1988 Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Vinny Testaverde was handed the starting quarterback job in just his second season. With Steve DeBerg and Steve Young gone, the team signed Joe Ferguson as a backup for Testaverde. Ferguson had been a starter with Buffalo, and later a backup at Detroit, and was with the Bucs for two seasons.

The Bucs opened on September 4 against Buddy Ryan's Philadelphia Eagles in front of 43,502 Tampa Stadium fans. Vinny Testaverde (21 of 45 for 324 yards) threw touchdown passes to Bruce Hill (8 catches for 157 yards) and Mark Carrier, but he also threw five interceptions. Eagles quarterback Randall Cunningham threw for two TDs and ran for another touchdown. Philadelphia lead 34-0 at halftime and coasted to a 41-14 victory. Ray Perkins said of what was at the time the worst opening day loss in Buccaneer history, "We'll look at some things on both sides of the ball and get sick."

A trip to Green Bay saw the Packers take a 10-0 lead in the first quarter. The Bucs scored ten points in the second period, on a Lars Tate touchdown run and a Donald Igwebuike field goal, to tie the game. The game's next score came on the final play, as Igwebuike kicked a 28 yard field goal to give Tampa Bay a 13-10 victory. Ray Perkins talked about the win, which snapped a nine game losing streak. "We're not a great team yet by any means, but it is satisfying to win any time."

In Tampa, Phoenix jumped to a 21-3 lead. The Bucs did come back and Lars Tate had a highlight film run. Tate dove into the line, rolled over a pile of players, landed on his feet and ran 47 yards for the touchdown. Cliff Stoudt, who replaced the injured Neil Lomax at quarterback, hit tight end Jay Novacek on the game winning 42 yard touchdown with 3:14 left in the fourth quarter. Stump Mitchell had 110 yards on the ground in the 30-24 Cardinals victory.

Saints quarterback Bobby Herbert (16 of 28 for 159 yards with an INT) threw a TD pass, Morten Andersen kicked a field goal and the Bucs trailed 10-0 after one quarter in New Orleans. Vinny Testaverde (14 of 33 with an INT) passed for 230 yards in a 13-9 Buccaneers defeat.

The struggling Packers, under first year head coach Lindy Infante, came to Tampa. Wide receiver Walter Stanley had 106 yards receiving and Green Bay held the lead late in the fourth quarter. Vinny Testaverde (20 of 37 for 300 yards with 4 interceptions) hit Bruce Hill on a 19 yard scoring pass to tie the game 24-24 with 1:52 left. Donald Igwebuike's 44 yard field goal with 12 seconds on the clock gave the Bucs a 27-24 victory. Before the winning kick, the interceptions and a couple of key dropped passes by Mark Carrier had the boo birds signing. Carrier commented, "I thought Vinny and I were going to need a police escort." Ray Perkins added, "There were far too many mistakes. When we look at the films of the first three quarters, it's going to look like a horror film."

The Buccaneers held a 10-7 halftime lead at Minnesota before running out of time. The Vikings were up 14-13 and the Bucs had the ball at their own 26 yard line with 32 seconds left in the game. Vinny Testaverde (12 of 25 for 170 yards with 2 INTs) hit Stephen Starring on a 53 yard pass to move the Bucs to the Minnesota 21 yard line with about 15 seconds to play. The Bucs were out of time outs, and confused whether to down the ball or attempt a field goal, so the clock had expired before Donald Igwebuike's kick sailed through the uprights. Ray Perkins asserted, "The winning well come." Center Randy Grimes added, "We'll just keep on fighting."

At Indianapolis, Vinny Testaverde (25 of 42 with 2 interceptions) threw for 469 yards, the most yardage he ever compiled in a Bucs uniform. Bruce Hill (162 yards receiving) caught a pair of touchdown passes and tight end Ron Hall had 121 yards from Testaverde. Colts rookie quarterback Chris Chandler (19 of 32 for 240 yards and 2 interceptions) threw for one score and ran for another. Eric Dickerson rushed for 139 yards and Indianapolis wide receiver Bill Brooks (139 yards receiving) caught a TD pass. The Colts lead 35-10, then the Buccaneers scored three touchdowns in the final quarter, but fell short. Tampa Bay was flagged ten times in a 35-31 defeat.

The next game saw Minnesota quarterback Wade Wilson toss three first half touchdowns and throw for 335 yards on the afternoon. The game also saw Vinny Testaverde intercepted six times and he lost a fumble. Vikings wide receiver Anthony Carter had 123 yards receiving and a TD in a 49-20 Minnesota victory. It was the most points the Bucs had allowed at Tampa Stadium and the most points the Vikings had scored since 1974.

