A Look Back: 20 Years Later - Seeds Of A Champion Sown In Memorable Year
by Bill Brown (selmaborntidefan)
July 23, 2011
(Author's note: I've not posted a news article in nearly a year. However, with the season upon us it is fun to re-live the past as well as fantasize about the future. This year marks the 30th anniversary of Bear Bryant's 315th win to become the all-time winningest coach in college football. That blog will occur in the next week or so. I will also cover the 2001 rebuilding year that occurred a decade ago. Today sit back and enjoy the memories from a truly unforgettable year, 1991).
"Hopeful ambivalence" was a term that describes well the feeling surrounding Alabama fans headed into the 1991 season. Gene Stallings' first year had started as an unmitigated disaster, losing the first 3 games with late-game collapses that cast a pall over the year before September was over. Stallings, however, righted the ship and the Tide went 7-1 after September until a 34-7 beatdown by Browning Nagle and the Louisville Cardinals in Bama's first ever Fiesta Bowl.
When Bama fans sobered from the New Year's hangover, however, there appeared to be plenty of reason for optimism. The Tide had beaten the Tennessee Volunteers for the fifth straight year and ended a four-year losing streak to the Auburn Tigers.
The decade-long home-and-home series with Penn State was over with the Tide holding a 6-4 advantage. And other than the Fiesta Bowl debacle, the Tide had been competitive in every single game in 1990. In each of the first three losses the Tide had led in the final quarter only to succumb to turnovers, penalties, and breakdowns in the special teams. They had also been undone by major injuries. 1989 star Siran Stacy missed nearly all of 1990. So too did Craig Sanderson and Prince Wimbley, all of them out for the season during the painful 0-3 start.
The defense had been nothing short of phenomenal, however. None of the last seven regular season opponents scored more than a touchdown against the Tide defense. And even the 28 points given up to Vanderbilt was misleading because the Tide had led early, 56-7, and benched the defensive starters so as not to suffer more injuries. The Tide held five straight opponents without a touchdown after the Vandy game.
Another hopeful sign was that the out-of-conference schedule was nothing short of a bakery. Temple, UTC, Tulane, and Memphis are not exactly national championship contenders in waiting. To be fair, however, no SEC schools were wiling to take on long-term scheduling commitments due to the upcoming expansion that would add 2 more strong regular season opponents to each team's schedule. (Mississippi State failed to get the memo and opted to open against a Texas team that ended 1990 with only 2 losses).
The ambivalance could be found when one looked at the quarterback position. Gary Hollingsworth was gone, and the major question was who would replace him. Danny Woodson got the early nod, but Woodson was seen as something of a less talented Mike Shula who could run. Woodson would complete a high percentage of his early passes primarily because they would be tosses in the flat. The Tide had recruited the best player in the state of Alabama, David Palmer, to play, but the question was whether Palmer would line up as quarterback (he would several times) or whether to use him as a misdirection decoy (which also occurred). The 1990 stifling defense returned several stars including Eric Curry, Derrick Oden, and Antonio London. The secondary was set with George Teague and Stacy Harrison, soon to be accompanied by the talented Antonio Langham. So with primarily a question of who would take the snaps, Alabama headed into 1991 looking forward to a seemingly bright future.
There was, however, one other problem: the nature of what exactly it took to win the SEC. No SEC team had gone through the conference schedule unbeaten and untied since Auburn in 1983. Furthermore, the parity of the league was staggering, the most balanced the SEC had been since the late 1950s prior to the arrival at the Capstone of a certain coach from Texas A&M. Since 1982 - a span of nine seasons - no less than SIX DIFFERENT SEC teams had won the conference (although Florida was stripped of their 1984 title). And in many cases it was a team that nobody would have thought would emerge as champion in the pre-season pecking order. Georgia had been the favorites in 1983 when Auburn stunned the entire conference with a top 3 finish.
Tennessee came out of nowhere to win the 1985 title. Alabama had blown the 1986 title with two fumbles at the one against LSU to send the Tigers to Bourbon Street. And even Auburn's late decade trifecta never once included an unblemished conference slate. It was generally acknowledged that the favorite was probably Florida, owing to the fact the Gators had been the best in the SEC in 1990 but ineligibile to win the conference. Tennessee also went off as a possibility because they were two-time defending champions and returning a senior quarterback, Andy Kelly. And even Auburn, who had collapsed in November the previous year, was given ink as a possible SEC champion. Alabama was considered a possible title winner as well just so long as the offense could get going.
One other anecdote touched this season, a bizarre one in retrospect. Despite the fact that he was in only his second season, Gene Stallings' tenure at Alabama was exceeded within the conference only by 4 coaches - Johnny Majors, Billy Brewer, Ray Goff and Pat Dye. 1991 saw new hirings at Vanderbilt (Gerry DiNardo), LSU (Curley Hallman), and Mississippi State (Jackie Sherrill) while Bill Curry, Stallings, and Spurrier were in their second year and Georgia coach Ray Goff his third.
Could the Tide turn the trick and take the SEC?
GAME ONE: TEMPLE
All the rage before the game was how the Temple Owls had finally turned the corner from 3 decades of losing. The school known primarily for Bill Cosby and its basketball team had enjoyed a banner year in 1990 with a 7-4 record and a stunning upset of Wisconsin. Before it was over, however, the Owls could only hoot.
A record crowd poured into Legion Field. It didn't take long for the Bama fireworks to begin. Early in the first quarter, new Tide QB Danny Woodson responded to a sack at his own 15 by scampering 85 yards on the next play for a lightning quick score that put the Tide up, 7-0. A few minutes later the return of Siran Stacy was launched as he scored from 7 yards out. The Tide led 14-0, and the game was as good as over. Stacy put in another 7 yard touchdown in the second quarter, but Bama's most troublesome aspect to the 1991 season - the kicking game - showed its first shakiness when Matt Wethington missed the PAT. Still, the Tide led 20-0. The Owls put together a decent drive and kicked a FG shortly before the half to make it 20-3.
Siran Stacy continued to show he had come back from his 1990 injury in the third quarter when he fired a touchdown pass to the also returning Prince Wimbeley that put the Tide up, 27-3. After a Woodson TD pass, Chris Anderson entered the Bama record books by pulling off the longest from scrimmage play in Alabama history, a dazzling 96-yard scamper to finish the scoring, 41-3. Pretty much considered an easy win prior to the game, the Tide delivered and prepared for SEC foe Florida with confidence growing.
GAME TWO: FLORIDA
News was made before this game by the brash mouth of Florida Coach Steve Spurrier, who predicted that Florida would win the game by five TDs. This was pretty bold talk coming from a conference newbie whose team had never beaten Alabama at Florida Field. And Florida failed to deliver in the early going despite Alabama's best efforts to hand the Gators a blowout. The Crimson Tide fumbled the ball six times in the first half. Florida recovered three and yet managed to go into the break leading only by a close 6-0 score.
