1977 Alabama Crimson Tide football team

The 1977 Alabama Crimson Tide football team (variously "Alabama", "UA" or "Bama") represented the University of Alabama in the 1977 NCAA Division I football season. It was the Crimson Tide's 83rd overall and 44th season as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The team was led by head coach Bear Bryant, in his 20th year, and played their home games at Bryant–Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa and Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama. They finished season with eleven wins and one loss (11–1 overall, 7–0 in the SEC), as SEC champions and with a victory over Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl.

1977 Alabama Crimson Tide football
SEC champion Sugar Bowl champion
Sugar Bowl, W 35–6 vs. Ohio State
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 2
AP	No. 2
1977 record	11–1 (7–0 SEC)
Head coach	Bear Bryant (20th season)
Captains	Mike Tucker Ozzie Newsome
Home stadium	Bryant–Denny Stadium Legion Field

1977 Southeastern Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 2 Alabama $	7	–	0	–	0			11	–	1	–	0
No. 6 Kentucky	6	–	0	–	0			10	–	1	–	0
Auburn	5	–	1	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
LSU	4	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Florida	3	–	3	–	0			6	–	4	–	1
Georgia	2	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Mississippi State	2	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Ole Miss	2	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Tennessee	1	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Vanderbilt	0	–	6	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion Kentucky ineligible for SEC championship due to NCAA probation. Mississippi State later forfeited all 1977 wins due to NCAA violations. Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 10	Ole Miss	No. 6	Legion Field Birmingham, AL (rivalry)		W 34–13	74,324
September 17	at Nebraska*	No. 4	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE	ABC	L 24–31	75,899
September 24	at Vanderbilt	No. 10	Dudley Field Nashville, TN		W 24–12	34,694
October 1	Georgia	No. 10	Bryant–Denny Stadium Tuscaloosa, AL (rivalry)		W 18–10	60,210
October 8	at No. 1 USC*	No. 7	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	ABC	W 21–20	63,140
October 15	Tennessee	No. 4	Legion Field Birmingham, AL (Third Saturday in October)		W 24–10	71,000
October 22	Louisville*	No. 3	Bryant–Denny Stadium Tuscaloosa, AL		W 55–6	60,210
October 29	at Mississippi State	No. 2	Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium Jackson, MS (rivalry)		W 37–7	47,500
November 5	at No. 18 LSU	No. 2	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)	ABC	W 24–3	65,377
November 12	Miami (FL)*	No. 2	Bryant–Denny Stadium Tuscaloosa, AL		W 36–0	57,422
November 26	vs. Auburn	No. 2	Legion Field Birmingham, AL (Iron Bowl)		W 48–21	69,721
January 2, 1978	vs. No. 9 Ohio State*	No. 3	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA (Sugar Bowl)	ABC	W 35–6	76,811
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll

• Source: Rolltide.com: 1977 Alabama football schedule[1]

Roster

1977 Alabama Crimson Tide football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class T 78 Buddy Aydelette So G   Bob Cryder Sr FB 38 Johnny Davis Sr RB 22 Tony Nathan Jr WR 82 Ozzie Newsome Sr QB 11 Jeff Rutledge Jr C 57 Dwight Stephenson So TE 88 Tim Travis So FB 45 Steve Whitman So	Defense Pos. # Name Class DT 94 Wayne Hamilton So DT   Terry Jones Sr DE 39 E. J. Junior Fr DT 96 Curtis McGriff So DB 28 Don McNeal So LB 50 Randy Scott Fr LB 36 Rich Wingo Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class P 1 Buddy Holt So	Head coach Bear Bryant Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Game summaries

Ole Miss

See also: 1977 Ole Miss Rebels football team and Alabama–Ole Miss football rivalry

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
25–4–2	1976	L, 7–10

at Nebraska

#4 Alabama at Nebraska

1 2 3 4 Total #4 Crimson Tide 7 10 0 7 24 • Cornhuskers 10 7 7 7 31 Date: September 17 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 75,899 Television network: ABC

Scoring summary Q1 10:38 NEB Todd 29 yard field goal NEB 3–0 Q1 7:36 ALA Rutledge 7 yard run (Chapman kick) ALA 7–3 Q1 0:31 NEB Berns 7 yard pass from Garcia (Todd kick) NEB 10–7 Q2 10:45 ALA Nathan 2 yard run (Chapman kick) ALA 14–10 Q2 3:26 NEB Berns 2 yard run (Todd kick) NEB 17–14 Q2 0:10 ALA Chapman 37 yard field goal Tie 17–17 Q3 10:54 NEB Craig 17 yard run (Todd kick) NEB 24–17 Q3 12:24 ALA Nathan 1 yard run (Chapman kick) Tie 24–24 Q4 7:12 NEB Berns 2 yard run (Todd kick) NEB 31–24

See also: 1977 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–1	1972	L, 6–38

Alabama went into Lincoln ranked #4 as Nebraska was still feeling the sting of a home loss to Washington State. While the Crimson Tide slightly exceeded the Cornhuskers in offensive production, 5 interceptions helped give Nebraska the edge to pull off the stunning upset.

at Vanderbilt

See also: 1977 Vanderbilt Commodores football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
33–17–4	1976	W, 42–14

Georgia

See also: 1977 Georgia Bulldogs football team and Alabama–Georgia football rivalry

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
30–20–4	1976	L, 0–21

at USC

See also: 1977 USC Trojans football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
3–1	1971	W, 17–10

[2][3]

Tennessee

See also: 1977 Tennessee Volunteers football team and Third Saturday in October

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
29–23–7	1976	W, 20–13

Louisville

See also: 1977 Louisville Cardinals football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1–0	1976	W, 24–3

at Mississippi State

See also: 1977 Mississippi State Bulldogs football team and Alabama–Mississippi State football rivalry

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
48–12–3	1976	W, 34–17

at LSU

See also: 1977 LSU Tigers football team and Alabama–LSU football rivalry

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
25–10–4	1976	W, 28–17

Miami (FL)

See also: 1977 Miami Hurricanes football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
11–2	1974	W, 28–7

vs. Auburn

See also: 1977 Auburn Tigers football team and Iron Bowl

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
23–17–1	1976	W, 38–7

vs. Ohio State (Sugar Bowl)

#9 Ohio State vs. #3 Alabama

1 2 3 4 Total Buckeyes 0 0 0 6 6 • Crimson Tide 0 13 8 14 35 Date: January 2 Location: Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, LA Game attendance: 76,811 Game weather: Indoors (dome) Referee: Percy Penn TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson and Ara Parseghian

Main article: 1978 Sugar Bowl

See also: 1977 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

[4]

References

General

• "1977 Season Recaps" (PDF). RollTide.com. University of Alabama Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. Retrieved July 15, 2015.
• "2012 Alabama Crimson Tide Football Record Book" (PDF). Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Athletics Media Relations Office. 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved July 15, 2015.

Specific

1. "1977 Alabama football schedule". RollTide.com. University of Alabama Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. Archived from the original on December 2, 2011. Retrieved July 15, 2015.
2. "Alabama Withstands Rally And Upsets U.S.C., 21‐20". The New York Times. October 9, 1977. Retrieved September 28, 2019.
3. "Alabama stole the show". Sports Illustrated. October 17, 1977. Retrieved September 28, 2019.
4. "1978 Game Recap - Official Site of the Allstate Sugar Bowl". Sugar Bowl. Retrieved September 28, 2019.