1999 Alabama Crimson Tide football team

The 1999 Alabama Crimson Tide football team represented the University of Alabama in the 1999 college football season. The team was led by head coach Mike DuBose, who was in his third season with the program. The Crimson Tide, also known informally as the Tide, played their home games at Bryant–Denny Stadium, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Legion Field, in Birmingham, Alabama.

1999 Alabama Crimson Tide football
SEC champion SEC Western Division champion
SEC Championship Game, W 34–7 vs. Florida
Orange Bowl, L 34–35 ^OT vs. Michigan
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Division	Western Division
Ranking
Coaches	No. 8
AP	No. 8
1999 record	10–3 (7–1 SEC)
Head coach	Mike DuBose (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Neil Callaway (2nd year as OC 3rd overall)
Co-offensive coordinator	Charlie Stubbs (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Ellis Johnson (3rd year)
Captain	5 Shaun Alexander Cornelius Griffin Miguel Merritt Ryan Pflunger Chris Samuels
Home stadium	Bryant–Denny Stadium (Capacity: 83,818) Legion Field (Capacity: 83,091)

1999 Southeastern Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Eastern Division
No. 12 Florida x		7	–	1					9	–	4
No. 9 Tennessee		6	–	2					9	–	3
No. 16 Georgia		5	–	3					8	–	4
Kentucky		4	–	4					6	–	6
Vanderbilt		2	–	6					5	–	6
South Carolina		0	–	8					0	–	11
Western Division
No. 8 Alabama x$		7	–	1					10	–	3
No. 13 Mississippi State		6	–	2					10	–	2
No. 22 Ole Miss		4	–	4					8	–	4
No. 17 Arkansas		4	–	4					8	–	4
Auburn		2	–	6					5	–	6
LSU		1	–	7					3	–	8
Championship: Alabama 34, Florida 7
$ – BCS representative as conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The team entered the season trying to build upon a 7–5 record from their 1998 season. The 1999 team had tremendous success. After a stunning last second loss to Louisiana Tech early in the year,[1] they eventually finished with a 9–2 regular season record (7–1 in the SEC). This included defeating Auburn on the road for the first time ever.[2] The team went on to the 1999 SEC Championship Game where they defeated Florida for the second time for the year.[3] Alabama played Michigan in the 2000 Orange Bowl[4] and suffered a 35–34 loss in overtime, due to a missed extra point.[5] Alabama had beaten Florida during the regular season by a single point in overtime, also due to a missed extra point.[6]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 4	11:30 a.m.	at Vanderbilt	No. 20	Vanderbilt Stadium Nashville, TN	JPS	W 28–17	41,600
September 11	11:30 a.m.	Houston*	No. 21	Legion Field Birmingham, AL	JPS	W 37–10	80,110
September 18	4:00 p.m.	Louisiana Tech*	No. 18	Legion Field Birmingham, AL	PPV	L 28–29	80,312
September 25	2:30 p.m.	No. 14 Arkansas		Bryant–Denny Stadium Tuscaloosa, AL	CBS	W 35–28	83,818
October 2	2:30 p.m.	at No. 3 Florida	No. 21	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL	CBS	W 40–39 ^OT	85,721
October 16	2:30 p.m.	at No. 22 Ole Miss	No. 11	Vaught–Hemingway Stadium Oxford, MS (rivalry)	CBS	W 30–24	52,122
October 23	2:30 p.m.	No. 5 Tennessee	No. 10	Bryant–Denny Stadium Tuscaloosa, AL (Third Saturday in October)	CBS	L 7–21	86,869
October 30	2:00 p.m.	No. 20 Southern Miss*	No. 14	Bryant–Denny Stadium Tuscaloosa, AL	PPV	W 35–14	83,818
November 6	11:30 a.m.	LSU	No. 12	Bryant–Denny Stadium Tuscaloosa, AL (rivalry)	JPS	W 23–17	83,818
November 13	2:30 p.m.	No. 8 Mississippi State	No. 11	Bryant–Denny Stadium Tuscaloosa, AL (rivalry)	CBS	W 19–7	83,818
November 20	6:30 p.m.	at Auburn	No. 8	Jordan–Hare Stadium Auburn, AL (Iron Bowl)	ESPN	W 28–17	85,214
December 4	7:00 p.m.	vs. No. 5 Florida	No. 7	Georgia Dome Atlanta, GA (SEC Championship Game)	ABC	W 34–7	74,309
January 1, 2000	7:30 p.m.	vs. No. 8 Michigan*	No. 5	Pro Player Stadium Miami, Gardens, FL (Orange Bowl)	ABC	L 34–35 ^OT	70,461
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Roster

1999 Alabama Crimson Tide football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB 37 Shaun Alexander Sr WR 80 Jason McAddley So WR 15 Freddie Milons So T 60 Chris Samuels Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB 24 Tony Dixon Jr DT 97 Cornelius Griffin Sr DT 98 Reggie Grimes Sr DB 23 Reggie Myles So LB 11 Saleem Rasheed So DT 88 Kenny Smith Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Mike DuBose Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

Game summaries

Vanderbilt

See also: 1999 Vanderbilt Commodores football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
#20 Crimson Tide	0	7	7	14	28
Commodores	0	7	10	0	17

Shaun Alexander scored the final two touchdowns in the 4th quarter to rally Alabama to a season opening road win over Vanderbilt.

