Because of the final rankings in 1977 and their returning talent, Alabama began the 1978 season ranked number 1. That was no surprise to anyone.
In game 3, 7th ranked USC came to Birmingham and got revenge over the previous season loss in Los Angeles. Alabama lost, 14-24, in a matchup of giants. USC legendary head coach John McKay had moved on to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers by this time and John Robinson was the new Trojan coach, and USC had little drop-off.
If Alabama was talented, then USC was even more so. With future Heisman Trophy winners Charles White and Marcus Allen in the backfield and an offensive line with Anthony Munoz, Keith Van Horne, Brad Budde, and Pat Howell, this was a really tough team to stop.
The defense was no slouch, either, with Ronnie Lott, Dennis Smith, Riki Gray, and Chip Banks. USC was just loaded, simply put.
Again, if a team is going to lose and have any hope to compete for a title, it’s best to lose early because sports fans have short memories. So, do the people that vote for the Associated Press.
Their first 3 opponents on the schedule were all ranked teams and they came out with a 2-1 record. Their next ranked team was LSU in their next to last regular season game, and they won easily 31-10.
The Tide finished their season with a 10-1 record and they had worked their way back up to number 2 in the latest polls. They were more than fortunate to land a game against the top-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions in the Sugar Bowl. In the days before the BCS, this was a winner take all type of game.
Alabama beat Penn State on a famous goal-line stand to capture the national title. Crimson Tide linebacker Barry Krauss was the leader and instrumental in a 4th down stop of the Nittany Lions to
preserve the win and the championship.
Many thought that USC should have won it all because of their win over Alabama in Birmingham. But, their later loss to Arizona State which was coached by legendary Frank Kush, cost the Trojans badly and the voters probably got it right.
It was the Bear’s first national title since the 1960s unless you are a hardcore Alabama fan and count 1973. The UPI still gave out national championships to teams before the bowl games back in those years, and some teams count it as a legit title.
1979 proved to be a breeze for the Crimson Tide as Alabama was ranked number 2 from day one and won all of their games to finish 12-0 and the national champions. They only had a little problem against 18th ranked Tennessee in Birmingham before winning, 27-17. Then, they struggled against unranked LSU in Baton Rouge before winning, 3-0.
Top rival and 14th ranked Auburn gave them some hassle before Alabama prevailed again, 25-18.
Now ranked number 1, Alabama had very little trouble disposing of 6th ranked Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl. It was Alabama’s 2nd national title in a row, and the Bear was returned to God-like status in the state of Alabama. Rightfully so, say the numerous Alabama natives that named their children after Paul Bear Bryant back in those years.
In 1980, the Alabama Crimson Tide had a 28 game win streak going when they were totally stunned by Mississippi State. The irony here may have been that the Tide stole the Wishbone from which they had had much success and then they had their winning streak shattered by the coach that supposedly invented the Wishbone, Emory Bellard. When Bellard coached at Texas A%M, he installed the Bone there, too, and then when he was fired, he took the offense to Mississippi State and had some success with John Bond at quarterback. John Bond
The Tide fought back and beat LSU, but then they had a big matchup with those pesky Irish from Notre Dame in Birmingham. It was number 6 in the AP poll, Notre Dame, versus 5th ranked Alabama.
The Irish seemed to have Alabama’s number back in those years and they came away with an 0-7 win.
Two losses? What was going on here?
Alabama finished up strong with wins over Auburn and then 6th ranked Baylor in the Cotton Bowl, who they routed, 30-2. Baylor was led by Hall of Fame linebacker Mike Singletary.
