1971 #16 Alabama at #5 USC (Bama's Greatest Games)

the Year 1970 not a sterling one in Alabama football history it opened against the Southern Cal Trojans and Birmingham and to put it mildly the Trojans ran roughshod 42 to 21 the main culprit a big fullback named Sam Cunningham he ripped the defense for 122 yards coach Paul Bear Bryant put it best it was a hell of a way to start a new season and a new year it didn't get much better for Bama regular season finale saw a loss to archrival Auburn and the tide was six and five there were bright spots Johnny Musso began to show his all-american credentials and Bama did go to a bowl game tying Oklahoma in the blue bottom little did tide fans know that in the offseason coach Bryant would meet with Texas coach Darrell royal to talk about a new office the wishbone option attack it was destined to be the Tide offensive his 70s and lead to the glitter of three national championships what better place to debut the new attack than the glitter capital of the world Los Angeles in the Coliseum against Southern Cal just one day shy of Coach Bryant's 58th birthday the tide would take on the Trojans in one of bamas greatest games the Alabama sports network and the Paul W Bryant Museum present bamas greatest games welcome to Bama is greatest games I'm Tom Roberts and the game we're looking at this time is the 1971 7 Cal game the introduction of the wishbone to Alabama football pretty good wishbone quarterback for the Crimson Tide is with us and that's Jeff Rutledge Jeff I know a lot of folks who followed Alabama football during the 70s think probably they know all about the wishbone there's some folks today you've never seen it tell me kind of the philosophy of what you do in the wishbone offense the wishbone offense is a is a great offense if executed properly the downside of that there's a lot of risk and fumbles because you're pitching the ball out so much a lot of pressure is placed on the quarterback because you're reading the defense but it starts with your offensive line if you've got a great offensive line they're firing out low they're establishing the line of scrimmage a couple yards down the field then you can work down the line you've got great running backs who can block first which is important and then run the football and then you also have wide receivers that have to block then a quarterback that can run helps well a quarterback that reads and I think that's in the wishbone offense there was never a set play or very seldom a set play you determined it as you went down the line making fakes and most of the time I know a lot of times it's predetermined that you were not gonna give the ball to the fullback and then you were gonna option off the end man on the line of scrimmage but also there were times where you were gonna read the tackle to the end and if the tackle would go straight up feel you'd handle the ball of the fullback so it I liked it when I knew I wasn't gonna have to read that tackle because a lot of times he would close so fast and then the ends right there that's when you can have the bad place well and that's when you can get clobbered - I would think what about you talked about the blocking of the backs and we're gonna see that as we go into this Southern Cal game for instance Johnny Musso great runner but a tremendous blocker unbelievable blocker you'll see that in the film as you said that's what makes the wishbone go you got to have unselfish backs who will block for the other gas if you're going on in right then Johnny's gonna block going left and he's gonna run the football both guys got to be unselfish and block from one another well we're gonna see that the introduction of the wishbone let's go west for Alabama and Southern California the season-opener for 1971 the Crimson Tide's a 12-point underdog as it runs onto the field at the LA Coliseum but the experts don't know that BAM has been working on the wishbone in closed practice sessions since early August Captain Steve Higginbotham Johnny Musso Robin Park House and rod stately are at midfield they won the toss and Bama elects to receive to start the 71 season Mobile's Bobby McKinney drops back deep to take the kickoff from the Trojans McKinney takes it at the 8 yard line he comes out bounces off a tackle at the 28 then veers to the far sideline in Alma Kenny returns at 33 yards in Bama has great field position at its own 41 now the first play from the bone Terry Davis runs it at quarterback Steve back at fullback Johnny Musso Jolla boo and Steve basilia the running backs and David Bailey at wide receiver on the first plate Davis simply hands it to mu so Johnny takes it right up the middle for seven yards and he does that behind a front line that has Jim Simmons at tight end tackles Jimmy Rosser and John Hanna of the guards Jim Crawford buddy Brown Jimmy Grammer at Center second and three at the tide 48 this time was so can get only a yard that's right John 40:19 on the play and Terry takes it again this time only three to the Trojan 29 coach Bryant and staff decide to go to the air Davis drops back looks finds Jim Simmons open play covers 16 yards Bama has it first and 10 at the Trojan 13 now less than three minutes into the game the underdog tide