Houston

See also: 1999 Houston Cougars football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cougars	3	0	7	0	10
#21 Crimson Tide	10	7	6	14	37

Alabama would go over 500 yards of offense for just the second time in the Mike Dubose era and win convincingly over Houston.

Louisiana Tech

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	6	6	3	14	29
#18 Crimson Tide	0	3	15	10	28

Back-up quarterback Brian Stallworth would find Sean Cangelosi in the end zone with two seconds left to upset Alabama for the second time in three years.

Arkansas

See also: 1999 Arkansas Razorbacks football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
#14 Razorbacks	10	3	8	7	28
Crimson Tide	7	7	14	7	35

Despite turning the football over six times, Alabama would manage to hold on and upset #14 Arkansas at Bryant-Denny Stadium. This would be the first time under Mike Dubose Alabama beat a ranked opponent.

Florida

See also: 1999 Florida Gators football team

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
#21 Crimson Tide	3	10	6	14	7	40
#3 Gators	7	0	15	11	6	39

The Crimson Tide snapped No. 3 Florida's 30-game winning streak at The Swamp on Saturday when Chris Kemp got a second chance on an extra-point attempt in overtime and drilled it.

Ole Miss

See also: 1999 Ole Miss Rebels football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
#11 Crimson Tide	10	7	10	3	30
#22 Rebels	0	7	10	7	24

Despite having a 27-7 lead midway through the third quarter, Alabama had to hold on late to beat Ole Miss.

Tennessee

See also: 1999 Tennessee Volunteers football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
#5 Volunteers	0	7	7	7	21
#10 Crimson Tide	0	7	0	0	7

For the first time since 1930, the Third Saturday in October would be in Tuscaloosa. Despite having the largest crowd ever to watch a football game in the state of Alabama to date, The Crimson Tide could not generate enough offense to beat Tennessee. This gave the Volunteers their fifth win in a row against Alabama.

Southern Miss

See also: 1999 Southern Miss Golden Eagles football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
#20 Golden Eagles	0	7	0	7	14
#14 Crimson Tide	10	10	15	0	35

Behind the Alabama defense who would hold Southern Miss to -13 yards rushing, Alabama would generate enough points with a pick six and a punt return to beat Southern Miss for the eight year in a row.

LSU

See also: 1999 LSU Tigers football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tigers	7	0	7	3	17
#12 Crimson Tide	0	10	13	0	23

The 1999 version of a Goal Line stand as Alabama would deny LSU quarterback Josh Booty of a potential game winning touchdown run by knocking him down six inches short of the end zone to win.

Mississippi State

See also: 1999 Mississippi State Bulldogs football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
#8 Bulldogs	0	7	0	0	7
#11 Crimson Tide	3	7	3	6	19

With the help of three Mississippi State interceptions, Alabama would end their three game losing streak to the Bulldogs and be one win away from winning the SEC West.

Auburn

See also: 1999 Auburn Tigers football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
#8 Crimson Tide	6	0	2	20	28
Tigers	0	14	0	3	17

Shaun Alexander scored all three of Alabama touchdowns in the fourth quarter as the Crimson Tide rallied back for the second year in a row to beat Auburn. This would also be the first time Alabama won at Jordan-Hare Stadium. With the win, Alabama clinched the SEC West for the first time since 1996.

Florida

See also: 1999 Florida Gators football team and 1999 SEC Championship Game

	1	2	3	4	Total
#5 Gators	7	0	0	0	7
#7 Crimson Tide	0	12	3	19	34

Alabama used 34 unanswered points to beat Florida for the second time in 1999. This would be the Crimson Tide's first SEC Championship since 1992.

Michigan

See also: 1999 Michigan Wolverines football team and 2000 Orange Bowl

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
#8 Wolverines	0	7	21	0	7	35
#5 Crimson Tide	0	14	14	0	6	34

Despite holding a 14 point lead in the third quarter, Alabama could not hold on and would lose in Overtime on a missed extra point by Ryan Pflugner.

References

1. "Louisiana Tech has history of comebacks". ESPN. October 23, 2003. Retrieved September 24, 2008.
2. "Atlanta-bound Alabama: Tide secure SEC West crown with 28–17 victory". Sports Illustrated. November 21, 1999. Retrieved September 26, 2008.
3. "Alabama Beats Florida In the S.E.C. Title Game". The New York Times. December 5, 1999. Retrieved September 24, 2008.
4. "Alabama to make 50th bowl appearance". The Crimson White. December 6, 1999.
5. "Michigan vs. Alabama". USA Today. January 1, 2000. Retrieved September 24, 2008.
6. "2nd Point After Is the Difference". The New York Times. October 3, 1999. Retrieved September 24, 2008.