The second half, however, saw the emergence of Errict Rhett as a running back. Rhett rumbled for 170 yards and a pair of TDs to offset a game where Shane Mathews threw pretty well but never really got going. The Tide's spectacular defense was undone by so many of Florida's second-half drives beginning in Tide territory. Florida quickly put 29 more points on the board, and Spurrier's brash mouth and talented team walked away with a 35-0 game that was in point of fact closer than the final score. Alabama was also undone by an injury to QB Danny Woodson, an injury that put Jay Barker in the heat of battle for the first time. The loss was not Barker's fault, and he would be heard from time and again in the very near future.
GAME THREE: GEORGIA
Bama fans were treated to rarity at least by 1991 standards. The Alabama-Georgia tilt was broadcast in prime time on Saturday night. Alabama needed to desperately recover from the Florida shellacking while Georgia was having its own problems as well. The Tide compounded Georgia's problem by shutting them out for the first time in seven years. An excellent defense bailed out a pedestrian effort by the Tide offense. Once again, the kicking game was a disaster, missing two field goals. Nobody scored until the final minute of the third quarter when Siran Stacy rumbled in from four yards out. When Hamp Green hit an 18-yard field goal in the final quarter, the game was as good as over. The Tide improved to 2-1 overall.
And although nobody knew it at the time, it was the start of a 31-game unbeaten streak for the Tide.
GAME FOUR: VANDERBILT
The biggest news in the SEC - and probably for all of the 1991 college football season - broke the morning before the Vanderbilt game. Former Auburn safety Eric Ramsey was quoted in "The Montgomery Advertiser" as alleging that he had a collection of over 100 audio tapes proving that Auburn boosters were paying football players in violation of NCAA rules. Ramsey further alleged that head coach Pat Dye knew and approved of this practice and had been instrumental in Ramsey obtaining a loan in violation of NCAA rules. These allegations eventually landed the Tigers a two-year probation. And in one of the truly strange ironies of all-time, the story broke on the day Dye himself was meeting with an NCAA representative in Boston to present his findings of investigations into both Auburn's tennis and basketball programs, both of which were sanctioned.
Adding to the giddiness surround the Tide program was the absolute dismantling of the Vanderbilt Commodores on a beautiful autumn day in Nashville. The Tide rolled up over 500 yards of offense and put 48 points on the board. Much of the pregame talk centered on how Vandy's new coach, Gerry DiNardo, would usher in the best period of Vanderbilt football's meager history. DiNardo was fresh off running the offense at the 1990 national champion Colorado University.
The Tide got off to a shaky start. After holding Vandy to a short possession, the Tide only had the ball for two Siran Stacy plays. The first was a dazzling 44-yard scamper for a first down. The very next play Stacy fumbled the ball away and the Commodores recovered. It was their lone highlight of a dismal afternoon.
Danny Woodson began the fireworks with a TD strike to David Palmer midway through the first quarter. This was truly Palmer's coming out game as he had 212 all-purpose yards that included a 56-yard punt return TD and a 15-yard TD reception. The Tide was only penalized twice for 10 yards and got touchdowns from five different players. Once again the lone dark spot was the Tide kicking game. After hitting his first six PATs, Hamp Greene missed yet again.
Given that the Tide once held the NCAA record for consecutive PATs and had a legacy of kicking that stretched back a decade, Greene was not endearing himself to the fans with his frequent misses. His shakiness could become a factor if the game was close. Nevertheless, the Tide ended September at 3-1 and a 2-1 SEC mark. They overcame any potential hangover from the Florida game.
GAME FIVE: UTC
Would you be shocked to find out UTC scored first in this one? The Tide actually trailed the Moccasins, 7-0, when UTC scored on its second drive of the game. From that point on it was a pole-axing. Alabama hit TD after TD with 12 different ball carriers and totaled nearly 600 yards of total offense. Mark McMillian got into the scoring action by intercepting a UTC pass just before halftime and returning it 98 yards for a back-breaking touchdown. The 53-7 final score did not even take into account the fact that David Palmer had another punt return for a TD - only to have it called back because of a penalty. Two blowouts in a row had the Tide fans frisky.
GAME SIX: TULANE
I must confess that I can find nothing about this game. I never saw it. Really, folks, is there much that can be said about a 62-0 shellacking? Yes, there is. It's an oldie but a goodie. The Tulane coach no doubt was asked after the game, "When did the momentum change?" And he no doubt answered, "The moment our opponents took the field."
GAME SEVEN: TENNESSEE
Entering the seventh game of the 1991 season, Alabama had not really done much of which to be proud. The Tide was cruising along at 6-1 and had pancaked its last three opponents. None of the opponents, however, were very good anyway. The only quality opponent thus far on the Tide schedule, Florida, had beaten the Tide by five TDs. Although the Tide had beaten Georgia, the Bulldogs would look rather mortal this same day when they somehow lost to Vandy. Pundits and experts were predicting a reality check for the Crimson Tide on October 19, 1991. Bama had only faced one quality quarterback, Florida's Shane Mathews. It was suggested that Tennessee's Andy Kelly, another pre-season Heisman hopeful, would have the same success against the Tide D. The Alabama-Tennessee rivalry was in full bloom as a gentleman's quarrel, and this day saw one of the many classics produced by this series.
A beautiful fall day broke for the early contest. The Tide was perched at number 14 nationally with the one-loss Vols at 10. The first three quarters were defense at its finest. At that point the Volunteers led, 6-3. Given the 9-6 final score in 1990, the two teams had played seven quarters against each other without either giving up a touchdown. Tide partisans, however, had to feel especially nervous. Not only was their kicking game in shambles but both their best offensive player (Palmer) and starting QB (Danny Woodson) had been knocked out of the game with injuries. With untested back-up Jay Barker calling the snaps, the Tide could not afford for the game to come down to kicking. Enter Siran Stacy.
The man who first made his mark in the 1989 game showed that he still had it despite the 1990 injury. Early in the fourth quarter Stacy scored a touchdown to put the Tide up, 10-6. The madness got louder moments later when Chris Anderson returned a punt 56 yards to set the Tide up in easy reach of the goal line. Derrick Lassic crossed it, and when Stacy added yet another TD to put the Tide up, 24-6, the game seemed over. In fact, it had just begun.
With only 6:21 remaining, the Volunteers fought back. Aaron Hayden scored a Vols touchdown, but the failure of the 2-point conversion made the score 24-12. Tennessee was low on time as well as timeouts, and they needed to score quickly. Amazingly, they recovered an onside kick and hit another quick score to Hayden to make the once insurmountable lead dwindle to 24-19. At this point, however, Alabama had only to run out the clock. If only it were that easy.
Stacy, who had owned Tennessee now for 2 separate games, fumbled the ball away and gave Andy Kelly one more chance with 1:45 left. With a chance to show his Heisman potential, Kelly flubbed it. Or to be more precise, he ran into a buzzsaw in the Tide defense. Running for his life on the final play, Kelly was tackled by defensive end John Copeland to preserve the 24-19 Tide triumph. It had been a dazzling game, without a doubt the most exciting thus far in 1991.