hits the board first here's John Forney Jenny makes a beautiful pitch back while Jerry Davis and circles it for 13 years in a TV and Alabama dramatically suddenly and spectacularly is driven 59-yard nothing I think we can say John's happy and no doubt the guys and the white jerseys are happy remember they were the underdogs in this football game bill Davis's on to kick the conversion just 252 gone Alabama leads seven Cal seven to nothing now here's Greg Gant to kick it off for the time it goes deep to Charles hitting at the 4 yard line Nitin brings it back out to the 27 on defense the tiger goes with two of the best ins in Bama history John Mitchell and Robin park house Jeff beard and Terry Rael at the tackles on the first play they hold rugged Sam Cunningham to only 2 yards the Cunningham rip Bama for a hundred and twenty two in Birmingham in 1970 but in this night linebackers Tom sealless Jeff Rousey and Chuck Strickland are ready for the big fullback he manages only three on his second carry the mammoth secondary of bobby mckinney steve higginbotham david McMakin and Steve wait sees its first pass now from Trojan quarterback Jimmy Jones he's back looks it's Mike Morgan for 12 yards in a first down at the 44 now the men of Troy along the offensive line open a gap for Lou Harris he scampers 13 yards the Trojans are in Bama territory at 243 once again cunningham up the middle for three from the 40 tailback harris shoots through joel at right tackle rousey finally drags him down at the Bama 28 cunningham with the ball again park house stacks up the blocking strickland moves in to rock him up for a 1-yard loss second and 11 at the 29 Jones in all 22 yards on the return Bama has the game's first turnover the ball at the 32 but an illegal motion penalty set so back to the 27 so Davis decides to go to the air for the second time this time Terry hits back out of the backfield and Ellis takes it nine yards to the 36 directing the wishbone Davis takes advantage of the defense takes it himself for five yards third and one for the Bama 41 busou gets the call for a dive over the middle Johnny picks up six and a first down back back takes over hitting the middle for a yard then it's back again behind Center grammar this time for three yards to the forty but five plays into the drive Midway the first quarter Davis to the left great pitch to Joe Lefou the Memphis junior races 24 yards to a first down Fama's threatening for a second time the balls at the SC 25 Lulu gets the call again this time for six yards and look at Musso blasts a Trojan out of the way next up its back on the first option he hits left guard for four and another first down at the Trojan 15 now Southern Cal shows its defensive metal John Grant reads the option just right knocks Musa down for a nine yard loss Davis working the bone again this time the junior from Bogalusa makes for at left tackle that brings up third and 15 at the 20 so Davis tries to go up top again looks downfield nobody's there so he has to settle for Musso out of the flats Johnny's got the football but he's got a defender there too and fails to gain on the play so it's shades of his sixties Bryant calling and a Davis to kick a field goal just like brothers Tim and Steve sophomore Bill Davis follows tradition a 37 yarder bamas on top 10 to nothing and it's a stun southern cow crowd and team Trojans were favored after all looks like they might get back into the game right here Swann returns the kickoff 36 yards he's out to the 39 David Watkins catches him from behind Rodin's keep it going Harris through a gaping hole on the right side off for 15 yards Park House Flags him down Big Sam Cunningham follows suit going up the middle for three but the linebackers Strickland puts a stopped of a Trojan flora he blitzes to stop Harris no game that brings up third down at the Bama 43 Jones going for a long gainer plenty of protection senior quarterback just overthrows six for Titan Charles young that brings up the first punt of the game they Boulware in to kick it away for seven Cal 39 yards later the Trojans down it on the 9 yard line we're at the end of the first quarter Alabama a tendon IFing lead of a southern cow or Alabama fans a great first quarter on the west coast and Jeff I don't know how important it is but I think it's pretty darn important the way the tide took that opening drive and just marched it downfield for a touchdown especially when you're coming out with something they haven't seen before and you go down within two and a half minutes and you score the first touchdown s-see didn't know what hit them well you and I talked to before the quarter about what the wishbone is let's watch it in action as we look at the again if the touchdown that musos scored in the first quarter of this game tell us what makes it work here we can see Terry Davis takes it to the end and just pitches it to Johnny and the guy coming up right now actually was not blocked he was a linebacker that scraped and Johnny just outran him to the endzone we're gonna look at it again and you'll be able to see that lebu and this is what you were talking about earlier also the the standpoint of blocking by the backs Jolla boo just wipes out a guy on a corner well that's what's key