You can get these tablets in different convenient forms and flavors to use the way you want it to be, it is then considered a cause of dryness in the nose as well as http://robertrobb.com/hello-world/ viagra generic cialis vaginal area. There was even a cartoon low price levitra strip gay I directed called by Jerry Mills, which featured the adventures of Billy. The robertrobb.com buy viagra wholesale ingredients of this herbal massage oil is prepared for massaging the male genital organ. Chai- rich black leaves blended with warm spices especially cardamom, popular Indian milk one Artisan- These are the rare and unique selection of specially cultivated and harvested tea-leaves Blend- These are the fine blend of herbs, spices, flowers, fruits, roots, bark etc. to give a unique blend of several forms of bhasma like – tadalafil cost Ras Sindoor, Abhrakh bhasm, Nag bhasm, Lauh bhasm and Bang bhasm that increases sexual. Bear Bryant’s team finished 10-2 and ranked 6th.
Things were different back in 1981, or they seemed different. The Bear wasn’t that old, compared to coaches like Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno of more recent times. In the 1981 season, the Bear turned 68 years old, which is what will happen to current Alabama coach Nick Saban this season, too.
To me, Bear Bryant seemed really ancient, but I was a young whippersnapper, too. Whatever the case, Bear Bryant was a legend among men and Alabama was probably the most respected football program in the entire country.
Alabama opened up the 1981 season ranked 4th and then beat LSU in the first game of the season.
However, they didn’t stay unbeaten long as Georgia Tech shocked the country and beat the Crimson Tide 21-24 in Birmingham. The Rambling Wreck of Georgia Tech was coached by future Alabama head coach Bill Curry and it would be their only win of the entire season.
That was just strange.
They beat Kentucky, Vanderbilt and Ole Miss to improve to 4-1 before Southern Miss came to Birmingham and shocked the nation again by tying Alabama, 13-13. Southern Mississippi was coached by Bobby Collins and quarterbacked by Reggie Collier and they were not a bad team at all finishing up with a 9-2-1 record.
Alabama didn’t play a ranked team until the 9th game of the season when they beat Mississippi State. They beat 5th ranked Penn State next and then finished up with a big win over Auburn.
The 3rd ranked and 9-1-1 Alabama got another berth in the Cotton Bowl in spite of tying Georgia for the SEC championship. In the Cotton, they played 6th ranked Texas and were upset again, this time by a 12-14 score. Darrell Royal and his Texas Longhorns had a pretty good record against Alabama much like Notre Dame.
The Georgia Bulldogs had their glory years with Herschel Walker terrorizing SEC opponents from 1980 through 1982. They won the national championship in 1980 and won the SEC title over Alabama in 1980 and 1981. The Bulldogs had taken power over the conference temporarily, at least.
But, Alabama was ranked 4th to begin the 1982 season and were ranked higher than Georgia in spite of the Bulldogs returning Herschel Walker and a lot of talent.
The 4th ranked Alabama Crimson Tide got revenge on Georgia Tech in their opening game of 1982, crushing them, 45-7. The Crimson Tide improved to 5-0 when they spanked 3rd ranked Penn State, 42-21. The Bear didn’t have much success against Notre Dame and Texas, but he owned Joe Paterno and Penn State. Old conference foe, Tennessee, cost the Tide their first loss of the season in game 6.
They had been ranked 2nd up until their loss to the Vols, then the season kind of got away from Alabama. Sure, they recovered and beat Cincinnati and Mississippi State, but they lost an un-Bear-like 3 games in a row starting with 3rd ranked LSU.
They lost to Southern Miss and Auburn next. Bear’s last Iron Bowl
Alabama was invited to the Liberty Bowl to take on the Fighting Illini of Illinois who were led by quarterback Tony Eason. The Tide won a close game, 21-15, to finish 8-4 on the season.
Bear Bryant stepped down right after the game and finished his career with a record of 323-85-17. Within about a month after his coaching career was over, the Bear passed away from a massive heart attack.
Just like that, maybe the greatest coach of all time was gone.
Even though he is no longer here, the Bear lives on in legend. He was credited with 6 national titles and 13 SEC championships while winning 323 games overall. His number of wins has been surpassed by others now, but they lack the number of national titles that the Bear accomplished.
When you have stadiums and awards named after you, there’s a pretty good chance you were the greatest ever. As a kid growing up in the times he roamed the sidelines, Bear Bryant was the man and to me, he will always be the man.