November 28, 1981 - Coach Bryant Wins His 315th Game Against Auburn

selmaborntidefan

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An overcast sky covered the morning as this 12-year old arose in Columbus, Mississippi. It was a day full of excitement - for the very first time ever, I was going to see the University of Alabama play a regular season football game LIVE on television. Up to this point in my brief fandom (dating to September 1978), I had seen the 1979 Sugar Bowl and the 1981 Cotton Bowl. Those games alone were the extent of my Alabama football TV viewing. (To provide context - prior to a lawsuit filed by the Universities of Georgia and Oklahoma, teams were limited to THREE regular season appearances per year on TV; it wasn't like today where every single game is on television). I had also seen the rebroadcast of the Mississippi State game where Bryant had tied Glenn "Pop" Warner for second all-time with 313 wins.

(Historical note: subsequent research revealed that Warner had actually won 319 games, more than Amos Alonzo Stagg, but we didn't know this in 1981).

The 1981 season had been something of a disappointment. Alabama had been below that national radar for most of the year thanks to a shocking loss against Georgia Tech, 24-21, in week two. This was one of those strange seasons where number one continually fell by the wayside. Michigan opened the season on top and promptly lost to Wisconsin. When Notre Dame blistered LSU, 27-9, in former Moeller High School Coach Gerry Faust's debut, the media boosted the Irish to the top spot - his high water mark at South Bend. The next week, Michigan drilled Notre Dame and the Irish spent the next seven years in football purgatory (by their standards anyway). This elevated USC, led by Heisman winner Marcus Allen, to number one. Naturally, they lost a few weeks later to a mediocre Arizona team, elevating Texas to the top. So of course, Texas then not only lost, they got blown out, 42-11, by Arkansas, putting Penn State at number one. Two weeks later, the Nittany Lions lost to Miami, led by QB Jim Kelly, and Pitt - coached by Jackie Sherrill and quarterbacked by a then unknown Dan Marino - moved to the top spot.

This constant shuffling and losing by top teams enabled an Alabama team with a loss and a tie to gradually sneak back into the national championship hunt. Entering the games of November 28, here was the top five:

1) Pitt (10-0)
2) Clemson (11-0)
3) Georgia (9-1)
4) Alabama (8-1-1)
5) Nebraska (9-2)

But before Alabama kicked off on ABC that afternoon, there was another game of importance, one that affected Alabama greatly - Penn State, sitting at #11 and coming off a 31-16 loss to Alabama (the game where Bryant tied Stagg's record) in a game that wasn't even that close followed by a victory over reeling Notre Dame, squared off against #1 Pitt, the heavy favorite. I watched the early portion of this game and then went - like all ADHD 12-year olds - down the street to play a backyard football game with a couple of neighbor kids. When I left, Pitt was leading, 14-0.

I should have stayed.

After a first quarter where Penn State had -1 total offensive yards, the game swung dramatically. Marino threw an end zone interception, and Penn State responded with two 80-yard drives led by future TV analyst Todd Blackledge to tie the game at 14. In the second half, Penn State unloaded everything they had and massacred Pitt, 48-14, forcing seven turnovers and putting Clemson in the top spot.


Just like that, the coronation of Coach Bryant as the winningest coach in FBS (then Division I-A) took on incredible significance. It wasn't just for a record or even a shared SEC title with Georgia - it now had national implications.


Early that afternoon, I went over to my next door neighbor's house. Mr Green (Donald Green) had been a co-worker with my Dad out at the airbase for years. He had also had a heart attack at a very young age, probably due to his smoking habit. But I was going to see my first-ever regular season Alabama game with a lifelong Tide fan, and you know how those grandmothers like to spoil young 'uns!!! I sat there drinking Coke (which was not something I normally was allowed) and eating sugar cookies (I think you see where this one is going).

There were literally hundreds of former players from Bryant's career and dozens of opponents that came to Birmingham to see Bryant break the record, Frank Broyles, the former Arkansas coach who was calling the game with Keith Jackson, declared he was "honored" to be at this Iron Bowl and praised Bryant for representing the best of college football.


That game itself was very......difficult. Auburn, a 5-6 team in 1981 and led by first-year coach Pat Dye, gave Alabama everything the Tide could handle. With just a little execution, Auburn could easily have been ahead, 24-7, at halftime. Alabama continually was turning the ball over and making stupid mental errors. Going into halftime, Auburn had 200 yards of total offense to Alabama's 86. Dye, in fact, noted to sideline reporter Verne Lundquist that Auburn should have been up by maybe ten points but had made mistakes on 'the sidelines' as well as out on the field. Coach Bryant's post-halftime interview showed the old glare - defiantly saying 'we're gonna run right at 'em and open up the triple option' and further observing his team was playing 'like we're afraid of hurting somebody's feelings.'


The Iron Bowl is noted for bizarre plays that defy logic and convention. Just as Alabama had seemingly seized control of the game, there came yet another one (think Mark Ingram 2010 fumble). After taking a 14-7 lead and holding Auburn to a three and out, the most memorable play of the game victimized Alabama. Wide receiver Joey Jones misplayed a punt at his own 39 that bounced (with the help of the bumbling Auburn player) all the way down to the Alabama one, where Auburn recovered it. (The rules in 1981 did not permit a defender recovering a fumble to advance it. Auburn punched in the game-tying TD and just like that the Iron Bowl was again knotted.


One other play stands out in my mind - Jesse Bendross racing past the defender and hauling in a 38-yard touchdown pass from Walter Lewis to put Alabama back on top, 21-17. Although the game was not over at that point, it had the feel of a definite momentum shift. Linnie Patrick punched in the last touchdown and the final score was 28-17. Coach Bryant had broken a seemingly unbreakable record, thanks in large part to his incredibly successful decade in the 1970s.

It was the final high water mark for Coach Bryant as well. It was already known that due to state retirement laws, Bryant was not going to be able to coach after the 1983 season. When his team collapsed coming down the stretch in 1982, Bryant retired as the winningest coach in Division I.

Mr Green passed away several years later from (you guessed it) a heart attack. One of his sons was a pilot for one of the MiG fighters in the 1986 movie, "Top Gun." His wife is still alive today some 20 years after his passing, but I'm told she has Alzheimer's and no memory of anything.

for the memories - from Coach Bryant, the University of Alabama 1981 team, and the Greens - I thank you.


Now let's go whip Auburn again today.


Roll Tide
 

PA Tide Fan

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That game itself was very......difficult. Auburn, a 5-6 team in 1981 and led by first-year coach Pat Dye, gave Alabama everything the Tide could handle. With just a little execution, Auburn could easily have been ahead, 24-7, at halftime. Alabama continually was turning the ball over and making stupid mental errors. Going into halftime, Auburn had 200 yards of total offense to Alabama's 86. Dye, in fact, noted to sideline reporter Verne Lundquist that Auburn should have been up by maybe ten points but had made mistakes on 'the sidelines' as well as out on the field. Coach Bryant's post-halftime interview showed the old glare - defiantly saying 'we're gonna run right at 'em and open up the triple option' and further observing his team was playing 'like we're afraid of hurting somebody's feelings.'
Yes, coach Bryant wasn't too happy at halftime. Here's the actual halftime interview you mention with Verne Lundquist:

 

edwd58

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Aug 2, 2006
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I was there! A couple of incredible runs by Linnie Patrick where every auburn defender had a shot at him. Lewis to Bendross post pattern was, if I recall correctly, the clincher. Face value on my ticket is $12!!
 

ccc2259

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I was there.....21 years old, a beautiful girl on my arm (now my wife), Bama beats Auburn, Bear breaks the record, and I had the world by the tail. Great memories!
 

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