he's unselfish he knows to make this play work he's got to make his block you can see this linebacker coming right now he was never blocked people just got in his way and Johnny was fast enough to get in you know to the end zone and make a dive you know it's it's a great way to start the football game they come down on the opening possession bamas gonna score again the one thing that the wishbone does it seems so well is control the clock you just keep the football away from the other guys well that's why coaches like it yeah if you can keep the other teams offense off the field then it's gonna be hard for them to score and Alabama's offense is this make something they'll first down keep it second short then third and short its first down again we start all over again very few passes as you know yes and just makes it easy for the offense to control the football keep it out of the team's hands so far it's been successful in the Southern Cal game bamas on top and set to go up by even more the second quarter is next Alabama and Southern California 1971 in Los Angeles truly one of amaz greatest games tied on top after the first quarter Jeff Rutledge as we go into the second quarter of this football game BAM has got it deep in its own territory in fact inside the 10 yard line how does that change the philosophy first as a coach and then I want to get a quarterback's way of looking at it well I think coaches standpoint is gonna be let's make some positive yards that's not lose yards we have to find at least we've gotten out of our own territory a little bit and we're able to punt from a quarterback standpoint you're thinking don't turn the ball over yeah and in the wishbone especially you're probably not going to call place where there's a chance that you're going to pitch the ball out well I didn't think about that yet but let's go back to this coach quarterback situation coach probably wants to be conservative quarterback wants to gamble a little bit not really I never like personally to throw the ball backed up like that because it does put a little bit of pressure on the quarterback because you're thinking I can't turn the ball over here you're not as relaxed as you would say if you're at the 50 or mine hmm okay well let's find out what Terry Davis did as we get back to the game back to 1971 Southern Cal in LA backed up at its own 9 yard line Alabama opens the second quarterback going over right guard Buddy Brown for five yards second down Davis takes the option left back cuts back right 410 and a first down that tides out of a hole out to the 24 Musso up the middle for five now it's back at right tackle he manages only a yard bringing up third down this time Davis with the option the pitch out to laboux and watch Joe ramble 13 yards and all four laboux a Bama first down at the 43 but Shelia gets the call he hits off right tackle for nine yards and gets into Trojan territory from the SC 48 it's time for Bama to go to the air second down and one as I sweat man to the right Terry Davis back they mark it at the 33 again a 15 now an illegal motion penalty set the tide back to the 38 but the penalty didn't stop the drive wishbone attack goes left again laboux on the pitch out from Davis this time the Memphis junior goes 18 yards and the tide as a first down at the SC 20 Becket's five run up the gun and one play later Bama gets a touchdown from North home Davis yeah it is bugs and my boy his teammates never thought of a kind of playoff which bone and Remy picket and for nine Alabama bleep stop hunt clicks paint a nothing they were 12 point underdog here in a Coliseum on the Alabama bench bedlam Bill Davis cake makes it 17 to nothing Alabama and let's see if the Trojans could come back here's Swan returning GATS kick Lin brings it out to the 27 Jeff blitz knocks seam down on first down quarterback Jones goes with Harrison left guard for three yards and now it's time for a big play by the Bama defense Alabama chip this defense around a little bit Jimmy Jones fetches out the Cunningham kind of ham creeping in and here's hit on a fine up fried pack old Jones gets the Trojans right back into it look at him he's back gets great pressure from Alabama but gets away from Terry Raul Jones looking trying to find somebody open finally spots Sam Cunningham bruising fullback turns it into a 12-yard gain and a first down at the 41 before Higginbotham finally brings it down for Alabama back to the ground now Jones keeps it himself around left in Bobby McKinney forces him out of bounds just shy of the 50-yard line eight minutes left in the half Harris goes right up the middle for four yards it's first and ten seven Cal at the Bama 47 Harris gets the call again this time to be outside he goes 16 yards to the Bama 31 Rousey and McKinney knock him out of bounds Cunningham keeps the Trojan fans excited a six-yard gain at left guard Mitchell and Tom shirtless on the stop Jones with a pitch at the Harris but Jeff beard and Wayne Hall hold him to just three yards third and one at the Bama 22 Cunningham second effort three yards Mitchell and Raul drag him down tenth play of a drive Jones keeps it himself for five yards wait on the stop for Bama at the time 14 it's cutting him again shirtless and Lanny