As it turned out, the Tide was about to play a sequence of games that would both frighten and thrill fans as they continually drained every ounce of emotion out of the reborn Tide faithful.
GAME EIGHT: MISSISSIPPI STATE
While the Tide was enjoying its rebirth as top ten team, the Mississippi State Bulldogs were enjoying a season unlike so many before. A perennial cellar dweller in the always tough SEC, great Bulldog seasons are the exception rather than the rule. The Dawgs had not been to a bowl game in a decade during which only Vanderbilt had a worse record. Things changed, however, in 1991 when the Dawgs called on former Texas A&M coach Jackie Sherill to make them respectable. Sherrill stunned the football world with the first major upset of 1991 when the Dawgs thumped Texas, a team that had only lost twice the year before. Even the games the Bulldogs lost were exciting in 1991. Their only truly shameful blemish this year was an inexplicable loss to Memphis on October 19.
That might be written off, however, to the trauma that enveloped the team following the funeral of Rodney Stowers. Stowers was a defensive lineman who had broken a leg in the Florida game. Infection set in and Stowers died on October 3, 1991. Otherwise the Bulldogs had won the games expected plus the Texas upset and had played respectable in a close loss to Tennessee. Only Florida had beaten them badly, and the Gators actually had beaten Alabama by more points.
On paper, therefore, the November 2, 1991 matchup between the Tide and the Bulldogs looked pretty even. The Tide had a substantial edge in depth and experience, but the Bulldogs were carrying the emotion that often follows a trauma as well as a new coach who had shaken their old ways somewhat.
After a week off to regroup, the Tide got ready to host the best Bulldogs team in a decade. As had been the case against the other SEC opponents (except Vandy), the Tide knuckled down and allowed no touchdowns in the first half. In fact, they didn't allow any points. The Tide went in at halftime with a 7-0 lead thanks to a 64-yard interception return for touchdown by Stacey Harrison that was the singular memorable play of the first half for a variety of reasons.
Coming into the game, the major threat Alabama fans worried about was MSU quarterback William "Sleepy" Robinson. While hardly a great passer, he added the dimension of running the ball. For some inexplicable reason, Sherrill sent in a halfback option play. The halfback tossed a wounded goose in the direction of his receiver that took so long Harrison could have called for a fair catch. He hauled it in with nothing between him and the goal line. Except for two other problems: 1) MSU didn't give up on the play but actually managed to tackle Harrison at the goal line; 2) Harrison began showboating a la Deion Sanders as he tore down the sidelines and enabled the defender to catch up to him. Harrison scored, but Coach Gene Stallings dressed him down on the sidelines after the play. It turned out to be the most important play of the game.
MSU got it even again in the third quarter when Robinson his Treddis Anderson with a four-yard pass. Hamp Greene missed two more short field goals, and Coach Stallings finally opted for another kicker. Matt Wethington won the kicking job with 2 fourth quarter field goals that put the Tide up by a count of 13-7. Yet just like the Tennessee game the dramatics were still to come.
Robinson drove the Bulldogs down the field. With a mixture of passing and running, he got them to a first-and-goal situation inside the five-yard line. On second down, the Tide stuffed the ballcarrier at the one. With less than two minutes left, fear gripped the heart of every Tide fan. Robinson was going to have 2 shots to fall six feet and get a PAT. If he did then the game was as good as over because there was no way Bama was going to drive 100 yards in 30 seconds, and the kicking game was still not long distance capable. So sure, in fact, was Gene Stallings that MSU would probably score that he called a timeout prior to 3rd down so as to ensure that if the Dawgs did score that Alabama would at least get a chance for a Stanford-Cal kickoff return.
The critical play came on third down. Just as the Bulldogs set in their stance, a freshman offensive lineman lunged across the line of scrimmage to draw a false start penalty. MSU Coach Jackie Sherrill screamed hysterical that he was drawn off by an Alabama player calling the signals. Sherrill was so enraged that the WTBS cameras picked up (and broadcast nationwide) the "f" word, eliciting a chuckle from Bob Neal and Tim Foley as they tried to talk over Sherrill. Two shots at the end zone from the seven. The Tide held to force a fourth down and then Stacey Harrison bailed out the Tide by intercepting Sleepy Robinson's desperate heave into the end zone. The Tide had held on for a second exciting last-second win, 13-7.
GAME NINE: LSU
The big news nationally was the retirement of LA Lakers star Magic Johnson due to his contraction of the HIV virus. The big news in Alabama, however, concerned the suspension of starting QB Danny Woodson for violating team rules. His suspension gave the little-known Jay Barker his first college start. Nobody could have known on that wonderful November afternoon that Barker would hold the starter's job through his senior year (missing 3 starts in 1993 due to injury) and compile a 34-2-1 record with 3 Western Division titles, an SEC title, and a national championship. But those accomplishments were a ways off. The immediate focus was on the Deuce.
LSU, meanwhile, was trying to rebuild from the implosion of the Mike Archer regime. Southern Miss coach Curley Hallman managed to parlay the college success of Brett Favre into the delusion that he was a capable head football coach. LSU had hired him with the hopes of returning to national glory, a hire that would cost them another five years in the rebuilding process. And as the saying went back then, "The Tide don't lose in Baton Rouge."
After a quick three and out, LSU played field position. They punted deep to David Palmer. One juke move and 90 yards later Palmer was standing in the end zone with a lightning quick 7-0 lead for Alabama. The Tide advanced their lead to a 20-7 margin and looked to finish this one early. But LSU fought back to within a three-point margin. Late in the game the Tigers lined up for a game-tying field goal. Antonio London blocked it to preserve yet another exciting Tide victory, 20-17.
GAME TEN: MEMPHIS
The less said about this game the better. Four years after shocking the Tide, the Memphis State Tigers outplayed Alabama for four quarters only to lose because they missed two field goals. Memphis held the Tide offense to only 11 first downs and 130 yards rushing. Once again the defense bailed out the team when John Copeland forced a fumble on the Tide 27-yard line with four minutes left. Alabama ran out the clock, but the close margin of victory prompted no end of suggestions as to how Alabama had been extremely lucky. The Tide was 9-1, but ESPN pundit Lee Corso referred to Alabama as "the worst 9-1 team in the country."
Gene Stallings did not let that one pass without comment as he responded by saying, "Lee should know a bad football team when he sees one; all of his teams were pretty awful." It was left to Jay Barker to note that while he would grant that Alabama had been lucky, the luck they enjoyed was due in part to hard work. While the press was busy with this day's big story of the upset of season-long #1 Florida State (Wide Right I), almost nobody noted the #7 had only lost once. So unimpressed were the AP voters with the Memphis State win that Alabama actually dropped a spot.
