Duke History – 1988 Season, An Overlooked Masterpiece

Coach Spurrier’s first season in Durham ended on a high note, 5-6 (2-5) and a thorough dismantling of the Heels by a score of 25-10. That made up for the disappointment that saw a 3-0 start sort of wasted by a 2-6 finish. But, while the final record may have been 5-6, that’s not bad for a first year head coach who took over a program that had been 13-31 under Coach Steve Sloan. The 1988 Blue Devils were determined to do better than they had in 1987. And they did just that.

Coach Spurrier’s team game out of the gate firing on all cylinders, reaching 5-0 by picking up wins against teams like Tennessee (in Knoxville), Virginia and Vanderbilt.* Duke then lost two straight to Clemson and Maryland, but bounced back with a win over Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Now, I can’t prove it, but I’m sure Coach Spurrier enjoyed beating the Yellow Jackets even though Bill Curry wasn’t the coach any longer. You’ll recall that Curry reportedly chose not to keep Spurrier on staff when he took over in Atlanta in 1980. While Curry denies that is what occurred, Coach Spurrier sure enjoyed beating Curry’s teams and running up the score when doing so.

*I’d like to see the Commodores as a regular rivalry again. Both schools are in major conferences and have high academic standards. It’s similar to playing Northwestern which we do regularly. Make it happen, Nina King!

But I digress. After racing out to a 6-2 record, the Blue Devils needed to lock down two more wins to guarantee a bowl berth. (The first player I ever spoke to who played on this team reminded me that they didn’t give out bowl berths “like candy” back then.) The remaining three games were against Wake, NC State and UNC. And, after Duke lost to Wake, the NC State game became all the more important.

And. It. Was. Insane. The final score was 43-43, Coach Spurrier got angry over a 4th down call, a defensive holding penalty called against his team, that led to a game-tying field goal by the Wolfpack. The call so irritated Coach Spurrier that he complained about it on the field and after the game. At some point, he said the call was “the worst call ever.” He also referred to it as “the worst call in the history of Duke football.” (Until Miami in 2015, right, Coach?) Coach Spurrier’s actions resulted in a suspension for one game, the season finale against the Heels. While he may not have been on the field for the game, Coach Spurrier had a hand in the offensive play-calling. Despite the suspension and being prohibited from coaching the team, Coach Spurrier invited the director of the Blue Devils’ golfing club, Ed Ibarguen, to watch the game with him. Since the game was at Wallace Wade, Coach Spurrier sent Ibarguen to the press box to give Carl Franks, who called the plays that day, “suggestions” on what to do. Most of the “suggestions” were to run the ball more. It worked and Duke beat the Cheats for the second year in a row and finished the season with a 7-3-1 record.

As a side note, Clarkston Hines isn’t ready to talk about what occurred during that game in regard to who called the plays.

While that call may not have been the only reason the Blue Devils didn’t go to a bowl game that year, it came too late in the season for Duke to overcome it. And, because the Blue Devils didn’t go bowling, we often forget about how good that team was and how great of a season it was. The seven wins, while pedestrian for a lot of programs, were the most since 1962 (that’s 26 years, folks!). And in 1962, Duke finished 8-2 (6-2), were ACC Champions and finished 14th in the Coaches’ Poll (not ranked in the AP which, excuse me, what???). The fact that the Blue Devils were knocking on the door of eight wins made it clear that Duke had turned a corner and began to move towards being a relevant football program again.

While the 1988 team didn’t get to a bowl, there is no way that the 1988 season can be overlooked in its importance and historical significance. Unfortunately, because the Blue Devils didn’t go bowling, and because of what happened in the historical season that was 1989, we overlook what a great season 1988 was. And it’s unfortunate because these guys were good.

So, where would I rank this team in the context of the modern era (which is Shirley Wilson to the present)? That’s a great question. And, because of the ongoing nature of these posts, I’ve decided not to answer that right now. What I’ve decided to do instead is wait until I’m done chronicling these seasons and then do a final ranking which will include my reasons for ranking each season where I do. If there are any seasons you think I should recap, let me know. There are some obvious ones which will be discussed, but there may be some others which don’t make the cut.

Let me know what you think about what I think in the comments, on Mastodon, on Reddit, on Post, or on Twitter.

As always, Go Duke!