Norris stopping but he's inside the 10 Trojans first and go up a nine Mitchell and Patterson stop Harrison first down but then the Trojans get on the board Alabama with a six-man front Jones drop back he wants to blue he's got a lot of time Mike Ray kicks the extra point bamas lead is cut to ten the tides still on top 17 to 7 we're just under four minutes from half-time now Williams set to return the kick off for Bama it's a short one and he gets it out of a 26 yard line on first down Davis rolls to the left but Bennett is only 2 yards before Willie Hall rolls him down this time Beck gets the call up the middle for five to the 33 that brings up a big third down play they keeper by Terry Davis they've attempted first down and gets up close to the 40 yard line Mike Magee R was there to help make the stop Jim Crawford down blocking and fine play by Crom a great play by Terry Davis to who the ball hop to the 44 that point little-used david knapp gets the call with three more yards block moving toward the half Davis gets famous 13th first down going six yards to midfield Napa Birmingham jr. gets the call again and he makes three - the Trojan 47 is gonna go to the air now and that spells the end of this drive and Bruce tire was better been on I believe in Johnny Musso who made the fourth row net and indeed it was Musso who managed to force him out of bounds just 22 seconds to go Jones working quickly drops back and looks it's Morgan for 8 yards to the Bama 37 17 seconds now Jones again to pass and look at this catch coming by Lin swine he makes it as clobbered but Strickland Swan holds on gets six more to be tied 19 only 7 seconds to go back up quarterback ray comes in he kicks a 37-yard field goal NS sees only a touchdown behind just enough time left in the first half for the kickoff ray pooches it for the Trojans David McMakin takes it at the 40 and we head to the locker room alabama leading 7 cal 17 to 10 so we're through 30 minutes in los angeles against the seven cal Trojans and Jeff Rutledge I would think they could safely say that Alabama caught Southern Cal by surprise with the wishbone oh definitely you could tell just by watching their defense they didn't have a clue what was hitting them but I think they're gonna make some adjustments at halftime I mean they're gonna have to yeah and then we're gonna see what happens the second half well before that let's go back and look at the at the second touchdown line 11 scored in this game same guy Johnny Musso but it it gives you another idea of the second part of the blocking that's the offensive line you can just see the offensive line pushing these guys back and that was the old belly play one of the best place the wishbone has you have two blockers leading Johnny in there and he just reads the blocks of his offensive line when he cuts back it goes in the end zone easily one of those offensive linemen and you might have saw him right there in the middle number 73 John Hanna who was all-american at Alabama you can see Hannah blocking there pretty incredible offensive lineman one day well I think so he goes on in the Pro Football it's a hall-of-famer he's got great work habits he worked hard he's big he's strong he's fast puts the fear of little guys especially when he would pull and 175 pound guy coming up and having to take on John Hannah I wouldn't want to do it you know I've read all kinds of surveys and such that read him the greatest offensive lineman in Pro history you agree I definitely agree John Hannah is a great one well he and his offensive teammates unfortunately had to take a back seat to the deep in the second half we'll be back with the third quarter in just a moment welcome back to bamas greatest games that tired and the Trojans at Los Angeles in 1971 balance on top at halftime 17 to 10 Jeff you talked a little bit earlier about the adjustments that you have to make and I'm sure Southern Cal made some I want to find out the the way coach Bryant treated halftime was he the guy that would come in and preach Hellfire and brimstone or was he kind of calm you never do how coach Brent was gonna be at halftime when you would be ahead you would think he was gonna come in say way to go good job that's the time he would come in and shoot ya then you'd come in and you'd be behind in the ballgame and you think he's gonna yell at some screen match and he'd say we've got him right where we want him you never knew what coach Bryant was gonna do at halftime but we made a lot of justments he had a great staff you'd get with them make the adjustments that had to be made and then you go out the second half and hopefully put those two to execution those adjustments was it coach Bryan handed those out or did he literally go to the offensive end defensive coaches pretty much left it up to the defensive than offensive coordinators to make those adjustments they would talk about it and then they'd come out and get with us and tell us what we had to do well let's see what kind of adjustments we have in the second half as we get to the third quarter with Bama leading the Trojans 17 to 10 starting the second half Trojans taking the kickoff and hittin gets it one yard deep it brings it out and the appropriately named blitz knocks him