University of Alabama - Glory Days: Memorable Games in Alabama Football History

TOMMY HICKS
FORWORD BY MAL MOORE

This book is dedicated to the memory of Mal Moore, one of the most genuine men I have ever met.

Copyright 2013 by Tommy Hicks

All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Sports Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hicks, Tommy, 1954- author.

Glory days : memorable games in Alabama football history / Tommy Hicks ; foreword by Mal Moore.

pages cm

ISBN 978-1-61321-362-9 (alk. paper)

1. University of Alabama--Football--History. 2. Alabama Crimson Tide (Football team)-- History--20th century. I. Title.

GV958.A4H56 2013

796.332630976184--dc23

2013020797

Printed in the United States of America

T his project has taken its twists and turns, but throughout the process I received great support, assistance, and guidance. As such, a lot of thankyous and pats on the back are required.

The folks at Skyhorse Publishing made this book possible, and certainly the great work and patience of editor Julie Ganz deserves a high-five or two and more. Editor Jay Cassell and publicist Lauren Burnstein played key roles as well.

At my company, Alabama Media Group and AL.com, a number of people stepped forward in assisting with this book. K. A. Turner was of great help, and the same is true of Randy Kennedy, Izzy Gould, and Mark Heim.

The good folks at the University of Alabama were, of course, invaluable. Many, many thanks to Doug Walker, Jeff Purinton, and Josh Maxson, and of courae the late Mal Moore. Kirk McNair of Bama Magazine offered assistance all along the way and is deserving of special mention.

Certainly, this project would be merely stats and scores without all those who offered their time and storiessome quite oftento the finished product. It is their stories, their play, and their words that bring these games to life again. Many thanks to all who participated in interviews and were so gracious with those memories and their time.

From a personal standpoint, there are a number of people whom I must thank publicly, and to whom I hope I have made clear privately of my appreciation for their love and/or support throughout this process. I have to start with Julie Jeter, who has provided encouragement and so much more every step along the way. The same is true of my daughter Maren, the best writer in the family. To my dad, known by everyone as Big E, and my brother Dean, sister-in-law Kim, and nephews Chance and Carson, thank you. Thanks also to Megan and Ryan Foster and of course to Damien and Trista.

Thanks must be given to a number of others, who cant all be listed here, though there are some whom I simply must note here: Ron Higgins, Kim Shugart, Bruce Gentry, Chris Stewart, Mark McCarter, Trish and Kevin Dougherty, Carly Dougherty and Kendall, Kristi and Dave Walker, Steve Richardson, Tony Barnhart, John Pruett, Jon Johnson, Gregg Dewalt, and Joel and Tina Erdmann. Thank you everyone.

I t is no small task to attempt to chronicle the biggest games in Alabama football history. The Crimson Tide is in the enviable position of having played many, many games regarded as big games because the importance of games is magnified with success. There are big games that everyone recognizes. In just about any season there are big games because of the opponent, its success and tradition, and the history of the game.

Ive always thought of the Alabama-Tennessee game as being big for those reasons. And we always thought that if we could get by Tennessee undefeated, we would win the conference and have a chance to win the national championship.

The Tennessee game could affect the remainder of the season or the season itself. In 1990 we couldnt get off our goal line against Tennessee, but eventually we got a blocked field goal attempt by Stacy Harrison and a game-winning field goal by Phillip Doyle, and we upset the nations third-ranked team, 9-6. That game put us on track and a couple of years later we won the national championship.

There are games that are big because of the consequences. A Sugar Bowl game matching the number one and number two teams, for instance, is a big game because the winner is the national champion.

To the coaches and players, every game is a big game, every game an important game. As a player and coach I went into every season thinking the most important game was the first game because we had to win that one to have a chance to play for the national championship.

Certainly Coach Gene Stallings had a point when he said that every game was a big game and that if one didnt think so one should experience the consequences of losing it.

One of the great things about Coach Bryants teams was that they won just about every game they were supposed to win and they won their share of games against teams that had players equal to or superior to his ability. It was a strength of Coach Bryant that he prepared his teams for those situations and thus put his teams in position to win so many championships. It is fascinating to see not only how many championships his teams won, but also how many times he had his teams in position to win additional championships.

Many people believe the biggest win in Alabama football history wasnt a game that won the national championship, but a game that changed Crimson Tide football. That is the 1971 season-opening game against Southern Cal in Los Angeles. We were coming off back-to-back 6-5 seasons, and Southern Cal had beaten us badly in 1970 in Birmingham.

That was the year we went to the wishbone offense and it was my first year to coach quarterbacks. I dont think Coach Bryant decided to change from our Pro-style offense to the wishbone until about mid-July before the start of the season.

I was so focused on the job we had to do to put in this radical new offense that I didnt really think about how big the Southern Cal game was during preparation. I think I was more worried about whether we could make a first down. We had the element of surprise in that game and we scored the first three times we had the ball and won 17-10. Almost everyone talked about the wishbone, but our defense did a great job to hold a skillful Southern Cal team to only 10 points.

That game led to an undefeated season. It also gave everyone associated with Alabama football a shot of confidence that was desperately needed. That was Coach Bryants 200th coaching victory. I believe that win may have energized Coach Bryant to continue coaching longer than he might have.

Sometimes a game becomes big for reasons beyond your control. Our 1965 team had a loss and a tie and we were playing Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. During the day the teams ranked ahead of us lost in the Sugar, Cotton and Rose Bowls and suddenly our game was for the national championship, which we won.