The Tide Machine

During one of the most dominating regular seasons ever that did not result in a national championship for @AlabamaFTBL, one of the most unlikeliest teams actually scored the most points against the Crimson Tide during that run 60 years ago today on Oct. 29, 1966. Unranked Mississippi State scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns in a 27-14 loss to No. 4-ranked Alabama in Denny Stadium and those points were the most allowed by an opponent all season. The 1966 Crimson Tide finished 11-0 and its defense surrendered just 44 total points (4.4 per game). No other team scored more than one touchdown against that stalwart defense which also had six shutouts. In the victory over the Bulldogs, quarterback Wayne Trimble threw two touchdown passes to Ray Perkins (26 and 39 yards) and another to Jerry Duncan on a 48-yard, tackle-eligible play. Steve Davis also kicked a 35-yard field goal for the Crimson Tide. Despite being the two-time defending national champion, Alabama finished third in the polls behind Notre Dame and Michigan State. Author Keith Dunnavant chronicles the voting shenanigans to deny the Crimson Tide its third consecutive national championship in his book “The Missing Ring.”

While field-goal kicking has seemed to haunt @AlabamaFTBL fans now and again, that wasn’t the case 37 years ago in Happy Valley. No. 6-ranked Alabama survived a trip to State College, Pa., with a miraculous 17-16 victory over No. 14-ranked Penn State when Thomas Rayam broke through the line and blocked a last-second, chip-shot field goal attempt by Nittany Lion place-kicker Ray Tarasi on Oct. 28, 1989. Behind the running of Blair Thomas, who carried it 11 consecutive times on the last drive, Penn State drove to the Alabama 1-yard line with 13 seconds remaining. Instead of going for a touchdown, Nittany Lion coach Joe Paterno decided to place the outcome on the foot of Tarasi with a 17-yard field goal attempt. Tarasi had already made three field goals in the game. On a special teams play called “Desperation Block,” Rayam used every inch of his 6-foot-7 body to swat away the kick from Tarasi to keep Alabama undefeated at 7-0. “I didn’t see (the ball),” Rayam said after the game. “I just threw my hands up.” Siran Stacy led an Alabama offense that misfired at times with 106 yards rushing which included a 12-yard touchdown run. Quarterback Gary Hollingsworth threw four interceptions, but threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Lamonde Russell. Philip Doyle also added a field goal for the Crimson Tide.

Last season @AlabamaFTBL beat Louisiana-Monroe 73-0 for the most points scored by the Crimson Tide since 77 that happened 53 years ago today in a rout over Virginia Polytechnic Institute on Oct. 27, 1973, inside Denny Stadium. No. 2-ranked Alabama crushed the VPI Gobblers, 77-6, with its wishbone offense piling up a then-record 748 yards rushing on 63 carries. Today VPI is better known as Virginia Tech and the Gobblers have been renamed the Hokies. The Crimson Tide has scored more than 77 points but those were all before 1922 and against programs that are considered much lower tiers than Division I. Four players rushed for 100 yards against the Gobblers that night in Tuscaloosa led by James Taylor (142 yards), Wilbur Jackson (138), Calvin Culliver (127) and Richard Todd (102). Paul “Bear” Bryant emptied the bench against VPI, but the free-flowing substitutions did not curb the scoring. “I didn’t want the score to be like that,” Bryant said afterwards. “They just got tired and we played over 70 people who were rested. They’ve got nothing to be ashamed of and I hope people realize that. We definitely were not trying to run up the score.”

While Kent Waldrep did not play for @AlabamaFTBL very few touched the program and Paul “Bear” Bryant more than the former TCU running back, who suffered an injury that left him paralyzed while playing the Crimson Tide 52 years ago today on Oct. 26, 1974, at Legion Field. In the second quarter of a 41-3 victory by Alabama, Waldrep injured his neck while being tackled and almost died following the play. The horrific event affected Bryant so much that he made sure to be at Waldrep’s bedside when he awoke from surgery. “I can remember so well waking up in intensive care, in the first few days after the injury and looking up and seeing Coach Bryant’s face,” Waldrep described to author Keith Dunnavant in his autobiography of Bryant. “My mama later told me that he was near tears out in the hall waiting to see me.” The special relationship between Waldrep and the Alabama football program grew from that tragic moment. He became an honorary member of the Crimson Tide’s A-Club letterman’s association, and later helped champion the Americans with Disabilities Act. When Waldrep’s two sons, Trey and Charley, were ready for college in the mid-2000s, The University granted them Bryant scholarships, a program established for children of former Bryant players. Waldrep passed away on Feb. 27, 2022, at the age of 67.

For today’s younger generation, it would be hard to imagine @AlabamaFTBL having a stretch of five years without beating a ranked opponent, but that’s how far the program had fallen before Paul “Bear” Bryant returned to restore the honor of his alma mater. Led by Gary O’Steen’s kicking and running, Alabama upset No. 19-ranked Mississippi State, 9-7, and ruined the homecoming festivities in Starkville 68 years ago today on Oct. 25, 1958. The Bulldogs entered the game favored by two touchdowns, but O’Steen rushed for 66 yards and his five quick-kicks kept Mississippi State off balance. Alabama scored its nine points on a 21-yard field goal by Fred Sington and a 21-yard pass from Bobby Jackson to Norbie Ronsonet. The Crimson Tide finished the 1958 season with a 5-4-1 record, but Bryant had poured the foundation for a championship program. Alabama also stunned No. 20 Georgia Tech, 17-8, later in the season. Prior to Bryant’s arrival, the last time Alabama had beaten a ranked opponent occurred when the Crimson Tide beat No. 16 Auburn, 10-7, in 1953.