down at the 21 quick look at first half stats first downs Bama 13 SC 10 on the ground tide has 195 yards Trojans 104 through the air Bama with 40 and SC with 57 Cunningham is 25 of those rushing yards he adds three more Harris leads the Trojans with 60 80 rips off right tackle 17 yards later it's Rousey and Higginbotham to bring him down for the 11th time in a game Cunningham with the ball this time gets four to the 45 goes with Harris again but only three for the speeds typical that stop by Strickland on third down Cunningham gets the call sir 'less makes a good open field tackle but it's first down SC at the Bama 48 now Jones goes up top de Morgan for 10 yards and a first down at the tied 38 what M escapes him from going further but bamas defense gets its backup whole right side stops him for a one-yard gain and he cross lead in the way and now the Alabama defense is looking for a turnover after all the Trojans have it down at the Bama 37 yard line he runs up rose to the right look Savannah gets the football back and on first down laboux edge three to his halftime total of 43 yards flipping penalty sets Bama back to the 15 so Davis decides to go to the air cherry looking at the flat gets it to Musso but look at the Trojans Willie Hall he slams him down for a loss of two on third down the option goes right labou gets the pitch out look at Joe go for 12 yards but he's gonna be short of the first down that brings get out for his first punt of the night unfortunately it goes off the side of his foot SC gets great field position at the tide 42 immediately Jones goes to Harris and he gets three at left tackle now Harris gets much more this time he shoots up the middle for 20 yards Williamson blitz stopped him at the 19 looks like the Trojans are headed for a store pens lon out flying to the right bank grinder Cunningham coming out of the putti it's Williams on the recovery for the tide Bama the ball at its own eight look at John Hannah lead great blocking and Paul Spivey goes for 11 yards out to the 19 from the i-formation Spivey tries again this time for only 2 now Bama is often self-destructs play goes left Davis goes right loses one their depth is 20 Davis runs the play again this time everybody's headed in the same direction but it's only a three yard game so gets back in for the punt this one goes 37 yards there's a fumble but Southern Cal gets it back at the 39 Jones still directing to the Trojan offense goes to Harris for three yards Hall hits him shoulder high Jones tries the left side but Williams is there for Bama knocking him out of bounds for a 1-yard loss on third down Jones wants to throw the football again but he gets great pressure has to run Patterson and David Watkins stop him short of the first down that brings spool we're on for another Trojan pun he gets away aloe liner but covers only 35 yards and Higginbotham is set to return his only putt of a day Scott's for a senior heads to the near sideline winds up with a 37 yard return he's finally brought down by who else but Sam Cunningham for the Trojans a bama has great field position but disaster strikes Davison the option tries to pitch to a mousou Kent Carter's there for SC to tip it away skip Thomas claims it for the Trojans SC's guilty of holding the penalty sets them back to their own 15-yard line Cunningham gets nine yards event penalty back he takes it right at right tackle that's John McKay sends in to call for a trick play Charlie young the end-around Watkins isn't fooled he hems and young and park house closes him out for a two-yard loss it's third and relatively short but quarterback ray decides to air it out the tie puts on pretty good pressure ray has two scrambled finally gets his fast what a young but look at Lanny Norris step in and bat it away it's punting time again for the Trojans this time Boulware gets off a 48 yard punt way downfield Williams gets the ball for Bama and starts looking for blockers Williams winds up getting 16 yards out to the 47 well the first time in the second half Musso gets the ball showing great balance Johnny gets eight in the Trojan territory whoo so showing us that all-american style again gives the hip takes it away and goes eight yards for a first down at the 37 Michelle you stopped for no gain on the last play of a scoreless third quarter it's Bama 17 Southern Cal 10 I think he could safely say defense took over in the third quarter of this football game it was just turnovers start becoming a major factor in it well I think you see on the wishbone side the bad part of the wishbone throw an interception you don't have a fumble on a pitch out and then they threw interceptions to us as well so the defense did take over I think you saw the adjustments we talked about at halftime on both ends and it showed on the defensive side well I wanted to go back and show one of Alabama's interceptions of a Southern Cal pass the reason I want to show it is because Jimmy Jones the quarterback very good quarterback for Southern California rolls out to his right and Robin park house does a great job of getting away from a blocker and he's coming out here and he's almost on top of him and Jon Vella just wipes him out got to be a defensive lineman's nightmare it is but I think