1988 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team

American college football season

1988 Minnesota Golden Gophers football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	2–7–2 (0–6–2 Big Ten)
Head coach	John Gutekunst (3rd season)
Captain	Jason Bruce, Chuck McCree, Brian Williams
Home stadium	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
Seasons← 1987 1989 →

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

The 1988 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the University of Minnesota in the 1988 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their third year under head coach John Gutekunst, the Golden Gophers compiled a 2–7–2 record and were outscored by their opponents by a combined total of 246 to 195. The tie against Illinois was the last tie for the Golden Gophers and under current NCAA rules, it will be the last in Golden Gophers history.

Punter Brent Herbel was named All-Big Ten second team. Punter Brent Herbel and offensive lineman Brent Liimatta were named Academic All-Big Ten.

Wide receiver Chris Gaiters was awarded the Bronko Nagurski Award and the Bruce Smith Award. Gaiters was selected as a 3rd team All-American. Strong safety Joel Brown was awarded the Carl Eller Award. Brent Herbel was awarded the Bobby Bell Award. Defensive tackle Ross Ukkelberg was awarded the Butch Nash Award. Center Pat Hart was awarded the Paul Giel Award.

Total attendance for the season was 312,596, which averaged out to 44,657 per game. The season high for attendance was against rival Iowa.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 10	7:00 pm	Washington State*	Metrodome Minneapolis		L 9–41	40,011
September 17	7:00 pm	Miami (OH)*	Metrodome Minneapolis		W 35–3	39,343
September 24	7:00 pm	Northern Illinois*	Metrodome Minneapolis		W 31–20	40,007
October 1	1:30 pm	at Purdue	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, Indiana		L 10–14	61,805
October 8	7:00 pm	Northwestern	Metrodome Minneapolis	Raycom	T 28–28	44,566
October 15	1:00 pm	at No. 18 Indiana	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, Indiana		L 13–33	51,154
October 22	7:00 pm	Ohio State	Metrodome Minneapolis	Raycom	L 6–13	44,221
October 29	7:00 pm	Illinois	Metrodome Minneapolis		T 27–27	40,554
November 5	2:30 pm	at No. 14 Michigan	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, Michigan (Little Brown Jug)	ABC	L 7–22	102,171
November 12	1:05 pm	at Wisconsin	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, Wisconsin (Paul Bunyan's Axe)		L 7–14	40,467
November 19	7:00 pm	Iowa	Metrodome Minneapolis (Floyd of Rosedale)	Raycom	L 22–31	63,894
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Personnel

1988 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
RB	`42`	Patrick Cummings	Jr
QB	`14`	Marquel Fleetwood	Fr
OT	`65`	Jon Melander	Jr
RB	`39`	Darrell Thompson	Jr
C	`60`	Chris Thome	So
WR	`86`	Pat Tinglehoff	So
C	`63`	Brian Williams	Sr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DT	`51`	Bob Coughlin	So
DL	`99`	Kraig Hackbarth	Fr
DB	`26`	Sean Lumpkin	Fr
FS	`25`	Matt Sheldon	Fr
LB	`94`	Mac Stephens	Jr
FS	`18`	Paul Strong	Sr
LB	`66`	Bryan Suess	Jr
DT	`79`	Mike Sunvold	So
LB	`96`	Kevin Sutton	Fr
DT	`77`	Trint Trip	Sr
DT	`90`	Ross Ukkelberg	Sr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class

Head coach

John Gutekunst

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Roster

References

"1988 Minnesota Golden Gophers Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
Keiser, Jeff (2007). "2007 Media Guide" (PDF). p. 180.
Keiser, Jeff (2007). "2007 Media Guide" (PDF). p. 182.
^ Keiser, Jeff (2007). "2007 Media Guide" (PDF). p. 181.
^ Keiser, Jeff (2007), 2007 Media Guide (PDF), p. 160

v t e Minnesota Golden Gophers football
Venues	Athletic Park (1892–1898) University of Minnesota Armory (1892–1898) Northrop Field (1899–1923) Memorial Stadium (1924–1981) Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (1982–2008) Huntington Bank Stadium (2009–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Iowa Michigan: Little Brown Jug Nebraska Penn State: Governor's Victory Bell Wisconsin
Culture & lore	Goldy Gopher Marching band Spirit squad "Minnesota Rouser" "Minnesota March" "Go Gopher Victory" "Minnesota Fight" "Our Minnesota" "Hail! Minnesota" "Battle Hymn of the Republic" Minnesota shift T formation Smith of Minnesota
People	Head coaches Annual awards NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1882 1883 1884–1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold

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