the 1988 edition of the liberty bowl, marked the 30th edition and the kickoff occurred in sub-freezing conditions. the hoosiers scored early in the game when anthony thompson gave indiana a 7–0 lead with his nine-yard touchdown run. they extended their lead further to 17–0 at halftime after a ten-yard dave schnell touchdown pass to calvert miller and a 28-yard pete stoyanovich field goal in the second quarter. the gamecocks scored their only touchdown early in the third quarter when antonio walker blocked a macky smith punt that was recovered and returned 34-yards by mike tolbert for the score. each team then traded field goals, stoyanovich from 19-yards for indiana and collin mackie from 44-yards for carolina that made the score 20–10 at the end of the third quarter. the hoosiers then closed the game with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns and won 34–10. points were scored on an 88-yard, rob turner touchdown reception from dave schnell and an eight-yard thompson run. dave schnell was named the mvp of the game as he completed 16 of 31 passes for 378 yards and two touchdowns.