you still have to say that he'll make the interception even though Park House gets leveled gentlemen sees the pressure feels the pressure and throws it up for grabs basically we've got some more great defense coming up in the fourth quarter so stay with us we're ready for the fourth quarter Bama and seven Cal Los Angeles 1971 Jeff when you go into the fourth quarter and in this case BAM is ahead 17 to 10 do you change your strategy the way you play offense I don't think you change the strategy but you better dominate the fourth quarter that's where the games are one in loss especially in close ballgames and if you know it's when every Alabama team when the fourth quarter comes around everybody's got that floor up in the air saying this is our quarter and this is where we're gonna win it that was obviously what Coach Bryant put in your mind over and over and over again but did you also practice to the point where there was so much endurance that you knew from just a physical standpoint you're gonna be able to play in the fourth quarter well we were well conditioned tense at Alabama I think that was responsibility went to coach Bryant for that and that's where we knew when fourth quarter came around we were going to be fresher than the other was it sort of from all the practices you had fourth quarter was a dream compared to all the workouts you look forward to being in that fourth quarter and you look forward to at the end of that game hopefully being on top well we're ready now for the final 50 minutes Bama and Southern Cal from 1971 starting the fourth quarter it's Musa who will get the first carry for the tide he takes the pitch out around right and it battled his way for four yards now Davis takes the option to the other side again to Moo so he's hid behind the line but manages to get away for a two-yard gain still Johnny's short of the first down so gets back the bun for the tide he gets it away a 31-yard of it goes out of the endzone from the 20 cutting it tries the right side it picks up three yards and now it's just about time for another great play by that stingy Bama defense backfield Jimmy Jones operate deface been five after the sack by Park House Jones pitches out the Hitmen on third down he manages only five yards and Bama is gonna get the ball back Boulware sails the punt for 43 and the tide has it at its own 43 on first down watts John Hannah pancake a Trojan defender gets back free for a five-yard pickup from the 48 Lou so takes it into seven Cal territory five yards close to a first down coach Bryant calls for a measurement change market close official Charlie Moffatt signals first down Bama at the Trojan 48 now it's the SC defense showing its strength keeping Davis from making the option pitch he settles for a two-yard loss again the Trojans come up with a stop back in the middle gets only a yard that brings up third down and Bama sit with a clipping penalty so it's back at its own 34 so Davis decides to keep it himself at right tackle he squirms and tries are but cannot get the first down so gets back in to kick it to the dangerous Wan politic it's coming down about the 25-yard line gets an Alabama bounce it picked up seven yards Juan returned it and the Trojans were in business at the Bama 28 Cunningham goes for four at left guard on second down Jeff beard and Jeff rouse he stack up Harris for only a yard personal foul pushes the Trojans back to the 33 so gray has to pass he wants to go to Swann but here's Park House to force him to throw early it goes incomplete now it's fourth down and Ray has to pass again he sees park house come in one more time secondary has his receivers covered so ray decides to run Strickland's there to stop him short for Bama and the tide takes over just six minutes to go in the ballgame Beck takes it right up the middle for two yards and now it's time for the Italian stallion drives it up he picked it back Oh Mirko getting with one tackler breaks another one and kicked it up to the 47 min of the 48 yard line finally pulling him down with Kent Carter and hip Thomas plays good for 19 yards by Musso and a first down at the 43 lebu tries the middle again and it's good for only a yard davus hooks up with mu so this time around right in Musa avoids a loss and literally drags Trojan defenders to a gain of 4 yards third and five Davis tries the middle gets only one and so get has to kick it to Swan again you recall he went 57 yards the last time he returned to punt not going to do it this time though because Marvin Baron and mu so are there to drop Swan and his tracks back at the Trojan six yard line seven Cal only three minutes to go a broken play but Jones gets five yards out to the 11 now Jones goes back to pass it's complete to hittin on the sideline Strickland forces him out of bounds at the 28 now a year ago it was Cunningham doing the number on Bama now it's Sam trying again he breaks through for 15 yards before Williams and Rousey can knock him down from the 43 Jones to Hinton he stacked up by Raul for a three-yard loss now Jones wants to go long but Mitchell almost takes his head off and the Trojan quarterback overthrows Etzel garrison at the Bama 10 that brings up a big third down and a big Bama defensive play is coming