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1979 Alabama Crimson Tide football team

1979 Alabama Crimson Tide football
AlabamaFootballClassicLogo.png
Consensus national champion
SEC champion
Sugar Bowl champion
Sugar Bowl, W 24–9 vs. Arkansas
Conference Southeastern Conference
Ranking
Coaches No. 1
AP No. 1
1979 record 12–0 (6–0 SEC)
Head coach Bear Bryant (22nd year)
Offensive coordinator Mal Moore
Defensive coordinator Ken Donahue
Captain Don McNeal
Captain Steve Whitman
Home stadium Bryant–Denny Stadium
Legion Field
Seasons
← 1978
1980 →
1979 SEC football standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
#1 Alabama $ 6 – 0 – 0     12 – 0 – 0
Georgia 5 – 1 – 0     6 – 5 – 0
#16 Auburn 4 – 2 – 0     8 – 3 – 0
LSU 4 – 2 – 0     7 – 5 – 0
Tennessee 3 – 3 – 0     7 – 5 – 0
Kentucky 3 – 3 – 0     5 – 6 – 0
Ole Miss 3 – 3 – 0     4 – 7 – 0
Mississippi State 2 – 4 – 0     3 – 8 – 0
Vanderbilt 0 – 6 – 0     1 – 10 – 0
Florida 0 – 6 – 0     0 – 10 – 1
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1 2 3 4 Total
• #2 Alabama 6 6 15 3 30
Georgia Tech 0 0 0 6 6
  • Date: September 8
  • Location: Grant Field
    Atlanta, GA
  • Game attendance: 57,621
  • Sources:
1 2 3 4 Total
Baylor 0 0 0 0 0
• #2 Alabama 6 8 3 28 45
  • Date: September 22
  • Location: Legion Field
    Birmingham, AL
  • Game attendance: 77,512
  • Sources:
1 2 3 4 Total
• #2 Alabama 14 18 13 21 66
Vanderbilt 0 3 0 0 3
  • Date: September 29
  • Location: Dudley Field
    Nashville, TN
  • Game attendance: 34,694
  • Sources:
1 2 3 4 Total
Wichita State 0 0 0 0 0
• #2 Alabama 14 14 7 3 38
  • Date: October 6
  • Location: Bryant–Denny Stadium
    Tuscaloosa, AL
  • Game attendance: 55,068
  • Sources:

The 1979 Alabama Crimson Tide football team (variously "Alabama", "UA" or "Bama") represented the University of Alabama in the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season. It was the Crimson Tide's 85th overall and 46th season as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The team was led by head coach Bear Bryant, in his 22nd year, and played their home games at Bryant–Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa and Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama. They finished the season undefeated (12–0 overall, 6–0 in the SEC) and with a victory over Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl. For their collective efforts, the Crimson Tide were recognized as consensus national champions for the 1979 season.

In 1979 the Alabama Crimson Tide capped off a decade of remarkable success with the program's seventh perfect season in college history after 1925, 1930, 1934, 1945, 1961, and 1966 (discounting the 1897 “season” in which Bama played and won only one game). The Tide defense recorded five shutouts and allowed only two teams to score in double digits. The offense scored thirty points or more seven times.

Despite this dominance Alabama had three close calls. Against Tennessee on October 20, Alabama fell behind 17–0 in the second quarter before rallying to win 27–17. Three weeks later, against LSU, all the Tide offense could scrape up was a single field goal, but it was enough to win 3–0. In the regular season finale against Auburn, after leading 14–3 at the half Alabama let Auburn take an 18–17 fourth quarter lead before winning 25–18. The Auburn and Tennessee games were the only two times in the 1979 season that Alabama trailed. A 24–9 victory over Arkansas capped a 12–0 season and a unanimous national championship, Alabama’s sixth wire service national title.


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