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| Alabama head coach Bear Bryant got his 315th career win in the 1981 Iron Bowl. |
But in 1981, there was an historic significance to the game as Alabama head coach Paul "Bear" Bryant had a chance to break to Amos Alonzo Stagg's record over most wins as a head coach at the FBS level if his 8-1-1 Crimson Tide could knock off the 5-5 Tigers.
Bryant's head coaching career began in 1945 at the University of Maryland where he complied a 6-2-1 record in his first and only season as the Terrapins head coach before moving on to the Bluegrass state where he became the head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats.
In his eight years at Lexington, Bryant went 60-23-6 and lead the Wildcats to the SEC Championship in 1950, which earned them an invitation to the Sugar Bowl where they knocked off the #1 Oklahoma Sooners 13-7.
Following his stint with the Wildcats, Bryant went down to Texas to become the head coach of the Texas A&M Aggies where he went 25-14-2 over four seasons before coming home to his alma mater at Alabama where he lead the Tide to six national championships before his date with destiny on November 29, 1981 at Legion Field in Birmingham.
Standing in his way were the Auburn Tigers, who had not defeated the Tide since the famous "Punt, Bama, Punt" game in 1972 as they were led by first-year head coach Pat Dye, who was hoping to put an end to the Tigers' eight-game losing streak in the series.
The Tide got the ball to start the game but were forced to punt back to Auburn who would take over at the Alabama 13-yard-line following Chuck Clanton's 55-yard punt return.
Three plays picked up only five yards forcing the Tigers to call on Al Del Greco to kick a 25-yard field goal, only to have the kick sail wide right and no good to keep the game scoreless.
After the ball was moved up to the Alabama 20-yard-line because Del Greco missed a field goal from inside the 20-yard-line, Tide quarterback Alan Gray would keep the ball and run 63 yards to the Auburn 17-yard-line.
Six plays later, Gray punched it in for an one-yard touchdown to give Alabama a 7-0 lead with 8:02 left in the first quarter.
Following an exchange of punts, the Tigers drove from their 30-yard-line to the Alabama eight-yard-line thanks in large part to a pair of receptions by tight end Ed West which totaled 43 yards.
But on 1st & goal from the eight-yard-line, Auburn quarterback Ken Hobby threw an interception as he was picked off in the end zone by Alabama defensive back Tommy Wilcox to give the Tide the ball back at their 20-yard-line with 22 seconds left in the opening period.
As the game went into the second quarter, the Tigers would force another punt to get the ball back at their 49-yard-line and drive to the Crimson Tide 26-yard-line before calling on Del Greco to attempt a 43-yard field goal.
But once again, Del Greco's kick sailed wide right and no good keeping it 7-0 in favor of the Tide.
From there the game would turn into an exchange of punts until Auburn running back George Peoples run off tackle and outrun the Alabama defense for a 63-yard touchdown to tie the game at 7 with 3:47 left in the first half.
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| Auburn running back George Peoples carried the ball 26 times for 155 yards and scored a touchdown. |
It didn't take long for the Tigers to get the ball back as Gray fumbled the football on the Tide's next play from scrimmage, leading to a recovery by Auburn defensive end Zac Hardy at the Alabama 10-yard-line.
Three straight runs picked up five yards, setting up another field goal opportunity for Del Greco as he would attempt a 22-yard field goal.
But for the third time in the first half, the Tigers failed to pick up points off a field goal as holder Joe Sullivan bobbled the snap leading to mad scramble which ended with Sullivan intentionally grounded the ball to give Alabama possession at their 25-yard-line.
As the Tide offense came back onto the field, they would have a new signal caller as sophomore Walter Lewis came in to replace Gray at quarterback.
Lewis got the Alabama offense going until he was picked off by Auburn free safety Mark Dorminey to give the Tigers the ball back at their own 23-yard-line.
Three straight incomplete passes by the Tigers brought the first half to an end with the game tied at 7 and Auburn getting the ball to start the second half.