On October 30, a sold out crowd watched the two Florida teams play at Tampa Stadium. Vinny Testaverde pulled a muscle in the shower, so Joe Ferguson started for the Bucs. After a scoreless first half, fumbles by rookie running backs Lars Tate, William Howard and Kerry Goode helped Miami score three times within five minutes. Two short Dan Marino (27 of 46 for 267 yards) to Mark Clayton touchdown passes gave the Dolphins a 17-0 third quarter lead. Ferguson (26 of 37 for 291 yards with an interception) threw touchdown passes to Lars Tate and Bruce Hill to close the gap in the fourth quarter. Mark Carrier had 142 receiving yards in a 17-14 loss to the Dolphins.

On the Wednesday before the Bucs were to play at Chicago, Bears head coach Mike Dikta suffered a mild heart attack. While Dikta recuperated, defensive coordinator Vince Tobin filled in as head coach. On a 36 degree afternoon, without Dikta and starting quarterback Jim McMahon, the Bears lead 28-3 in the third quarter. Making his first start of the season, Mike Tomczak (18 of 26 for 269 yards and an interception) threw for two Bears touchdowns. Vinny Testaverde (22 of 52 with a TD and an INT) threw for 305 yards in a 28-10 Bucs loss.

The Lions smallest home crowd since 1951, 25,956, came out for a game against the Bucs. Vinny Testaverde (9 of 13 for 107 yards) was picked off twice, as was Detroit QB Rusty Hilger (20 of 41 for 212 yards), while Lars Tate ran for 106 yards and a touchdown. Donald Igwebuike kicked a 52 yard field goal, with ten seconds left to play, to give the Bucs a 23-20 victory. After the loss to Tampa Bay, the Lions fired head coach Darryl Rogers and named defensive coordinator Wayne Fontes as the interim coach.

Mike Dikta made his return to the sidelines the next week at a warm Tampa Stadium. The Bears got off to a good start with running back Neal Anderson scoring two first quarter touchdowns. Vinny Testaverde completed 7 of 22 passes for 86 yards and two interceptions, before being pulled in favor of Joe Ferguson. The sellout crowd saw Chicago win 27-15.

It was a rainy afternoon, when the Bucs played in Atlanta before just 14,020 fans. Even with Vinny Testaverde going 12 of 29 for 190 yards and three interceptions, the game was tied 10-10 in the final quarter. Falcons rookie Michael Hayes caught a 37 yard TD pass from Chris Miller to break the tie and Atlanta won 17-10.

On December 4, the 11-2 Buffalo Bills came to Tampa Stadium. Vinny Testaverde went 12 for 29 for 156 yards with no interceptions and ran 4 yards for the game's only touchdown. The Bucs intercepted Jim Kelly (23 of 40 for 249 yards) twice and had a key goal stand to upset the Bills 10-5 in the first NFL game in history to end with that final score. Ray Perkins said, "We took a mighty big step today."

The next week, when the Bucs made their first visit to Foxoboro Stadium, it was a windy 18 degree afternoon. After a scoreless first half, a Robert Perryman TD run gave New England a 7-0 third quarter lead. While William Howard lead the Bucs ground game with 101 yards rushing, a 15 yard touchdown pass from Vinny Testaverde (10 of 19 for 145 yards with an INT) to Mark Carrier tied the game with 2:09 left. Regulation time ended with the score tied 7-7. The Buccaneers won the coin toss, but elected to kickoff the overtime period due to the poor weather conditions. The Patroits marched down the field and, at 3:08 of OT, a 27 yard field goal by Jason Staurovsky gave the home team a 10-7 victory. Ray Perkins said of the decision to take the 25 mph wind, instead of the ball, "I would've done the same thing ten out of ten times."

On December 18, the season ended with 37,778 fans watching the Bucs play Detroit at Tampa Stadium. Vinny Testaverde was 12 of 23 for 189 yards and three touchdowns, but he also threw three interceptions. Testaverde said after Tampa Bay beat Detroit 21-10, "There is light at the end of the tunnel. Next year, we look to improve by five, six or seven wins. Be there. It's going to be a great year."

The Bucs finished the year with a 5-11 record, which placed them third in the division. There were some bright spots, such as Donnie Elder leading the NFC in kickoff returns with a 22.7 yard average and rookie running back Lars Tate leading the team in rushing. Bruce Hill, voted the team's Most Valuable Player by the area media, became only the second Bucs receiver to go over 1,000 yards in a season and equaled the team record for touchdown receptions (9). On the negative side, Vinny Testaverde threw an NFC record 35 interceptions. There was talk that part of the reason for all the interceptions was Testaverde was color-blind, so the Buccaneers started wearing their white uniforms at home the following season. Ray Criswell had a league low 36.4 yard punting average and was released. Wide receiver Mark Carrier made the Pro Bowl team as a reserve.

Related Links

1988 Buccaneers Results

1988 NFC Central Division Standings

1988 Buccaneers Draft

1988 Buccaneers Statistics

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