Coaches No. 7 1967 record 8–2–1 (5–1 SEC) | AP No. 8 Captain Ken Stabler | |
Conference Southeastern Conference Head coach Bear Bryant (10th year) | ||
The 1967 Alabama Crimson Tide football team (variously "Alabama", "UA" or "Bama") represented the University of Alabama in the 1967 college football season. It was the Crimson Tide's 73rd overall and 34th season as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The team was led by head coach Bear Bryant, in his 10th year, and played their home games at Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Legion Field in Birmingham and Ladd Stadium in Mobile, Alabama. They finished season with eight wins, two losses and one tie (8–2–1 overall, 5–1 in the SEC) and with a loss against Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl Classic.
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During the spring practice sessions, five African American students attempted to walk-on to the football team. Two of the five, Dock Rone and Andrew Pernell participated in the annual A-Day Game. Although none of the five made it to the varsity squad, their participation as part of the team marked the beginnings of the desegregation of the football program that culminated in the signing of Wilbur Jackson to an athletic scholarship in 1970.
Alabama opened the season ranked #2, but tied unranked Florida State at Birmingham in a game that snapped a 17-game winning streak and surprised many pundits. They rebounded from the tie with victories over Southern Miss in their annual Mobile game, Ole Miss in their first conference game and Vanderbilt in their first road game of the season. In their fifth game against Tennessee, Alabama was defeated 24–13 at Legion Field. The defeat ended a 25-game unbeaten streak for the Crimson Tide that dated back to the 1965 season and was the first for the Volunteers over Alabama since their 1960 season.
After their loss to Tennessee, Alabama again rebounded and won their final five regular season games. After they defeated Clemson at Memorial Stadium, they returned to Tuscaloosa where they defeated Mississippi State on homecoming. The Crimson Tide next defeated LSU at Tiger Stadium, South Carolina in Tuscaloosa, and Auburn in the Iron Bowl after Ken Stabler had his famous, 47-yard "run in the mud" touchdown to win the game. In the January that followed, Alabama lost to Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl Classic.
Desegregation
Although the University was officially desegregated in summer 1963, full integration of the athletic teams did not occur at that time. By spring 1967, the athletic program was warned by the Office of Education that the lack of African Americans under athletic scholarship was a violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In February 1967, Dock Rone, an African American student enrolled at the University from Montgomery, met with coach Bryant about potentially trying to make the football team as a walk-on. At that time Bryant believed a non-scholarship, African American walk-on would help pave the way to complete integration of the football team.
On April 1, the football team opened their spring practice, and at that time Rone became the first African American to wear the Alabama uniform. At that time, an additional four African American students reported to practice, but were unable to participate at that time as they had not yet been academically cleared to play. These four other African American students that reported were Melvin Leverett of Prichard, Arthur Dunning of Mobile, Andrew Pernell of Bessemer and Jerome Tucker of Birmingham. By the second practice all except for Tucker were declared academically eligible to compete on the football squad and joined the team on April 3.
Throughout spring practice, Rone played as an offensive lineman and Leverett, Dunning and Pernell played as backs. On May 5, Rone and Pernell participated in the annual A-Day Game and became the first African American players to play at Denny Stadium as members of the Crimson Tide football team. Although Rone was on track to potentially become the first African American player on scholarship at Alabama, in the summer that followed family problems forced him to leave school. Three years later, Wilbur Jackson became the first African American to sign and play under athletic scholarship for the Alabama football team.
Schedule
NFL Draft
Several players that were varsity lettermen from the 1967 squad were drafted into the National Football League (NFL) between the 1968 and 1969 drafts. These players included the following:
Freshman squad
Prior to the 1972 college football season, NCAA rules prohibited freshmen from participating on the varsity team, and as such many schools fielded freshmen teams. The Alabama freshmen squad was led by coach Clem Gryska for the 1967 season and finished with a record of three wins and one loss (3–1). The Baby Tide opened their season with a 34–14 victory over Mississippi State at Scott Field. On the first play of the game, Frank Mann threw a 63-yard touchdown pass to George Ranager for a 6–0 lead, and later in the first Roger Crowson scored on a 23-yard run that extended the Baby Tide lead to 13–0. State then scored their first touchdown in the final 0:30 of the quarter on a nine-yard Joe Joy touchdown catch that made the score 13–6. After a scoreless second, in the third Bill Ragle scored for Alabama on a 15-yard run followed by Cam Walker on a two-yard run that extended their lead to 27–6. The game came to a close with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns. First Tommy Weigand scored on a six-yard run for Alabama and this was followed with a 53-yard David Smith touchdown pass for State that made the final score 34–14.
In their second game, the Alabama freshmen lost their only game of the season at home against Ole Miss 21–2. After a scoreless first quarter, the Rebels took a 7–0 lead in the second on a 31-yard pass from Don Farrar to Floyd Franks. Ole Miss still led into the fourth quarter when Alabama scored their only points on a safety when Gene Gellerstedt blocked a Rebels punt out of the endzone. Randy Reed responded with the final tow touchdowns of the game first on a recovered fumble and the second on a one-yard run for the 21–2 victory.
At Knoxville, Alabama defeated the Tennessee freshmen 7–3 for their third consecutive victory over the Volunteers. George Hunt scored for the Vols at the end of the second quarter on a 33-yard field goal and Alabama responded in the third on a 55-yard Benny Rippetoe touchdown pass to George Ranager for the 7–3 victory. At Cliff Hare Stadium, Alabama scored all of their points in a span of 1:34 of the first quarter and held on to win 14–6 at Auburn. The Baby Tide scored first on a 55-yard Benny Rippetoe touchdown pass to George Ranager and was followed with a block of a Roy Davis punt by Rod Steakley that was returned by Hal Willcutt for a 14–0 Alabama lead. Mac Crawford scored the only points for Auburn late in the fourth quarter on his one-yard run that made the final score 14–6.