GAME ELEVEN: AUBURN
The 1991 Iron Bowl was dubbed "The Sandbox Bowl" by a number of Auburn partisans. This was in reference to the negotiations that landed Auburn a home-and-home series for the game. In exchange for playing the 1989 game at Jordan-Hare, Auburn agreed to play in Legion Field one last time as the home team in 1991. Thus for the only time in history, Legion Field had the auburn and blue AU at midfield. Seventy thousand tickets were sold to Auburn partisans compared to only 10,000 for Alabama. Tiger optimism was tempered, however, by the ever-widening Eric Ramsey scandal.
By this point in time it was clear to all non-partisan observers that sanctions were inevitable at Auburn. Ramsey's attorney had played a number of tapes for the press that substantiated a major portion of his claims. The only thing Ramsey had claimed thus far that he could not substantiate was the allegation that Pat Dye had known about a questionable bank loan. Ramsey noted that this particular conversation had occurred on the practice field when he was not wearing his tape recorder. In a mantra that would resonate some 20 years later during the Cam Newton saga, Auburn laid the blame for their current 5-5 season on Alabama. This conspiracy theory alleged that Ramsey's Birmingham attorney, Donald Watkins, was retaliating towards Auburn for Birmingham's lost revenue due to the moving of the Iron Bowl to a home-and-home series.
Ramsey's brother-in-law was former Auburn Tiger Aundray Bruce, who had made millions while becoming one of the biggest draft busts ever with the Atlanta Falcons. This caused a family rift because the Ramsey's were allegedly barely able to make ends meet yet drove Lexus sedans. The suggestion, of course, was that Alabama boosters had paid Ramsey to make the charges and supplied him with a Lexus. None of this dealt with a number of the plain facts in the case including Ramsey establishing that payment had occurred, providing a receipt proving the loan Dye helped him secure from Colonial Bank had indeed happened, and the later admissions by Pat Dye that he had lied when he first said he didn't know about any money changing hands. The logic also contained a major flaw: Ramsey was in Auburn's 1986 recruiting class at a time when Alabama's record against Auburn over the previous 15 years was 12-3. Why would Alabama need help taking down an opponent it had beaten 80% of the time in recent memory?
Whatever the answers to that question they were set aside on the final day of November in 1991. An overcast day saw a forgettable Iron Bowl that could be reduced to two plays, a long one and a short one, that occurred in rapid sequence early in the second quarter. Seeking to avoid the rush, Jay Barker moved back towards the left side of the field. He found Kevin Turner open in the flat. Turner rumbled 69 yards down the field before being taken down inside the ten to set the Tide up with the first-and-goal. Shortly thereafter, high school QB turned flanker David Palmer took the snap and darted left and right and into the end zone for the only touchdown of the 1991 game. The way Alabama's defense had played in 1991, this touchdown would be enough to win.
Just to make sure, however, Matt Wethington later hit two field goals. Auburn got a pair themselves but spent much of the day in their own territory. When all was said and done Alabama hd a 13-6 victory and had completed an improbable and somewhat unexpected 10-1 regular season. Although a bowl game had been clinched in October, the question remained what bowl would choose Alabama.
GAME TWELVE: BLOCKBUSTER BOWL VS COLORADO
Instead of one of the old-time prizes, Alabama was chosen to square off against defending national champion Colorado in the second Blockbuster Bowl. The Tide had not won a bowl game in three years, and many pundits felt that Colorado's triple option style would test the Tide in a way they had not seen in 1991. In a bowl season that was quite forgettable, the Tide and Buffaloes played perhaps the most forgettable five-point bowl game in history. In a game that droned on and on, the Tide finally prevailed 30-25. The game saw 13 total sacks, 12 penalties, and was played in a slight rain that undercut Colorado's option offense in Darian Hagan's final game.
The story of the game was MVP David Palmer. For the fourth time this year he delighted the crowd with a punt return for a TD. This one was rather strange because it seemed the entire Colorado team simply waited to tackle him until he was in the red zone. Palmer broke four tackles en route to the end zone and a 7-0 Tide lead just six minutes into the game. Colorado responded on Alabama's next drive by blocking a Tank Williamson punt that gave them first-and-goal at the 3. Scott Philips scored to tie it. The Buffs then got a safety one play after Alabama just missed a disaster. Barker fumbled the ball on a sack inside the five where Matt Hammond recovered it.
Unfortunately, the Buffs tackled Martin Houston on the next play for a safety. Bama retaliated when Mark McMillian intercepted a Hagan pass at midfield and took it all the way back to the one. Unfortunately, the Tide offense lost seven yards while needing only three feet and settled for a Wethington FG to regain the lead. In yet another mistake, Barker fumbled the exchange on an ill-conceived flea flicker just before halftime, and Colorado recovered and kicked a 33-yard FG to take a 12-10 lead in at the break. The first half had seen little more than mistakes on both sides. The second half would see improvement. Slightly.
Alabama drove the length of the field and had third and goal at the eight. David Palmer then lined up at QB and scored. Which would have been fantastic except for the fact that Prince Wimbley entered the huddle and left the game without playing a snap, drawing an illegal substitution penalty. Tide fans familiar with the offense's penchant for blowing it no doubt screamed hysterically at this turn of events. But it didn't last long. Jay Barker hit Siran Stacy at the five, and Stacy rumbled in for a 13-yard TD pass that gave Alabama a lead that would last all of one play. Hagan hit Michael Westbrook with a 62-yard pass and catch that put the Buffaloes right back on top, 19-16.
Bama had opted for the two-point conversion that had failed (but would not matter in the end). Alabama then got the ball back and put together one of their best drives of the year, a 75-yard, eight-play masterpiece that ended with a 12-yard pass from Barker to Kevin Lee. Wethington made the kick and the Tide now held the lead they would never lose.
If the previous drive had been a joy then it was the next Alabama drive that gave hope for 1992. Taking it at their own 29, the Tide drove 71 yards in 15 plays that only took 3:41 off the clock. Barker flung his third TD pass in as many drives, this one to Palmer, who had now scored three times even though one was taken away. With a 30-19 lead and a fantastic defense, this game was as good as over.
Well not quite. Hagan put together a quick four-play touchdown drive that only took 55 seconds off the clock. They also tried for two, but the failure on the conversion left the Buffs down by 5. The Tide then ran out the clock to preserve a 30-25 win and nail down an exciting 11-1 season, the first time Alabama had won 11 games in a season since the 1979 national champions won 12.
EPILOGUE
There's a saying that football seasons look like other ones. And view retrospectively, the 1991 Crimson Tide was an awful lot like the 2008 Crimson Tide. Both teams lost only one game. Both teams lost to Florida. Both teams played exciting ball all year. Both teams played scintillating games against LSU and left Baton Rouge as the victor. There were, of course, some differences. The 2008 team was much better rounded than the 1991 team.