However, the Tigers would be forced to punt it away to Alabama who took over at their 45-yard-line when Bryant sent in his third quarterback of the game in junior Ken Coley.
Coley would help lead the Tide on a nine-play, 55-yard drive which was capped off with a touchdown as Coley threw a shovel pass to wide receiver Jesse Bendross, who took it 26 yards to the house to give Alabama a 14-7 lead with 9:58 left in the third quarter.
The Tide were poised to get the ball back as their defense forced the Tigers to punt the ball, only to have returner Joey Jones fumble the ball at his own 40-yard-line, leading to the ball being bounced back to the Alabama two-yard-line until it was recovered by Clanton to give Auburn a 1st & goal.
The Tigers would punch it in on 2nd & goal as Lionel James raced around the left side for the two-yard touchdown to tie the game 14-14 midway through the third quarter.
After an Alabama punt on its ensuing possession, the two teams would trade turnovers as Hobby would throw his second interception of the game as Alabama defensive back Benny Perrin came up with the pick at the Crimson Tide 35-yard-line, only to have the Tide turn it over themselves as running back Mickey Guinyard fumbled the football which was recovered by Auburn cornerback Tim Drinkard at the Tigers' 33-yard-line.
The Tide defense forced an Auburn punt, only to fumble the ball for the third time in the third quarter as Jones bobbled another punt which was recovered Mike Hicks at the Alabama 33-yard-line.
Auburn would drive to the Alabama two-yard-line before calling on Del Greco again to attempt another chip shot field goal.
This time, Del Greco was successful as his 19-yard field goal gave the Tigers their first lead of the game at 17-14 with 13:02 left in the game.
The Tide would take over at their 25-yard-line and would drive 75 yards in seven plays culminating with a 38-yard touchdown pass from Lewis to Bendross to give Alabama a 21-17 lead with 10:19 remaining.
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| Alabama wide receiver Jesse Bendross only caught three passes for 76 yards, but two of them were for touchdowns. |
After forcing a three-and-out, the Tide would get the ball at the Auburn 49-yard-line when Linnie Patrick made his presence felt on the ensuing Alabama possession.
On the first play of the drive, Patrick would get outside and ran for 32 yards to the Auburn 17-yard-line.
Then after Ken Fagan ran for two yards, Patrick would break through tackles for a 15-yard touchdown to increase the Crimson Tide's lead to 28-17 with 7:07 to go in the game.
Following an exchange of punts, the Tigers would put together one last drive to pull off a miracle as they drove to the Alabama 26-yard-line until Hobby was picked off for the third time in the game as Perrin made his second interception of the game as he returned the pick 37 yards to the Crimson Tide 44-yard-line, allowing for Alabama to run out the clock and secure Bryant's 315th career victory as the Tide won the 1981 Iron Bowl 28-17.
While the loss gave Auburn a second straight 5-6 season, brighter days would be ahead for the Tigers starting with the arrival of running back Bo Jackson, who went over the top for the game-winning touchdown in the '82 Iron Bowl to end the Tigers' nine-game losing streak in the series.
In fact, during Dye's time at Auburn the Tigers would comply a 6-6 record in the rivalry including a four-game winning streak from 1986-89 as Dye would lead Auburn to four SEC championships and 99 wins in his 12 seasons at the Plains.
As for Bryant, he would lead the Crimson Tide to the Cotton Bowl where they fell to Texas 14-12 to finish the season with a 9-2-1 record.
Bryant would add eight more wins to his record as he retired following the Crimson Tide's 21-15 win over Illinois in the 1982 Liberty Bowl, then dying just one month later at the age of 69.
Bryant would remain the all-time winningest coach in FBS history until 2001 when Joe Paterno won his 324th game when his Penn State Nittany Lions defeated the Ohio State Buckeyes 29-27 victory.
Currently, Bryant ranks third at the FBS level and eighth when you combine all the divisions of college football with his 324-85-17 record.
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