 Michigan State Spartans football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
WR	`17`	Willie Bouyer	Sr
QB	`4`	Dan Enos	So
RB	`26`	Blake Ezor	Jr
OT	`79`	Tony Mandarich	Sr
OT	`77`	Eric Moten	So
WR	`1`	Andre Rison	Sr
OT	`71`	Kevin Robbins	Sr
FB	`29`	Duane Young	So

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
CB	`36`	Harlon Barnett	Jr
DB	`9`	Mike Iaquaniello	So
LB	`51`	Carlos Jenkins	So
LB	`3`	Kurt Larson	Sr
SS		John Miller	Sr
LB	`48`	Percy Snow	Jr
DE	`91`	Jim Szymanski	Jr
LB	`66`	Matt Vanderbeck	Jr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class

The following players were selected in the 1989 NFL draft.^[4]

^ "Michigan State Historical Scores".
^ "Michigan State Yearly Results". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on September 1, 2009. Retrieved November 26, 2011.
^ "MSU headed off at pass". Detroit Free Press. January 2, 1989. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "1989 NFL Draft". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved November 23, 2019.

This college football 1980s season article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.