Poll: Best 1980s Bama Team?

Which was the Best 1980s Bama Team?


  • Total voters
    41

bamamoss2

All-SEC
Sep 10, 2000
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I am with the majority....1980. I remember the 86 game vs LSU. I recall my sons first game and his questions after the game...."Dad, were we supposed to lose?" NO! Not the way we moved the ball up and down the field ...But we fumbled inside their 10 it seems 3 times.
 

bamaslammer

All-American
Jan 8, 2003
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www.kirkwoodhouse.com
If Kerry Goode had stayed healthy, he would be our greatest running back ever. He was that good. One of the worst nights for me when we lost a big lead to Flutie, and lost our best player.
That was the first game of my college experience, thought we had it in the bag at the half but Flutie was special. My 5 years on campus did not see any SEC championships. The two big Auburn upsets were the highlight of that era.
 

LCN

FB | REC Moderator
Sep 29, 2005
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1980 had the best defense , by far , but the offense was horrible with Don "butter fingers" Jacobs laying it on the turf about 35+ times that season .... With so much as even an average QB , the 1980 Crimson Tide was a team which was easily capable of winning a national title .
 

BigEasyTider

FB | REC Moderator
Nov 27, 2007
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1980 had the best defense , by far...
Think that's right. Throughout the rest of the 1980s, we had several great individual players on defense -- Bennett, Thomas, McCants, Davis, etc. -- but the units as a whole never congealed at near that high of a level. They were good enough against most teams, but typically withered in big moments.

Case in point: 1989. We had Keith McCants, John Mangum, and Willie Wyatt, but when push came to shove at the end against Auburn and Miami, we couldn't stop the run, gave up 60+ points, and I think nearly 900 yards of total offense.
 

CrimsonChuck

Hall of Fame
Nov 15, 1999
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You're going to have to sway me on that one, because I just don't get it.

Admittedly, the Auburn game was at least pretty evenly played, even if they did beat us by 10 at the end of the day. But Miami -- who actually won the national championship outright -- thumped us badly in the Sugar Bowl. I recall them outgaining us something like a 2-1 margin, and the only thing that helped us stay in the game were a couple of dumb turnovers deep in their own territory. The game wasn't nearly as close as the final scoreboard, either, because I remember we scored a last-minute touchdown and got a two-point conversion in junk time.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of the 1989 team in general, it was a ton of fun to watch, and probably one of the most entertaining and likeable teams we've ever had, but to say that it was a play or two away from winning it all just isn't accurate in my purview. The defense just wasn't good enough, nor was the run game, regardless of how fun and productive it was for Homer Smith to dial up Hollingsworth.
It's been awhile since I've seen the games. But I do remember Auburn completing a long pass down the field and the receiver being out of bounds or something. And also there was a turnover for Auburn that wasn't called. Miami had two turnovers that weren't called.
 

bilbo

Pro Sports Moderator
Oct 13, 1999
702
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Gulf Shores, AL
Imagine having to go to school during that time. Me- 86 through 90. Lost to Auburn all 4 years I went there. Still loved every minute of it though
 

jthomas666

Hall of Fame
Aug 14, 2002
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Birmingham & Warner Robins
I don't care what they finished up as, Selma is right, we should have steamrolled them. I forget the specifics, but we outgained them by something like 150-200 yards, and really the game wasn't close, but we just continued to shoot ourselves in the foot just when we would get on the cusp of taking over. I think we had four or five turnovers that night, and in the second half we went deep into LSU territory on nearly every drive, yet somehow managed to only score three points. If there was ever a proverbial throw-the-remote-through-the-television-in-rage game of the 1980s, that was it.
IIRC, Perkins basically ran Bobby Humphrey into the ground while Gene Jelks languished on the bench. At least one of the 2nd half red zone fumbles happened because BH was flat out exhausted.
 

selmaborntidefan

TideFans Legend
Mar 31, 2000
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Not sure why you think we should have rolled LSU 35-7?
Because:
a) I watched the game the night it was played on November 8, 1986
b) my memory was featured on "60 Minutes" as being rather incredibly accurate long-term
c) even if it wasn't, I have the original broadcast on DVD that I can check at any time
d) Van Tiffin missed only his second FG of the year in the first qtr (distance, wide right) from 41 yards (3 pts)
e) Shula had a perfect game going and threw an interception in the end zone...on first down (3-7 pts lost) when he suddenly overthrew Stafford (it's not like LSU made a great play)
f) third and goal on the five in the third qtr, begs for a run........toss into triple coverage that nobody got, settle for three
g) after getting a first down to start the fourth qtr, Bobby Humphrey fumbled that LSU recovered at their own 17 (given Tiffin's range, this was at least a loss of three points as well most likely)
h) Humphrey got hit at the one and fumbled into the end zone and LSU recovered - that one indisputably cost us 7 points

So we lost between 7 (for absolute certain a Humphrey was falling into the end zone) and as many as 24 (everything goes well) points. We score ten, putting us between a final total of 17-34 points. I was, however, incorrect about one thing since I thought one of LSU's TD's was an interception on a deflection, so they'd still have 14.

We knocked out their starting QB (the backup go their first TD drive, Guidry). They had 14 points at halftime and never came close to scoring in the second half - no field goal attempt, nothing. We ran up and down the field on them all night long and all we got after an early TD was one field goal.

We should have beaten them pretty good. 35-7 may be a slight exaggeration, but we should have beaten them AT LEAST 20-14 or better. We got flagged for 88 yards in penalties and turned the ball over THREE TIMES in the fourth quarter, only one of which was really anything they did (the pick).