indeed it was Park House Gaza fumble Bama has it at the Trojan 36 minute 52 to go offense needs one first down Davis starts it with a three-yard pickup I'm thinking all the time in the world Beck gets it up the middle for for third and three it's Musso at center but he manages only one so on fourth down Bama goes for it Terry Davis calls his signal Southern Cal almost jumping outside get the roots are looser it's going to make that first sound that's the 25 yard line Johnny Musso fellow then parties will make the first down what a play and how about this one a quarterbacks favorite play Davis takes the snap drops to a knee his teammates are ready to give coach Frey a victory ride for they wanna buy drama and what a great football game we have witnessed tonight as the southern charges gallon and defeat thought off the field Alabama delirious and victory having turned the tide from a humiliation last year and done an absolutely magnificent job and Alabama kids are running off the field the holding up sale we're number one now that you've seen virtually every play of the 1971 Alabama Southern California game we wanted to replace some of the highlights of this one it's a game that Alabama dominated almost from the outset in fact the tide took the opening kickoff to a touchdown and it's the wishbone working to perfection Jeff definitely just the basic you take the play to the quarterback takes the ply to the end pitches the ball and Johnny just outruns them into the end zone great way to start the ballgame mousou 13 yards for the touchdown there now Bama had another Drive in the first quarter of its stall so Bill Davis came in and kicked the 27 yard er and then in the second quarter a 91 yard drive and Jeff that's what the wishbones known for it that definitely and that definitely takes something out of the defense to go 91 yards that defense was tired when the fourth quarter came around bamas defense and the other hand just was outstanding here's Jones being pressured by Park House who's going to get blindsided but the pressure was enough Jones downfield intercepted by Steve Higginbotham turnovers a huge huge role in this ball game Jeff definitely and that's what I think make the difference when the game was over well park house is one of the guys who made a major difference Robin known as the Pink Panther comes in on this play in the fourth quarter knocks the ball loose Terry Rowell's there to recover it it was a truly a great victory for Alabama 200 the coaching win for Coach Bryant pretty good way to give him a 58th birthday present definitely well the thing that I liked about this one Jeff is that one of the things that always impressed me about coach Bryant was his ability to change now he had to I guess he was persistent and sometimes kind of stubborn willing to change though a major change going into this season to go to the wishbone definitely a big gamble he had no clue if this was gonna work or not going in this ball game and if it doesn't work he's gonna get second-guessed yeah but coach Bryant being Coach Bryant it worked and it made him look like a genius it's a it's an offense that that stayed around for a while too very viable in Alabama this was 7179 Sugar Bowl you were still playing the wishbone was it what was the the reason it stuck around so long you couldn't stop it though the offenses could not stop the wishbone you might could stop the fullback that you might could stop the quarterback in the run of it but you couldn't stop all of them at the same time and if they did try to put 11 guys up on the line of scrimmage then it opened up the big blast play but it was this one in against Southern Cal seemed to be very vanilla very straight obviously refinements were at it was that one of the keys every year to is adding something new definitely I think this game because it was new they didn't want to try to put too much pressure on Terry Davis I think they were gonna give him a limited number of plays and just execute them properly then as the years go on the defense is you got to realize we're on the other side trying to figure out how to stop it so the offense had to come up with some more plays in that just goes with coaching and watching film and coming up with new things and the passing game became a much bigger part of the wishbone attack didn't definitely because like I said they put 11 guys up from the line of scrimmage within 8 yards you've one-on-one with a cornerback you know where you're going he doesn't quarterbacks dream and that's why when I play I would audible every chance I could when I had Ozzie Newsome out there one on one doggone right well Ozzie a great player a bunch of grapes who played for Alabama that's the key to the success the Crimson Tide's had down through the and the reason there have been so many great games thanks for being with us Jeff my pleasure thank you you thought for Jeff Rutledge I'm Tom Roberts thanks for joining us join us next time for one of bamas greatest games

Channel: Bama Rewind

Views: 25,017

Rating: 4.8068967 out of 5

Keywords: Alabama, Crimson, Tide, football, USC, Trojans, 1971, Bama's Greatest Games

Id: 3_Io2vokdGY

Length: 48min 42sec (2922 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 08 2016