Nine months after Richard Grammer’s death, the Alabama football program sank still lower, as powerful, integrated Southern Cal, led by Sam Cunningham, crushed the Crimson Tide, 42-21, in the 1970 season opener at Legion Field.
“That was a terrible game,” recalled Jim Grammer, who started the game at center. “It was a real beating. I’d like to say it wasn’t, but it was.”
In later years, the first game of a painful 6-5-1 season would be seen as a turning point in the integration of (more)
|
|
In the wake of Alabama’s 21-0 thrashing of LSU to capture the 2011 national championship, Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide is being hailed as one of the greatest defenses ever.
No argument here.
After all, Saban’s latest crew became only the second team in history to lead the nation in all four major statistical categories (total defense, scoring defense, pass defense and rushing defense).
But beyond these powerful numbers, 2011 Alabama achieved a more transcendent distinction: The right to be mentioned in the same sentence with the most dominant defenses in Alabama history.
Just as every rock star ultimately wants to be compared to Elvis, every defender who straps on a shoulder pad in Tuscaloosa yearns to have his name uttered in the same breath as legendary figures such as Lee Roy Jordan, Don McNeal and Eric Curry. (more)
Beyond the magnetic legend of The Goal-Line Stand, one incredible play by cornerback Don McNeal casts a mighty shadow all its own.
Because it enabled Barry Krauss and the rest of the Alabama defense to hold Penn State on two straight plays from the one.
Because it helped secure Alabama’s 1978 national championship. (more)
|
|
