1988 Lamar Cardinals football team

The 1988 Lamar Cardinals football season was the program's second season as an NCAA Division I-AA independent following the move from the Southland Conference to the newly formed non-football American South Conference. The Cardinals ended the season with a 3–8 overall record in the 1988 NCAA Division I-AA football season. The Cardinals played their home games at the on-campus Cardinal Stadium, now named Provost Umphrey Stadium.

1988 NCAA Division I-AA independents football standings
v t e	Conf			Overall
Team	W	L	T	W		L		T
No. 2 Georgia Southern ^		–		10	–	2	–	0
No. 13 Western Kentucky ^		–		9	–	4	–	0
Liberty		–		8	–	3	–	0
Nicholls State		–		7	–	4	–	0
William & Mary		–		6	–	4	–	1
Towson		–		5	–	5	–	0
Arkansas State		–		5	–	6	–	0
James Madison		–		5	–	6	–	0
Louisiana Tech		–		4	–	7	–	0
Northeastern		–		4	–	7	–	0
Youngstown State		–		4	–	7	–	0
Lamar		–		3	–	8	–	0

^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 3	West Texas State	Cardinal Stadium Beaumont, TX	W 42–21
September 10	Southwest Texas State	Cardinal Stadium Beaumont, TX	L 26–27		^[1]
September 17	at Stephen F. Austin	Homer Bryce Stadium Nacogdoches, TX	L 14–26
October 1	at Arizona State	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ	L 13–24
October 8	at Sam Houston State	Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX	L 14–16	8,520	^[2]
October 15	Alcorn State	Cardinal Stadium Beaumont, TX	W 35–6		^[3]
October 22	at Arkansas State	Indian Stadium Jonesboro, AR	W 21–17	11,444	^[4]
October 29	at Northeast Louisiana	Malone Stadium Monroe, LA	L 3–24		^[5]
November 5	No. 7 Mississippi College	Cardinal Stadium Beaumont, TX	L 14–16
November 12	at Texas Tech	Jones Stadium Lubbock, TX	L 28–59	30,319
November 19	at McNeese State	Cowboy Stadium Lake Charles, LA (rivalry)	L 17–18		^[6]
Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee Poll released prior to the game

^ "Comeback gives SWT 2nd win". Austin American-Statesman. September 11, 1988. Retrieved March 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Sam Houston downs Lamar 16–14". Victoria Advocate. October 9, 1988. Retrieved December 17, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Lamar takes advantage of Alcorn mistakes 35–6". The Clarion-Ledger. October 16, 1988. Retrieved August 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Lamar rallies past ASU". The Commercial Appeal. October 23, 1988. Retrieved October 8, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "NLU 24, Lamar 3". Alexandria Daily Town Talk. October 30, 1988. Retrieved March 5, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "McNeese steals win from Lamar". Daily World. November 20, 1988. Retrieved March 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "2015 Lamar University Football". Lamar University Athletics. p. 110. Retrieved March 18, 2016.