The 1969 Alabama Crimson Tide football team (variously "Alabama", "UA" or "Bama") represented the University of Alabama in the 1969 NCAA University Division football season. It was the Crimson Tide's 75th overall and 36th season as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The team was led by head coach Bear Bryant, in his 12th year, and played their home games at Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa and Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama. They finished season with six wins and five losses (6–5 overall, 2–4 in the SEC) and with a loss against Colorado in the Liberty Bowl.
Alabama opened the season ranked No. 13 and defeated VPI at Blacksburg and in the first regular season game played at Denny Stadium on AstroTurf. In their third game, the Crimson Tide defeated an Archie Manning led Ole Miss squad 33–32 in a record-breaking game before a nationally televised audience. Alabama then lost consecutive game for the first time during Bryant's tenure as head coach against Vanderbilt and Tennessee.
After their loss to Tennessee, Alabama rebounded with victories at Clemson and at Mississippi State before they lost their third game of the season at LSU. They rebounded the next week with a homecoming victory over Miami but then lost to Auburn in the Iron Bowl. In the December that followed, Alabama lost 47–33 to Colorado in the Liberty Bowl.
The 1969 season marked the 100th anniversary of the start of college football, and as such Alabama commemorated the event by altering their helmet design. Instead of the player number, the helmet for the 1969 season featured the number "100" inside a football to commemorate the anniversary of the first college football game.
Schedule
Game summaries
VPI
Sources:
To open the 1968 season, Alabama defeated the Virginia Tech (also then known as VPI) Gobblers 17–13 at Lane Stadium in a back-and-forth game between the teams. After VPI took an early 3–0 lead on a 19-yard Jack Simcsak field goal, Alabama responded later in the first with a 40-yard Richard Ciemny field goal that tied the game 3–3. Alabama then took a 10–3 lead on a one-yard Johnny Musso touchdown run in the second quarter. The Hokies were then able to tie the game 10–10 at halftime with a five-yard Al Kincaid touchdown run.
In the third quarter, George Ranager scored what was the game-winning touchdown on a 10-yard run and a 45-yard Simcsak field goal in the fourth provided for the final margin in the 17–13 Crimson Tide victory. The 42,000 in attendance was the largest crowd to date to witness a football game in the commonwealth of Virginia and required the addition of 7,000 temporary seats to accommodate demand. The victory improved Alabama's all-time record against Virginia Tech to 5–0.
Southern Miss
Sources:
After their close victory over Virginia Tech, Alabama dropped into the No. 15 position in the AP Poll prior to their game against Southern Miss. In their home opener, Alabama defeated the Southerners 63–14 behind a ten-point rally in the fourth quarter. Alabama took a 9–0 first quarter lead on a five-yard Scott Hunter touchdown pass to Pete Jilleba and a 25-yard Richard Ciemny field goal. After Frank Johnston cut the Crimson Tide lead to 9–7 with his one-yard touchdown run, Alabama scored 26 second quarter points that extended their lead to 35–7 at halftime. The four second-quarter touchdowns were scored on runs of 11-yards by George Ranager, one-yard by Hunter, six-yards by Johnny Musso and nine-yards by Bubba Sawyer.
Alabama opened the third quarter with a two-yard Musso touchdown run, and then Southern scored their other touchdown on a six-yard Danny Palmer pass to Billy Mikel that made the score 42–14. The Crimson Tide then closed the game with a pair of Neb Hayden touchdown runs from one and four-yards and by Benny Rippetoe on a four-yard run that made the final score 63–14. The game was the first played on an AstroTurf surface between Denny Field opponents as it was installed during the previous spring. The victory improved Alabama's all-time record against Southern Miss to 11–2–1.
Ole Miss
Sources:
After their blowout victory over Southern Miss, Alabama retained their No. 15 position in the AP Poll prior to their game at Ole Miss. Before a nationally televised, prime time audience, Alabama defeated the Rebels 33–32 in an offensive shootout that saw the offenses combined to set one NCAA and nine SEC records. After the teams traded first-quarter touchdown runs of one-yard by Johnny Musso and two-yards by Archie Manning, Alabama took a 14–7 halftime lead on a 17-yard Bubba Sawyer touchdown run.