 |
| The scoreboard after the Bulldogs' historic upset over #1 Alabama in 1980. |
Even though they have played over 100 times, the football rivalry between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Mississippi State Bulldogs is lopsided in the favor of the Tide as they have nearly 80% of the games they have been played.
So when Mississippi State beats Alabama, it is a huge deal to Mississippi State football fans.
That was the case in 1980 when the Bulldogs hosted the Tide on November 1st in Jackson, Mississippi.
The Tide were the two-time defending national champions and came into the game ranked #1 in the country with a 7-0 record in hopes of winning an unprecedented third straight national title.
Alabama was led by head coach Paul "Bear" Bryant who was in his 23rd season as the head coach of the Crimson Tide having won six national championships and 12 SEC championships during his tenure in Tuscaloosa.
The Tide were powered by a wishbone offense that averaged 425 yards per game and 36.7 points per game while their defense had allowed only 58 points during the season with 35 of those coming in one game when the Tide defeated Ole Miss 59-35 back in September.
Having won their previous 28 games, the Crimson Tide were heavy favorites as they traveled to Mississippi to take on the Bulldogs, who were having one of their best seasons in recent memory as they entered the Alabama game with a 6-2 record in hopes of getting to a bowl game.
The Bulldogs were coached by Emery Bellard, who was in his second season in Starkville after spending six and a half seasons in College Station as coach of the Texas A&M Aggies which he led to 48 wins during his run with the Aggies.
Bellard was the one who invented the wishbone offense, a offense that was predicated on the run with a three running back formation plus a running quarterback, which he helped led the Texas Longhorns to back-to-back national championships in 1969 + 70 as offensive coordinator before his tenure as Texas A&M head coach and Mississippi State head coach.
While the Bulldogs had improved from their 3-8 season in 1979, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that would lose to the Crimson Tide, especially since the last Mississippi State beat Alabama was back in 1957, the year before Bear Bryant became the Alabama head coach.
Even though the game was not played in Starkville, the Bulldogs still figure to have a home field advantage at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium in Jackson as Bulldog fans brought their cowbells in hopes of seeing Mississippi State shocking the world.
 |
| Mississippi State quarterback John Bond would be the game's leading rusher with 94 yards on 20 carries. |
After both teams punted on their opening possessions of the game, the Bulldogs got the ball at their 20-yard-line and drove to midfield until Mississippi State running back Michael Haddix fumbled the football, which was recovered by Alabama linebacker Tommy Boyd at the 50-yard-line.
The Tide seemed poised to put the first points on the scoreboard as they were able to drive to the Mississippi State 23-yard-line until they fumbled the football Bulldogs strong safety Rob Fesmire broke into the backfield and forced quarterback Don Jacobs to toss a bad pitch to Oglive.
The loose ball was recovered by defensive tackle Tyrone Keyes to give the Bulldogs the ball at their 18-yard-line.
The Bulldogs would drive again to midfield but would be stopped by the Alabama defense to force a punt, giving the Tide the ball at their 23-yard-line when after a nine-yard-run by backup quarterback Ken Coley, Jeff Fagan fumbled the football which was recovered by the Bulldogs at the Alabama 37-yard-line.
The Bulldogs picked up five yards on the next two plays to set up 3rd & 5 as the second quarter began only to have Haddix be dropped for a seven-yard-loss by Alabama linebacker E.J. Junior, forcing Mississippi State to punt the ball away.
The Tide would pick up one 1st down before punting the ball back to the Bulldogs who took over at their 35-yard-line when they put together their best drive of the first half.
After the first two plays picked up zero yards, Bulldogs quarterback John Bond completed his first pass of the game on 3rd & 10 as he hit David Ellis for a 11-yard gain and a 1st down at the Mississippi State 46-yard-line.
Bond would keep it on the ground on the next play as he ran for 17 yards and another Mississippi State 1st down at the Alabama 37-yard-line.
Bond would run the ball three more times for 15 yards as the Bulldogs would drive to the Alabama 15-yard-line when on 3rd & 5, Bond tried to hit Ellis in the end zone, but was intercepted by Tide strong safety Ricky Tucker to kill the drive and give the football back to the Crimson Tide at their 20-yard-line.
Following another exchange of punts, the Tide got the ball at their 14-yard-line and were only able to drive seven yards before punting the ball again with 34 seconds to go before halftime.
But Mardyle McDole would muff the punt leading to a fumble that was recovered by Alabama defensive end Mike Pitts to give the Tide the ball at the Mississippi State 35-yard-line with 25 seconds left in the first half and a chance to get on the scoreboard.
The Tide could only muster three yards on the next three plays forcing the Tide to attempt a 49-yard field goal by Peter Kim, which he made as time expired in the first half with Alabama on top 3-0.
The Tide would get the ball to start the second half as they took over at their 20-yard-line and ran the ball two straight times, picking up 13 yards until Alan Gray, the Tide's third quarterback, fumbled the football after a hit by Keys, which was recovered by Mississippi State defensive back Willie Jackson to give the Bulldogs the ball at the Alabama 29-yard-line.
A pair of runs by Donald Ray King picked up 10 yards and a 1st down until the Alabama defense stiffened as they held the Bulldogs to minus one yard on the next three plays, forcing to call on Dana Moore to attempt a 37-yard field goal, which sailed through the uprights to tie the game at 3 with 11:59 left in the third quarter.