Btw - this is NOT uncommon in the LSU-Alabama game. They should have beaten us in 1998 by a final of about 30-7, too, but we held on and came back and won. We should have won in both 2007 and 2011 regular season, too, while they probably should have won 1999. It's a strange rivalry to say the least.

The Tigers won The SEC outright, and finished #10 in The AP. Also, in 1985 Bama was VERY lucky to coax a tie outta Baton Rouge. We should have beaten LSU, but it was a strange night, and they were a good team.
Oh they were a good team no doubt but we gave them that one - gave it to them on a silver platter with a sugar bowl on top. Made me sick. In 1985, yeah we got lucky since their kicker missed a chip shot at the end. They owned us that second half I remember except for the drive we scored on.

I also think Alabama tends to get everybody's best shot, every year - but we might have had a bigger target in 1980.
Up to a point. In the SEC, almost certainly. Depends on some of the other teams. But yeah 1980 more so than in 1986 when we'd been down for a bit (for us anyway).
 

selmaborntidefan

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Mar 31, 2000
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IIRC, Perkins basically ran Bobby Humphrey into the ground while Gene Jelks languished on the bench. At least one of the 2nd half red zone fumbles happened because BH was flat out exhausted.
That doesn't explain the first one earlier, though. You're right he ran BH, but he had Doug Allen getting carries and Al Bell on the reverse they got. Fact is that Humphrey was a bit of a fumbler.
 

selmaborntidefan

TideFans Legend
Mar 31, 2000
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I voted for 1989. If college football had instant replay back then, that team would have won the National Championship.
Unfortunately, no we wouldn't have.

We'd have lost Auburn anyway. Keep in mind we were down 27-10 with 9:36 left - and got up off the mat admittedly.

But there's a problem: suppose we lose to Auburn then beat Miami.

Notre Dame would have been number one because they beat Colorado, were defending champions, and the media loved them. 1989 would be a third version of 1966 and 1977.
 

jthomas666

Hall of Fame
Aug 14, 2002
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Birmingham & Warner Robins
It's been awhile since I've seen the games. But I do remember Auburn completing a long pass down the field and the receiver being out of bounds or something. And also there was a turnover for Auburn that wasn't called. Miami had two turnovers that weren't called.
Officiating was terrible in both games. A Miami player kicked John Mangum in the crotch right in front of an official and no flag was called.
 

selmaborntidefan

TideFans Legend
Mar 31, 2000
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Officiating was terrible in both games. A Miami player kicked John Mangum in the crotch right in front of an official and no flag was called.
Yeah, I'll agree with you on that. The refs missed a "12 men on the field" call against Auburn in the first quarter and there were those two fumbles in the Miami game plus what you mentioned.

The pass he's talking about was a legal play, though. We fumbled it to Auburn at their 25. Reggie Slack did the same play action bomb to Alexander Wright that had brought the crowd into the game on the first drive. Efrum Thomas knocked him out of bounds, but it is legal in college ball (unlike the NFL) to come back in IF you were knocked out of bounds by the opponent. (At least it was in 1989; I don't know if that's changed). We can get mad about it (Wright was knocked about four yards out of bounds) but the call was correct. The official threw the flag immediately upon seeing Wright come back in, and they conferred to get the correct ruling.

Btw - Jim Nantz and Pat Haden called the game. Reminds me of how much I miss good ole John Dockery on the sidelines.
 

CrimsonEyeshade

Hall of Fame
Nov 6, 2007
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Yeah, I'll agree with you on that. The refs missed a "12 men on the field" call against Auburn in the first quarter and there were those two fumbles in the Miami game plus what you mentioned.

The pass he's talking about was a legal play, though. We fumbled it to Auburn at their 25. Reggie Slack did the same play action bomb to Alexander Wright that had brought the crowd into the game on the first drive. Efrum Thomas knocked him out of bounds, but it is legal in college ball (unlike the NFL) to come back in IF you were knocked out of bounds by the opponent. (At least it was in 1989; I don't know if that's changed). We can get mad about it (Wright was knocked about four yards out of bounds) but the call was correct. The official threw the flag immediately upon seeing Wright come back in, and they conferred to get the correct ruling.

Btw - Jim Nantz and Pat Haden called the game. Reminds me of how much I miss good ole John Dockery on the sidelines.

What I remember from '86 are two penalties: a ridiculous roughness call against Wayne Davis on a third down sack that reignited the entire AU offense (we couldn't stop Fulwood or their passing attack from that moment on); and an absolutely ridiculous block in the back by Greg Richardson as Jelks was running down the sideline late in the game. That cost us at least 30 yards and Tiffin then missed from a normally reliable distance that would have closed Auburn out. I remember the camera shot of Dye jumping up and down like a freshman in a bar at last call.

Five worst Auburn games of my lifetime.

1. 2013
2. 1972
3. Scissum fumble.
4. 1986.
5. 1982.
 

imauafan

All-American
Mar 3, 2004
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What I remember from '86 are two penalties: a ridiculous roughness call against Wayne Davis on a third down sack that reignited the entire AU offense (we couldn't stop Fulwood or their passing attack from that moment on); and an absolutely ridiculous block in the back by Greg Richardson as Jelks was running down the sideline late in the game. That cost us at least 30 yards and Tiffin then missed from a normally reliable distance that would have closed Auburn out. I remember the camera shot of Dye jumping up and down like a freshman in a bar at last call.

Five worst Auburn games of my lifetime.

1. 2013
2. 1972
3. Scissum fumble.
4. 1986.
5. 1982.
I believe Biscuit was called for a phantom either a late hit or hit-out-of-bounds penalty where the replay showed that he had not touched the player.
 

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