1970 record 6–5–1 (3–4 SEC) Captain Dave Brungard | Captain Danny Gilbert | |
Conference Southeastern Conference Head coach Bear Bryant (13th year) Home stadium Denny Stadium
Legion Field | ||
The 1970 Alabama Crimson Tide football team (variously "Alabama", "UA" or "Bama") represented the University of Alabama in the 1970 college football season. It was the Crimson Tide's 76th overall and 37th season as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The team was led by head coach Bear Bryant, in his 13th year, and played their home games at Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa and Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama. They finished season with six wins five losses and one tie (6–5–1 overall, 3–4 in the SEC) and with a tie against Oklahoma in the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl.
Contents
As a result of a newly enacted rule by the NCAA that allowed teams to schedule an eleventh regular season game, Alabama opened the season against USC. Led by Sam Cunningham, the Trojans defeated the Crimson Tide 42–21 at Legion Field to open the season. Alabama rebounded from the loss and defeated Virginia Tech and Florida in consecutive games that set up a top-twenty match-up against Ole Miss. Led by Archie Manning, the Rebels defeated the Crimson Tide 48–23 after a 22-point fourth quarter at Jackson.
Alabama defeated Vanderbilt in their next game, but then were shut out for the first time since their 1959 season with a 24–0 loss at Tennessee. They again rebounded with a pair of consecutive victories. The first was against Houston, in what was also the first game Alabama played indoors, and the second on homecoming against Mississippi State. After a loss to LSU, the Crimson Tide defeated Miami in their final road game of the season. The win also made Alabama bowl-eligible, and as such an invitation to play Oklahoma in the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl was accepted in the week leading to the Iron Bowl. Against Auburn, the Crimson tide surrendered a 17-point lead and closed the regular season with a 33–28 loss to their rival. A month later, Alabama ended their season with a 24–24 tie against the Sooners.
The 1970 season is also notable for being the first fully integrated team at Alabama. Although several African American students competed during spring practice in 1967, Wilbur Jackson became the first African American awarded a scholarship to play for Alabama, and he competed as a member of the freshman squad in 1970.
Schedule
NFL Draft
Several players that were varsity lettermen from the 1970 squad were drafted into the National Football League (NFL) in the 1971, 1972 and 1973 drafts. These players included:
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 1970 season and finished undefeated with a record of five wins and zero losses (5–0). The 1970 squad was notable as the team included Wilbur Jackson, the first African American to compete on scholarship for the Crimson Tide.
The Baby Tide opened their season on a Monday afternoon with a 24–7 victory over Mississippi State at Denny Stadium. After Alabama scored their first points on a 28-yard Paul Spivey touchdown run, State responded with their only points on a 27-yard Paul Millsaps touchdown pass to Bill Buckley that made the score 7–7 at the end of the first quarter. The Baby Tide responded with a 34-yard Greg Gantt field goal in the second and took a 10–7 halftime lead. Alabama closed the game with touchdowns on a one-yard David McMakin run in the third and a ten-yard Mike Harter run in the fourth quarter. Wilbur Jackson saw limited playing time only on special teams due to an ankle injury and the Bulldogs had six turnovers in the loss. In their second contest, Alabama defeated Vanderbilt 38–7 at Dudley Field in Nashville. Paul Spivey starred for the Baby Tide in the game with four touchdowns and 112 rushing yards on 20 carries in the victory.
Against Ole Miss, Alabama rallied from a 20-point, first quarter deficit and defeated the Rebels 41–28 at Oxford. The Rebels took their 20–0 on a trio of touchdowns scored by Mickey Fratesi when he returned the opening kickoff 100-yards and on touchdown runs 11-yards by Gene Allen and one-yard by Fratesi. Alabama responded in the second with Paul Spivey touchdown runs of 19 and 12-yards that made the halftime score 20–14. They then took a 21–20 lead early in the third after Gary Rutledge threw a 37-yard touchdown pass to Geary Eason. Touchdown runs of seven-yards by Richard Bryan and four-yards by Rutledge extended the Alabama lead to 35–20 at the end of the third quarter. After Alabama scored their final points on a 22-yard Mike Harter touchdown run, Ole Miss made the final score 41–28 after they had a safety and scored on a 31-yard Kenny Lyons touchdown pass to Danny Harris.
Against Tennessee, the Baby Tide won 28–20 behind a strong performance by defensive back Jimmy Dawson. The game was tied 7–7 at halftime after Paul Spivey scored on a two-yard run in the first for Alabama and Chip Howard threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to Steve Chancey in the second quarter for Tennessee. After the teams traded touchdowns in the third quarter, and Gary Rutledge went on and scored the game-winning touchdown on a short run with just over one minute left in the game for the 28–20 victory. Alabama then closed the season with a 9–3 victory over rival Auburn before 7,000 fans at Denny Stadium. After the teams traded first half field goals, Gary Rutledge scored the game-winning touchdown on a five-yard run in the fourth quarter.