The 1991 team probably had a better defense as was proven in 1992. All in all, however, I will remember the 1991 Crimson Tide as a team that lived on the edge all year and emerged unbeaten from all of its close games. They made every game exciting, and they set the stage for what was to happen just 53 weeks later on that unforgettable night in New Orleans. The Tide finished the year at number 5 and looked towards the future.
by Bill Brown (selmaborntidefan)
July 23, 2011
(Author's note: I've not posted a news article in nearly a year. However, with the season upon us it is fun to re-live the past as well as fantasize about the future. This year marks the 30th anniversary of Bear Bryant's 315th win to become the all-time winningest coach in college football. That blog will occur in the next week or so. I will also cover the 2001 rebuilding year that occurred a decade ago. Today sit back and enjoy the memories from a truly unforgettable year, 1991).
"Hopeful ambivalence" was a term that describes well the feeling surrounding Alabama fans headed into the 1991 season. Gene Stallings' first year had started as an unmitigated disaster, losing the first 3 games with late-game collapses that cast a pall over the year before September was over. Stallings, however, righted the ship and the Tide went 7-1 after September until a 34-7 beatdown by Browning Nagle and the Louisville Cardinals in Bama's first ever Fiesta Bowl.
When Bama fans sobered from the New Year's hangover, however, there appeared to be plenty of reason for optimism. The Tide had beaten the Tennessee Volunteers for the fifth straight year and ended a four-year losing streak to the Auburn Tigers.
The decade-long home-and-home series with Penn State was over with the Tide holding a 6-4 advantage. And other than the Fiesta Bowl debacle, the Tide had been competitive in every single game in 1990. In each of the first three losses the Tide had led in the final quarter only to succumb to turnovers, penalties, and breakdowns in the special teams. They had also been undone by major injuries. 1989 star Siran Stacy missed nearly all of 1990. So too did Craig Sanderson and Prince Wimbley, all of them out for the season during the painful 0-3 start.
The defense had been nothing short of phenomenal, however. None of the last seven regular season opponents scored more than a touchdown against the Tide defense. And even the 28 points given up to Vanderbilt was misleading because the Tide had led early, 56-7, and benched the defensive starters so as not to suffer more injuries. The Tide held five straight opponents without a touchdown after the Vandy game.
Another hopeful sign was that the out-of-conference schedule was nothing short of a bakery. Temple, UTC, Tulane, and Memphis are not exactly national championship contenders in waiting. To be fair, however, no SEC schools were wiling to take on long-term scheduling commitments due to the upcoming expansion that would add 2 more strong regular season opponents to each team's schedule. (Mississippi State failed to get the memo and opted to open against a Texas team that ended 1990 with only 2 losses).
The ambivalance could be found when one looked at the quarterback position. Gary Hollingsworth was gone, and the major question was who would replace him. Danny Woodson got the early nod, but Woodson was seen as something of a less talented Mike Shula who could run. Woodson would complete a high percentage of his early passes primarily because they would be tosses in the flat. The Tide had recruited the best player in the state of Alabama, David Palmer, to play, but the question was whether Palmer would line up as quarterback (he would several times) or whether to use him as a misdirection decoy (which also occurred). The 1990 stifling defense returned several stars including Eric Curry, Derrick Oden, and Antonio London. The secondary was set with George Teague and Stacy Harrison, soon to be accompanied by the talented Antonio Langham. So with primarily a question of who would take the snaps, Alabama headed into 1991 looking forward to a seemingly bright future.
There was, however, one other problem: the nature of what exactly it took to win the SEC. No SEC team had gone through the conference schedule unbeaten and untied since Auburn in 1983. Furthermore, the parity of the league was staggering, the most balanced the SEC had been since the late 1950s prior to the arrival at the Capstone of a certain coach from Texas A&M. Since 1982 - a span of nine seasons - no less than SIX DIFFERENT SEC teams had won the conference (although Florida was stripped of their 1984 title). And in many cases it was a team that nobody would have thought would emerge as champion in the pre-season pecking order. Georgia had been the favorites in 1983 when Auburn stunned the entire conference with a top 3 finish.
Tennessee came out of nowhere to win the 1985 title. Alabama had blown the 1986 title with two fumbles at the one against LSU to send the Tigers to Bourbon Street. And even Auburn's late decade trifecta never once included an unblemished conference slate. It was generally acknowledged that the favorite was probably Florida, owing to the fact the Gators had been the best in the SEC in 1990 but ineligibile to win the conference. Tennessee also went off as a possibility because they were two-time defending champions and returning a senior quarterback, Andy Kelly. And even Auburn, who had collapsed in November the previous year, was given ink as a possible SEC champion. Alabama was considered a possible title winner as well just so long as the offense could get going.
One other anecdote touched this season, a bizarre one in retrospect. Despite the fact that he was in only his second season, Gene Stallings' tenure at Alabama was exceeded within the conference only by 4 coaches - Johnny Majors, Billy Brewer, Ray Goff and Pat Dye. 1991 saw new hirings at Vanderbilt (Gerry DiNardo), LSU (Curley Hallman), and Mississippi State (Jackie Sherrill) while Bill Curry, Stallings, and Spurrier were in their second year and Georgia coach Ray Goff his third.
Could the Tide turn the trick and take the SEC?
GAME ONE: TEMPLEAll the rage before the game was how the Temple Owls had finally turned the corner from 3 decades of losing. The school known primarily for Bill Cosby and its basketball team had enjoyed a banner year in 1990 with a 7-4 record and a stunning upset of Wisconsin. Before it was over, however, the Owls could only hoot.
A record crowd poured into Legion Field. It didn't take long for the Bama fireworks to begin. Early in the first quarter, new Tide QB Danny Woodson responded to a sack at his own 15 by scampering 85 yards on the next play for a lightning quick score that put the Tide up, 7-0. A few minutes later the return of Siran Stacy was launched as he scored from 7 yards out. The Tide led 14-0, and the game was as good as over. Stacy put in another 7 yard touchdown in the second quarter, but Bama's most troublesome aspect to the 1991 season - the kicking game - showed its first shakiness when Matt Wethington missed the PAT. Still, the Tide led 20-0. The Owls put together a decent drive and kicked a FG shortly before the half to make it 20-3.
Siran Stacy continued to show he had come back from his 1990 injury in the third quarter when he fired a touchdown pass to the also returning Prince Wimbeley that put the Tide up, 27-3. After a Woodson TD pass, Chris Anderson entered the Bama record books by pulling off the longest from scrimmage play in Alabama history, a dazzling 96-yard scamper to finish the scoring, 41-3. Pretty much considered an easy win prior to the game, the Tide delivered and prepared for SEC foe Florida with confidence growing.
GAME TWO: FLORIDANews was made before this game by the brash mouth of Florida Coach Steve Spurrier, who predicted that Florida would win the game by five TDs. This was pretty bold talk coming from a conference newbie whose team had never beaten Alabama at Florida Field. And Florida failed to deliver in the early going despite Alabama's best efforts to hand the Gators a blowout. The Crimson Tide fumbled the ball six times in the first half. Florida recovered three and yet managed to go into the break leading only by a close 6-0 score.
The second half, however, saw the emergence of Errict Rhett as a running back. Rhett rumbled for 170 yards and a pair of TDs to offset a game where Shane Mathews threw pretty well but never really got going. The Tide's spectacular defense was undone by so many of Florida's second-half drives beginning in Tide territory. Florida quickly put 29 more points on the board, and Spurrier's brash mouth and talented team walked away with a 35-0 game that was in point of fact closer than the final score. Alabama was also undone by an injury to QB Danny Woodson, an injury that put Jay Barker in the heat of battle for the first time. The loss was not Barker's fault, and he would be heard from time and again in the very near future.
GAME THREE: GEORGIABama fans were treated to rarity at least by 1991 standards. The Alabama-Georgia tilt was broadcast in prime time on Saturday night. Alabama needed to desperately recover from the Florida shellacking while Georgia was having its own problems as well. The Tide compounded Georgia's problem by shutting them out for the first time in seven years. An excellent defense bailed out a pedestrian effort by the Tide offense. Once again, the kicking game was a disaster, missing two field goals. Nobody scored until the final minute of the third quarter when Siran Stacy rumbled in from four yards out. When Hamp Green hit an 18-yard field goal in the final quarter, the game was as good as over. The Tide improved to 2-1 overall.
And although nobody knew it at the time, it was the start of a 31-game unbeaten streak for the Tide.
GAME FOUR: VANDERBILTThe biggest news in the SEC - and probably for all of the 1991 college football season - broke the morning before the Vanderbilt game. Former Auburn safety Eric Ramsey was quoted in "The Montgomery Advertiser" as alleging that he had a collection of over 100 audio tapes proving that Auburn boosters were paying football players in violation of NCAA rules. Ramsey further alleged that head coach Pat Dye knew and approved of this practice and had been instrumental in Ramsey obtaining a loan in violation of NCAA rules. These allegations eventually landed the Tigers a two-year probation. And in one of the truly strange ironies of all-time, the story broke on the day Dye himself was meeting with an NCAA representative in Boston to present his findings of investigations into both Auburn's tennis and basketball programs, both of which were sanctioned.
Adding to the giddiness surround the Tide program was the absolute dismantling of the Vanderbilt Commodores on a beautiful autumn day in Nashville. The Tide rolled up over 500 yards of offense and put 48 points on the board. Much of the pregame talk centered on how Vandy's new coach, Gerry DiNardo, would usher in the best period of Vanderbilt football's meager history. DiNardo was fresh off running the offense at the 1990 national champion Colorado University.
The Tide got off to a shaky start. After holding Vandy to a short possession, the Tide only had the ball for two Siran Stacy plays. The first was a dazzling 44-yard scamper for a first down. The very next play Stacy fumbled the ball away and the Commodores recovered. It was their lone highlight of a dismal afternoon.
Danny Woodson began the fireworks with a TD strike to David Palmer midway through the first quarter. This was truly Palmer's coming out game as he had 212 all-purpose yards that included a 56-yard punt return TD and a 15-yard TD reception. The Tide was only penalized twice for 10 yards and got touchdowns from five different players. Once again the lone dark spot was the Tide kicking game. After hitting his first six PATs, Hamp Greene missed yet again.
Given that the Tide once held the NCAA record for consecutive PATs and had a legacy of kicking that stretched back a decade, Greene was not endearing himself to the fans with his frequent misses. His shakiness could become a factor if the game was close. Nevertheless, the Tide ended September at 3-1 and a 2-1 SEC mark. They overcame any potential hangover from the Florida game.
GAME FIVE: UTCWould you be shocked to find out UTC scored first in this one? The Tide actually trailed the Moccasins, 7-0, when UTC scored on its second drive of the game. From that point on it was a pole-axing. Alabama hit TD after TD with 12 different ball carriers and totaled nearly 600 yards of total offense. Mark McMillian got into the scoring action by intercepting a UTC pass just before halftime and returning it 98 yards for a back-breaking touchdown. The 53-7 final score did not even take into account the fact that David Palmer had another punt return for a TD - only to have it called back because of a penalty. Two blowouts in a row had the Tide fans frisky.
GAME SIX: TULANEI must confess that I can find nothing about this game. I never saw it. Really, folks, is there much that can be said about a 62-0 shellacking? Yes, there is. It's an oldie but a goodie. The Tulane coach no doubt was asked after the game, "When did the momentum change?" And he no doubt answered, "The moment our opponents took the field."
GAME SEVEN: TENNESSEEEntering the seventh game of the 1991 season, Alabama had not really done much of which to be proud. The Tide was cruising along at 6-1 and had pancaked its last three opponents. None of the opponents, however, were very good anyway. The only quality opponent thus far on the Tide schedule, Florida, had beaten the Tide by five TDs. Although the Tide had beaten Georgia, the Bulldogs would look rather mortal this same day when they somehow lost to Vandy. Pundits and experts were predicting a reality check for the Crimson Tide on October 19, 1991. Bama had only faced one quality quarterback, Florida's Shane Mathews. It was suggested that Tennessee's Andy Kelly, another pre-season Heisman hopeful, would have the same success against the Tide D. The Alabama-Tennessee rivalry was in full bloom as a gentleman's quarrel, and this day saw one of the many classics produced by this series.
A beautiful fall day broke for the early contest. The Tide was perched at number 14 nationally with the one-loss Vols at 10. The first three quarters were defense at its finest. At that point the Volunteers led, 6-3. Given the 9-6 final score in 1990, the two teams had played seven quarters against each other without either giving up a touchdown. Tide partisans, however, had to feel especially nervous. Not only was their kicking game in shambles but both their best offensive player (Palmer) and starting QB (Danny Woodson) had been knocked out of the game with injuries. With untested back-up Jay Barker calling the snaps, the Tide could not afford for the game to come down to kicking. Enter Siran Stacy.
The man who first made his mark in the 1989 game showed that he still had it despite the 1990 injury. Early in the fourth quarter Stacy scored a touchdown to put the Tide up, 10-6. The madness got louder moments later when Chris Anderson returned a punt 56 yards to set the Tide up in easy reach of the goal line. Derrick Lassic crossed it, and when Stacy added yet another TD to put the Tide up, 24-6, the game seemed over. In fact, it had just begun.
With only 6:21 remaining, the Volunteers fought back. Aaron Hayden scored a Vols touchdown, but the failure of the 2-point conversion made the score 24-12. Tennessee was low on time as well as timeouts, and they needed to score quickly. Amazingly, they recovered an onside kick and hit another quick score to Hayden to make the once insurmountable lead dwindle to 24-19. At this point, however, Alabama had only to run out the clock. If only it were that easy.
Stacy, who had owned Tennessee now for 2 separate games, fumbled the ball away and gave Andy Kelly one more chance with 1:45 left. With a chance to show his Heisman potential, Kelly flubbed it. Or to be more precise, he ran into a buzzsaw in the Tide defense. Running for his life on the final play, Kelly was tackled by defensive end John Copeland to preserve the 24-19 Tide triumph. It had been a dazzling game, without a doubt the most exciting thus far in 1991.
As it turned out, the Tide was about to play a sequence of games that would both frighten and thrill fans as they continually drained every ounce of emotion out of the reborn Tide faithful.
GAME EIGHT: MISSISSIPPI STATEWhile the Tide was enjoying its rebirth as top ten team, the Mississippi State Bulldogs were enjoying a season unlike so many before. A perennial cellar dweller in the always tough SEC, great Bulldog seasons are the exception rather than the rule. The Dawgs had not been to a bowl game in a decade during which only Vanderbilt had a worse record. Things changed, however, in 1991 when the Dawgs called on former Texas A&M coach Jackie Sherill to make them respectable. Sherrill stunned the football world with the first major upset of 1991 when the Dawgs thumped Texas, a team that had only lost twice the year before. Even the games the Bulldogs lost were exciting in 1991. Their only truly shameful blemish this year was an inexplicable loss to Memphis on October 19.
That might be written off, however, to the trauma that enveloped the team following the funeral of Rodney Stowers. Stowers was a defensive lineman who had broken a leg in the Florida game. Infection set in and Stowers died on October 3, 1991. Otherwise the Bulldogs had won the games expected plus the Texas upset and had played respectable in a close loss to Tennessee. Only Florida had beaten them badly, and the Gators actually had beaten Alabama by more points.
On paper, therefore, the November 2, 1991 matchup between the Tide and the Bulldogs looked pretty even. The Tide had a substantial edge in depth and experience, but the Bulldogs were carrying the emotion that often follows a trauma as well as a new coach who had shaken their old ways somewhat.
After a week off to regroup, the Tide got ready to host the best Bulldogs team in a decade. As had been the case against the other SEC opponents (except Vandy), the Tide knuckled down and allowed no touchdowns in the first half. In fact, they didn't allow any points. The Tide went in at halftime with a 7-0 lead thanks to a 64-yard interception return for touchdown by Stacey Harrison that was the singular memorable play of the first half for a variety of reasons.
Coming into the game, the major threat Alabama fans worried about was MSU quarterback William "Sleepy" Robinson. While hardly a great passer, he added the dimension of running the ball. For some inexplicable reason, Sherrill sent in a halfback option play. The halfback tossed a wounded goose in the direction of his receiver that took so long Harrison could have called for a fair catch. He hauled it in with nothing between him and the goal line. Except for two other problems: 1) MSU didn't give up on the play but actually managed to tackle Harrison at the goal line; 2) Harrison began showboating a la Deion Sanders as he tore down the sidelines and enabled the defender to catch up to him. Harrison scored, but Coach Gene Stallings dressed him down on the sidelines after the play. It turned out to be the most important play of the game.
MSU got it even again in the third quarter when Robinson his Treddis Anderson with a four-yard pass. Hamp Greene missed two more short field goals, and Coach Stallings finally opted for another kicker. Matt Wethington won the kicking job with 2 fourth quarter field goals that put the Tide up by a count of 13-7. Yet just like the Tennessee game the dramatics were still to come.
Robinson drove the Bulldogs down the field. With a mixture of passing and running, he got them to a first-and-goal situation inside the five-yard line. On second down, the Tide stuffed the ballcarrier at the one. With less than two minutes left, fear gripped the heart of every Tide fan. Robinson was going to have 2 shots to fall six feet and get a PAT. If he did then the game was as good as over because there was no way Bama was going to drive 100 yards in 30 seconds, and the kicking game was still not long distance capable. So sure, in fact, was Gene Stallings that MSU would probably score that he called a timeout prior to 3rd down so as to ensure that if the Dawgs did score that Alabama would at least get a chance for a Stanford-Cal kickoff return.
The critical play came on third down. Just as the Bulldogs set in their stance, a freshman offensive lineman lunged across the line of scrimmage to draw a false start penalty. MSU Coach Jackie Sherrill screamed hysterical that he was drawn off by an Alabama player calling the signals. Sherrill was so enraged that the WTBS cameras picked up (and broadcast nationwide) the "f" word, eliciting a chuckle from Bob Neal and Tim Foley as they tried to talk over Sherrill. Two shots at the end zone from the seven. The Tide held to force a fourth down and then Stacey Harrison bailed out the Tide by intercepting Sleepy Robinson's desperate heave into the end zone. The Tide had held on for a second exciting last-second win, 13-7.
GAME NINE: LSUThe big news nationally was the retirement of LA Lakers star Magic Johnson due to his contraction of the HIV virus. The big news in Alabama, however, concerned the suspension of starting QB Danny Woodson for violating team rules. His suspension gave the little-known Jay Barker his first college start. Nobody could have known on that wonderful November afternoon that Barker would hold the starter's job through his senior year (missing 3 starts in 1993 due to injury) and compile a 34-2-1 record with 3 Western Division titles, an SEC title, and a national championship. But those accomplishments were a ways off. The immediate focus was on the Deuce.
LSU, meanwhile, was trying to rebuild from the implosion of the Mike Archer regime. Southern Miss coach Curley Hallman managed to parlay the college success of Brett Favre into the delusion that he was a capable head football coach. LSU had hired him with the hopes of returning to national glory, a hire that would cost them another five years in the rebuilding process. And as the saying went back then, "The Tide don't lose in Baton Rouge."
After a quick three and out, LSU played field position. They punted deep to David Palmer. One juke move and 90 yards later Palmer was standing in the end zone with a lightning quick 7-0 lead for Alabama. The Tide advanced their lead to a 20-7 margin and looked to finish this one early. But LSU fought back to within a three-point margin. Late in the game the Tigers lined up for a game-tying field goal. Antonio London blocked it to preserve yet another exciting Tide victory, 20-17.
GAME TEN: MEMPHIS
The less said about this game the better. Four years after shocking the Tide, the Memphis State Tigers outplayed Alabama for four quarters only to lose because they missed two field goals. Memphis held the Tide offense to only 11 first downs and 130 yards rushing. Once again the defense bailed out the team when John Copeland forced a fumble on the Tide 27-yard line with four minutes left. Alabama ran out the clock, but the close margin of victory prompted no end of suggestions as to how Alabama had been extremely lucky. The Tide was 9-1, but ESPN pundit Lee Corso referred to Alabama as "the worst 9-1 team in the country."
Gene Stallings did not let that one pass without comment as he responded by saying, "Lee should know a bad football team when he sees one; all of his teams were pretty awful." It was left to Jay Barker to note that while he would grant that Alabama had been lucky, the luck they enjoyed was due in part to hard work. While the press was busy with this day's big story of the upset of season-long #1 Florida State (Wide Right I), almost nobody noted the #7 had only lost once. So unimpressed were the AP voters with the Memphis State win that Alabama actually dropped a spot.
GAME ELEVEN: AUBURNThe 1991 Iron Bowl was dubbed "The Sandbox Bowl" by a number of Auburn partisans. This was in reference to the negotiations that landed Auburn a home-and-home series for the game. In exchange for playing the 1989 game at Jordan-Hare, Auburn agreed to play in Legion Field one last time as the home team in 1991. Thus for the only time in history, Legion Field had the auburn and blue AU at midfield. Seventy thousand tickets were sold to Auburn partisans compared to only 10,000 for Alabama. Tiger optimism was tempered, however, by the ever-widening Eric Ramsey scandal.
By this point in time it was clear to all non-partisan observers that sanctions were inevitable at Auburn. Ramsey's attorney had played a number of tapes for the press that substantiated a major portion of his claims. The only thing Ramsey had claimed thus far that he could not substantiate was the allegation that Pat Dye had known about a questionable bank loan. Ramsey noted that this particular conversation had occurred on the practice field when he was not wearing his tape recorder. In a mantra that would resonate some 20 years later during the Cam Newton saga, Auburn laid the blame for their current 5-5 season on Alabama. This conspiracy theory alleged that Ramsey's Birmingham attorney, Donald Watkins, was retaliating towards Auburn for Birmingham's lost revenue due to the moving of the Iron Bowl to a home-and-home series.
Ramsey's brother-in-law was former Auburn Tiger Aundray Bruce, who had made millions while becoming one of the biggest draft busts ever with the Atlanta Falcons. This caused a family rift because the Ramsey's were allegedly barely able to make ends meet yet drove Lexus sedans. The suggestion, of course, was that Alabama boosters had paid Ramsey to make the charges and supplied him with a Lexus. None of this dealt with a number of the plain facts in the case including Ramsey establishing that payment had occurred, providing a receipt proving the loan Dye helped him secure from Colonial Bank had indeed happened, and the later admissions by Pat Dye that he had lied when he first said he didn't know about any money changing hands. The logic also contained a major flaw: Ramsey was in Auburn's 1986 recruiting class at a time when Alabama's record against Auburn over the previous 15 years was 12-3. Why would Alabama need help taking down an opponent it had beaten 80% of the time in recent memory?
Whatever the answers to that question they were set aside on the final day of November in 1991. An overcast day saw a forgettable Iron Bowl that could be reduced to two plays, a long one and a short one, that occurred in rapid sequence early in the second quarter. Seeking to avoid the rush, Jay Barker moved back towards the left side of the field. He found Kevin Turner open in the flat. Turner rumbled 69 yards down the field before being taken down inside the ten to set the Tide up with the first-and-goal. Shortly thereafter, high school QB turned flanker David Palmer took the snap and darted left and right and into the end zone for the only touchdown of the 1991 game. The way Alabama's defense had played in 1991, this touchdown would be enough to win.
Just to make sure, however, Matt Wethington later hit two field goals. Auburn got a pair themselves but spent much of the day in their own territory. When all was said and done Alabama hd a 13-6 victory and had completed an improbable and somewhat unexpected 10-1 regular season. Although a bowl game had been clinched in October, the question remained what bowl would choose Alabama.
GAME TWELVE: BLOCKBUSTER BOWL VS COLORADOInstead of one of the old-time prizes, Alabama was chosen to square off against defending national champion Colorado in the second Blockbuster Bowl. The Tide had not won a bowl game in three years, and many pundits felt that Colorado's triple option style would test the Tide in a way they had not seen in 1991. In a bowl season that was quite forgettable, the Tide and Buffaloes played perhaps the most forgettable five-point bowl game in history. In a game that droned on and on, the Tide finally prevailed 30-25. The game saw 13 total sacks, 12 penalties, and was played in a slight rain that undercut Colorado's option offense in Darian Hagan's final game.
The story of the game was MVP David Palmer. For the fourth time this year he delighted the crowd with a punt return for a TD. This one was rather strange because it seemed the entire Colorado team simply waited to tackle him until he was in the red zone. Palmer broke four tackles en route to the end zone and a 7-0 Tide lead just six minutes into the game. Colorado responded on Alabama's next drive by blocking a Tank Williamson punt that gave them first-and-goal at the 3. Scott Philips scored to tie it. The Buffs then got a safety one play after Alabama just missed a disaster. Barker fumbled the ball on a sack inside the five where Matt Hammond recovered it.
Unfortunately, the Buffs tackled Martin Houston on the next play for a safety. Bama retaliated when Mark McMillian intercepted a Hagan pass at midfield and took it all the way back to the one. Unfortunately, the Tide offense lost seven yards while needing only three feet and settled for a Wethington FG to regain the lead. In yet another mistake, Barker fumbled the exchange on an ill-conceived flea flicker just before halftime, and Colorado recovered and kicked a 33-yard FG to take a 12-10 lead in at the break. The first half had seen little more than mistakes on both sides. The second half would see improvement. Slightly.
Alabama drove the length of the field and had third and goal at the eight. David Palmer then lined up at QB and scored. Which would have been fantastic except for the fact that Prince Wimbley entered the huddle and left the game without playing a snap, drawing an illegal substitution penalty. Tide fans familiar with the offense's penchant for blowing it no doubt screamed hysterically at this turn of events. But it didn't last long. Jay Barker hit Siran Stacy at the five, and Stacy rumbled in for a 13-yard TD pass that gave Alabama a lead that would last all of one play. Hagan hit Michael Westbrook with a 62-yard pass and catch that put the Buffaloes right back on top, 19-16.
Bama had opted for the two-point conversion that had failed (but would not matter in the end). Alabama then got the ball back and put together one of their best drives of the year, a 75-yard, eight-play masterpiece that ended with a 12-yard pass from Barker to Kevin Lee. Wethington made the kick and the Tide now held the lead they would never lose.
If the previous drive had been a joy then it was the next Alabama drive that gave hope for 1992. Taking it at their own 29, the Tide drove 71 yards in 15 plays that only took 3:41 off the clock. Barker flung his third TD pass in as many drives, this one to Palmer, who had now scored three times even though one was taken away. With a 30-19 lead and a fantastic defense, this game was as good as over.
Well not quite. Hagan put together a quick four-play touchdown drive that only took 55 seconds off the clock. They also tried for two, but the failure on the conversion left the Buffs down by 5. The Tide then ran out the clock to preserve a 30-25 win and nail down an exciting 11-1 season, the first time Alabama had won 11 games in a season since the 1979 national champions won 12.
EPILOGUE
There's a saying that football seasons look like other ones. And view retrospectively, the 1991 Crimson Tide was an awful lot like the 2008 Crimson Tide. Both teams lost only one game. Both teams lost to Florida. Both teams played exciting ball all year. Both teams played scintillating games against LSU and left Baton Rouge as the victor. There were, of course, some differences. The 2008 team was much better rounded than the 1991 team.
The 1991 team probably had a better defense as was proven in 1992. All in all, however, I will remember the 1991 Crimson Tide as a team that lived on the edge all year and emerged unbeaten from all of its close games. They made every game exciting, and they set the stage for what was to happen just 53 weeks later on that unforgettable night in New Orleans. The Tide finished the year at number 5 and looked towards the future.
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I was a year early in my prediction, I guess.
