1988 The Citadel Bulldogs football team

1988 The Citadel Bulldogs football
I-AA First Round, L 20–38 vs. Georgia Southern
Conference	Southern Conference
Record	8-4 (5–2 SoCon)
Head coach	Charlie Taaffe (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Option
Home stadium	Johnson Hagood Stadium

1988 Southern Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 4 Furman +^	6	–	1	–	0			13	–	2	–	0
No. 6 Marshall +^	6	–	1	–	0			11	–	2	–	0
No. 14 The Citadel ^	5	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Appalachian State	4	–	3	–	0			6	–	4	–	1
Chattanooga	3	–	3	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
VMI	1	–	5	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
East Tennessee State	1	–	6	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
Western Carolina	1	–	6	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
+ – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll

The 1988 The Citadel Bulldogs football team represented The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina in the 1988 NCAA Division I-AA football season. The Bulldogs were led by second-year head coach Charlie Taaffe and played their home games at Johnson Hagood Stadium. They played as members of the Southern Conference, as they have since 1936. In 1988, The Citadel made its first appearance in the I-AA playoffs.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance
September 3	at Appalachian State	Kidd Brewer Stadium Boone, NC	L 14–38
September 10	Presbyterian*	Johnson Hagood Stadium Charleston, SC	W 35–9
September 17	at Duke*	Wallace Wade Stadium Durham, NC	L 41–17
September 24	Navy*	Johnson Hagood Stadium Charleston, SC	W 42–35	20,754
October 1	at Western Carolina	E.J. Whitmire Stadium Cullowhee, NC	W 27–21
October 15	Chattanooga	Johnson Hagood Stadium Charleston, SC	W 23–17
October 22	Boston University*	Johnson Hagood Stadium Charleston, SC	W 24–13
October 29	East Tennessee State	Johnson Hagood Stadium Charleston, SC	W 48–21
November 5	Marshall	Johnson Hagood Stadium Charleston, SC	W 20–3	20,011
November 12	VMI	Johnson Hagood Stadium Charleston, SC (Military Classic of the South)	W 31–20
November 19	at Furman	Paladin Stadium Greenville, SC (Rivalry)	L 17–30
November 26	at Georgia Southern*	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA (I-AA First Round)	L 20–38
*Non-conference game Homecoming

Game summaries

Appalachian State

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
6–10	1987	ASU, 27–17

Presbyterian

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
46–11–1	1987	CIT, 27–12

Duke

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

Navy

See also: 1988 Navy Midshipmen football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0–6	1982	Navy, 28–3

Western Carolina

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
8–4–1	1987	CIT, 38–24

Chattanooga

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
5–14–2	1987	UTC, 22–19

Boston University

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–0	1987	CIT, 34–7

East Tennessee State

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–6	1987	ETSU, 21–24

Marshall

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
4–2	1985	MU, 17–14

VMI

See also: Military Classic of the South

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
20–25–2	1987	VMI, 7–3

Furman

See also: The Citadel–Furman football rivalry

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
23–41–3	1987	FU, 58–13

Georgia Southern

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting