What Is Bama's Greatest National Championship Performance? (Modern era)

Bruce014

1st Team
Aug 29, 2012
752
82
52
Alabama
How many 'Bama fans remember "the rest of the story" in the '78 PSU game?

With about 6 minutes left in the game after the Goal Line Stand, we took over at our 1 and ended up having to punt. PSU was going to have great field position (our 20) with plenty of time on the clock, but Woody Umphrey's shanked punt was nullified when the Nittany Lions were caught with 12 players on the field.

Although we eventually had to punt again, we intercepted Fusina with 0:12 left to seal the game.
Yes, and that interception could've easily been a pick-6.
 

BradtheImpaler

All-American
Nov 16, 2010
2,001
0
0
Sugar Hill, GA
This is how I feel about the respective Championship Games.

The defense in the 1993 Sugar Bowl made some of the biggest plays in Alabama Football history...but we let Miami score 13 points.

The defense in the 2012 BCSCG only let LSU cross the 50 yard line one time...and immediately after that we caused a fumble and recovered it. People forget that LSU, in 2011, averaged over 40 points per game in the 12 games they did not play Alabama. Other than the 2 games they played Alabama...they wiped the floor with each team they played. It may be hard to remember...but the 1992 Miami Hurricanes barely beat Arizona (8-7), FSU (19-16), PSU (17-14), and Syracuse (16-10). So, while they were a great team, they did not pound the teams they played the way the 2011 LSU Tigers did.

Like others have said...we took an LSU team that was already being labeled as the greatest football team in modern football history...and we made the entire nation laugh at them...and then forget about them the next day.
We actually held them to six offensive points. If I remember correctly, their only touchdown came on a punt return.
 

CRIMSON HAMMAH

Suspended
Dec 17, 2012
46
0
0
add to the list for factual accuracy:

Beating Nebraska 34-7 1967 Sugar Bowl
Beating Penn St 13-6 1975 Sugar Bowl
Beating Ohio St 35-6 1978 Sugar Bowl
Beating Notre Dame 62-6 2013 BCS National Championship
 
Last edited:

CrimsonBeachBum

1st Team
Jul 19, 2004
827
0
0
Pace, FL (Pensacola metro area)
Bama won the National Title by:

Beating Nebraska 39-28 in the 65 Orange Bowl
Beating Penn State 14-7 in the 78 Sugar Bowl
Beating Arkansas 24-9 in the 79 Sugar Bowl
Beating Miami 34-13 in the Sugar Bowl
Beating Texas 37-21 in the 2009 Rose Bowl
Beating LSU 21-0 last year.

All were great victories but which one(if you had to pick) was our most impressive performance?

I narrowed it to last years defensive gem and the 92 game.

After much thought I'd have to go with the win over Miami. That was the best defensive performance I've ever seen against a truly great offensive powerhouse that we completely shut down.

....and yourself???

Roll Tide!

sip
Those two games get my vote as well. Perhaps the two greatest Bama defenses ever.
 

CRIMSON HAMMAH

Suspended
Dec 17, 2012
46
0
0
78 Sugar Bowl my #1 - It was a battle on both sides of the ball - Bruce Clark and Matt Millen on the PS D were future greats in the NFL
 

TideHead

All-SEC
May 19, 2003
1,160
5
157
How many 'Bama fans remember "the rest of the story" in the '78 PSU game?

With about 6 minutes left in the game after the Goal Line Stand, we took over at our 1 and ended up having to punt. PSU was going to have great field position (our 20) with plenty of time on the clock, but Woody Umphrey's shanked punt was nullified when the Nittany Lions were caught with 12 players on the field.

Although we eventually had to punt again, we intercepted Fusina with 0:12 left to seal the game.
According to Keith Jackson, the Penn State coaches were frantically trying to get the 12th player off the field. The back judge saw it, started counting, and threw the flag. Keith Jackson is of the opinion that if they had been quiet on the PSU sideline, they would have gotten away with it.

Who knows though?
 

bamanut_aj

Hall of Fame
Jul 31, 2000
20,058
82
167
51
Spring Hill, TN
Coach Saban's confidence will be huge. Just like Texas, Michgan and the rest, Aabama has a inferiority complex towards Notre Dame. It feels differently playing them than any other team, hard to explain but it's there. I believe it originates with their representing the biggest religious sect on the globe. That's kind of an unfair advantage having fans believing their team is divine:) My paper (The Cullman Times) ran an article discussing the split in the fanbase here, which I though was crazy. They implied that Catholics(Me) are automatic Notre Dame fans, like I have this inner conflict between my Alma mater and my religion. Crazy article.

Coach Bryants goose egg against them and their leap frog costing us a championship compounded things a lot and is the root of the hatred for them(yes hatred). The hit on Steve Beuerlein represented more than just a good sack for many, it was how they feel about them.

When we beat Notre Dame, it will go down as the best National Championship performance imo, hands down. It will be epic and the crowning moment of the Alabama Dynasty.
I don't, I know many fans who don't, an I guarandamntee you Coach Saban has ZERO inferiority complex towards Notre dumb.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

selmaborntidefan

TideFans Legend
Mar 31, 2000
36,432
29,735
287
54
I saw the 1979 Sugar Bowl, 1993 Sugar Bowl, 2010 and 2012 BCSNCGs - all on TV, of course.

Throw out 2010. As much as I'm glad we won, the game was pretty boring, especially the third quarter.

The 79 Sugar Bowl (Penn St) was the first Tide game I ever saw. I was nine years old, so I didn't grasp the significance of exactly how difficult a goal line stand is - although I do remember it. But I have that game, and while I realize Keith Jackson at one time had it rated as his favorite (since surpassed by the 2006 Rose Bowl), I just don't agree that the game was all that great. It was close throughout, but here's one for you: Penn State had a whopping 182 yards of offense. We did ourselves in with 11 penalties for 75 yards and a turnover that got PSU "back" into the game. Our mistakes made that more of a game than it was - and yes, I have the original broadcast on VHS and I've watched it. It was a "good" game, but not an all-time classic. What makes it remembered that well is the goal line stand.

The 2012 BCSNCG reminded me of another epic beatdown on the same field: Super Bowl XX (Bears-Patriots). But we were kinda expected to win because anyone who watched the first game knew that - as good as LSU was - they didn't beat us so much as we beat ourselves, plus a couple of bizarre things that happen once a decade or so (the Maze punt, the "interception," ok, bad calls happen with that crew every possession, but I digress).



The 1993 Sugar Bowl - for those not old enough to remember - was FUN!!! Let me re-create it best I can.


Imagine watching the four-letter network - starting on Halloween - and hearing ridiculous comments like the following:

Although Alabama is undefeated, so are (list of obscure names that includes Toldeo)
Alabama plays in the run-oriented Southeastern Conference; they will be picked apart by an adept passing game.
The SEC West is terrible; three of the six teams have losing records and one is 7-5. Alabama is the best of a mediocre division.
Florida State and Miami are CLEARLY the two best teams. They should meet in a rematch.
Alabama only led La Tech - LA TECH!! - 6-0 in the fourth quarter.
Alabama only led Tulane 6-0 at the half.



And then consider this: if just THREE PLAYS had gone differently (an interception on the last play in the red zone against Penn State in 1986, a two-pointer in 1988 against Notre Dame and a fourth-down conversion in 1990 against BYU), Miami would have been playing for their SEVENTH CONSECUTIVE national championship.

Lamar Thomas - before the game: "They don't play man-to-man; real men play man, but I can see why they don't."
Lamar Thomas - after the game: "Their corners showed they were just average."


The defense gave up six points, and three of that was on a 49-yard field goal just before the half, the longest kick of Dane Prewitt's career.
 

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