# 1988 Florida State Seminoles football team

The 1988 Florida State Seminoles football team represented Florida State University in the 1988 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was coached by Bobby Bowden and played their home games at Doak Campbell Stadium.
Defensive back Deion Sanders was a Heisman finalist, finishing in eighth place.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 3 | 9:00 p.m. | at No. 6 Miami (FL) | No. 1 | Miami Orange BowlMiami, FL (rivalry) | CBS | L 0–31 | 77,836 |
| September 10 | 7:00 p.m. | Southern Miss | No. 10 | Doak Campbell StadiumTallahassee, FL | | W 49–13 | 53,129 |
| September 17 | 2:30 p.m. | at No. 3 Clemson | No. 10 | Memorial StadiumClemson, SC (rivalry) | CBS | W 24–21 | 85,576 |
| September 24 | 4:00 p.m. | Michigan State | No. 9 | Doak Campbell StadiumTallahassee, FL | ESPN | W 30–7 | 61,757 |
| October 1 | 8:00 p.m. | at Tulane | No. 6 | Louisiana SuperdomeNew Orleans, LA | | W 48–28 | 34,364 |
| October 8 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 7 (I-AA) Georgia Southern | No. 6 | Doak Campbell StadiumTallahassee, FL | | W 28–10 | 59,109 |
| October 15 | 2:00 p.m. | East Carolina | No. 5 | Doak Campbell StadiumTallahassee, FL | | W 45–21 | 56,391 |
| October 22 | 2:00 p.m. | Louisiana Tech | No. 5 | Doak Campbell StadiumTallahassee, FL | | W 66–3 | 51,703 |
| November 5 | 8:00 p.m. | at No. 15 South Carolina | No. 5 | Williams–Brice StadiumColumbia, SC | ESPN | W 59–0 | 75,000 |
| November 12 | 7:00 p.m. | Virginia Tech | No. 5 | Doak Campbell StadiumTallahassee, FL | | W 41–14 | 50,910 |
| November 26 | 7:30 p.m. | Florida | No. 5 | Doak Campbell StadiumTallahassee, FL (rivalry) | ESPN | W 52–17 | 62,693 |
| January 2 | 8:00 p.m. | vs. No. 7 Auburn | No. 4 | Louisiana SuperdomeNew Orleans, LA (Sugar Bowl) | ABC | W 13–7 | 61,934 |
| HomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time |||||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking ( ) = First-place votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Final |
| AP | 1 (44) | 1 (41) | 10 | 10 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| Coaches | 1 (37) | 1 (37) | 12 | 12 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 (1) | 5 (1) | 5 (1) | 5 (1) | 4 (1) | 4 (1) | 3 (1) |

## Game summaries
### At Miami (FL)

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #1 Seminoles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| • #6 Hurricanes | 3 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 31 |

### Southern Miss

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Southern Miss | 0 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 13 |
| Florida St | 14 | 14 | 14 | 7 | 49 |

### At Clemson

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • #10 Seminoles | 0 | 7 | 14 | 3 | 24 |
| #3 Tigers | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 21 |

### Michigan State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Spartans | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| • #9 Seminoles | 7 | 6 | 0 | 17 | 30 |

### At Tulane

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Florida St | 10 | 21 | 0 | 17 | 48 |
| Tulane | 0 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 28 |

### Georgia Southern

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Georgia Southern | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 10 |
| Florida St | 7 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 28 |

### East Carolina

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| East Carolina | 0 | 14 | 0 | 7 | 21 |
| Florida St | 14 | 14 | 3 | 14 | 45 |

### Louisiana Tech

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Louisiana Tech | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Florida St | 28 | 7 | 17 | 14 | 66 |

### At South Carolina

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Florida St | 14 | 17 | 14 | 14 | 59 |
| South Carolina | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Virginia Tech

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Virginia Tech | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| Florida St | 0 | 14 | 20 | 7 | 41 |

### Florida

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Florida | 7 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 17 |
| Florida St | 21 | 3 | 21 | 7 | 52 |

### Vs. Auburn (Sugar Bowl)

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • #4 Seminoles | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| #7 Tigers | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |

## 1989 NFL draft

| Player | Position | Round | Pick | NFL club |
| Deion Sanders | Cornerback | 1 | 5 | Atlanta Falcons |
| Sammie Smith | Running back | 1 | 9 | Miami Dolphins |
| Pat Tomberlin | Guard | 4 | 99 | Indianapolis Colts |
| Marion Butts | Running back | 7 | 183 | San Diego Chargers |
| Victor Floyd | Running back | 11 | 287 | San Diego Chargers |
| Stan Shiver | Defensive back | 12 | 310 | Green Bay Packers |