Both teams would trade punts until the Bulldogs got the ball at their 28-yard-line when they would run 12 straight running plays for 67 yards with Bond being the leading rusher as he kept himself six times for 41 yards as he picked up four 1st downs on the drive which ended with a 22-yard field goal by Moore to give Mississippi State a 6-3 lead with 13:40 left in the 4th quarter.
 |
| Mississippi State kicker Dana Moore would be responsible for all six of the Bulldogs' points |
The Tide looked to get their offense going on their next possession as they took over at their 30-yard-line when after a two-yard run, Jacobs completed his first pass of the day, a nine-yarder to wide receiver Jessie Bendross for a 1st down at the Alabama 41-yard-line.
Two more running plays would pick up eight yards to set up 3rd & 2 when Coley came back in into the game as Jacobs went out with an injury, only to be stopped for no gain by Bulldogs defensive end Billy Jackson to force an Alabama punt.
It seemed like the Bulldogs had the momentum especially when Bond ran for 19 yards to give Mississippi State a 1st down at its 40-yard-line, only to have the quarterback fumble the football two plays later to give it right back to the Tide as Alabama free safety Jim Bob Harris recovered the fumble at the Bulldogs' 44-yard-line with 9:20 left in the game.
Three plays would net seven yards to set up 4th & 3 from the Mississippi State 37-yard-line when Bryant decided to go for the 1st down, only to have Jacobs, who was back in at quarterback, be sacked by Bulldogs linebacker John Miller to force a turnover on downs and give the Bulldogs the football at the Mississippi State 40-yard-line with 7:40 remaining.
A 15-yard face mask penalty on the Tide gave Mississippi State a 1st down at the Alabama 44-yard-line when five straight running plays by the Bulldogs picked up 17 yards and set up 3rd & 4 at the Alabama 27-yard-line.
That is when the Bulldogs got called for a delay of game which pushed them back five yards to the Tide 32-yard-line to make it 3rd & 9 when Danny Knight was stopped for no gain to set up 4th & 9.
Ballard called on Moore to kick a 48-yard-field goal in hopes of making a six-point lead and forcing the Tide to drive for a touchdown to win the game, but Moore's kick was blocked by Pitts and recovered by the Crimson Tide at the Mississippi State 47-yard-line with 2:14 left in the game, giving the Tide a chance to salvage a tie or win the game.
The drive got off to an auspicious start as Jacobs was dropped for a three-yard-loss on 1st down, then for seven yards on 2nd down, to force 3rd & 20 from the Alabama 43-yard-line.
That is when Jacobs connected with Oglive for a 24-yard pass, the second completed pass of the game for the Tide, to give Alabama a 1st down at the Mississippi State 33-yard-line.
Jacobs would then connect with Bendross for 14 yards for another Alabama 1st down at the Bulldogs' 19-yard-line as the clock wound down to 25 seconds when Jacobs hit tight end Bart Kreut for 15 yards to set up 1st & goal at the four-yard-line.
With no timeouts remaining, some thought Bryant would send in the field goal unit and kick a field goal to salvage a 6-6 tie since there was no overtime in college football in 1980, but Bryant kept his offense on the field and went for the win.
Jacobs would snap the ball with 14 seconds left and run to his right, hoping to toss the ball back to one of his running backs in hopes they would run into the end zone for the game-winning touchdown.
But Tyrone Keys would hit Jacobs before he pitched it back to jar the football loose which was recovered by Billy Jackson to give the ball to the Bulldogs at their two-yard-line with six seconds to go.
The over 50,000 fans were in a frenzy as it looked like the Bulldogs had pulled off the upset as they needed to do was take a knee to run out the clock.
That is when almost every Mississippi State fan and player had got a lump in their throats when Bond fumbled the snap from center which if Alabama recovered in the end zone would count for the game-winning touchdown.
However, King recovered the ball for the Bulldogs at the one-yard-line, allowing the clock to run out as Mississippi State had pulled off the 6-3 upset over #1 Alabama, the first time the Bulldogs had beaten the Crimson Tide since 1957 and ending the Tide's 28-game winning streak.
Mississippi State fans would rush the field and tear down the goalposts to celebrate the Bulldogs' historic victory as Bryant would congratulate the Bulldogs by coming into their locker room following the game.
 |
| Alabama head coach Bear Bryant would lose to Mississippi State for the first and only time during his 25 years as the head coach of the Crimson Tide. |
The Tide would end up finishing the season with a 10-2 record as a 7-0 loss to Notre Dame two weeks after their shocking loss to Mississippi State ended their hopes of a third straight national championship.
The Tide would finish the season with a 30-2 win over Baylor in the Cotton Bowl to finish with a #6 ranking in both the AP and coaches polls.
As for the Bulldogs, they would go on to knock off LSU 55-31 and then beat Ole Miss 19-14 in the "Egg Bowl" to finish the regular season with a 9-2 record, good enough to earn them an invitation to the Sun Bowl where they faced the Nebraska Cornhuskers with a chance for a 10-win season which would be the first in 40 years for the Bulldogs.
However, the Bulldogs would fall to the Huskers 31-17 in the Sun Bowl to finish with a 9-3 record and #19 ranking in the AP poll.
But when Mississippi State fans think of the 1980 football season, the first thing that comes into their minds is when they beat #1 Alabama.
No comments:
Post a Comment