Coaches No. 2 1971 record 11–1 (7–0 SEC) | AP No. 4 Captain Johnny Musso | |
Conference Southeastern Conference Head coach Bear Bryant (14th year) | ||
The 1971 Alabama Crimson Tide football team (variously "Alabama", "UA" or "Bama") represented the University of Alabama in the 1971 college football season. It was the Crimson Tide's 77th overall and 38th season as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The team was led by head coach Bear Bryant, in his 14th year, and played their home games at Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa and Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama. They finished season with eleven wins and one loss (11–1 overall, 7–0 in the SEC), as SEC champions and with a loss to Nebraska in the Orange Bowl.
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The 1971 squad was notable for a pair of firsts in Alabama football history. This was the first team that African Americans contributed as members of the Alabama varsity squad, with John Mitchell being the first to actually see playing time. 1971 also marked the first season the Crimson Tide utilized the wishbone offense that Alabama became noted for throughout the remainder of Bryant's tenure as head coach at Alabama.
Alabama opened the season with an upset victory at USC. This was the first game that the wishbone was utilized by the Crimson Tide offense, and their victory was attributed in part to surprising the Trojans with its introduction. They then won their next four games over Southern Miss, Florida, Ole Miss and Vanderbilt and set up a top 20 match-up against Tennessee. In their rival game, the Crimson Tide ended a four-game losing streak to the Vols with their 32–15 victory. After a hard-fought win over Houston and victory over Mississippi State at Jackson, Alabama defeated LSU for their third win over a ranked team on the season.
The Crimson Tide next defeated Miami on homecoming and set up a match-up between undefeated teams for the first time in the history of the Iron Bowl to close the regular season. With both teams ranked in the top five, Alabama defeated Auburn 31–7 and captured the outright SEC football championship. However, they were unable to capture a national championship as they were defeated by No. 1 Nebraska 38–6 to close the season in the Orange Bowl.
Integration
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 and played for the varsity team in 1971. For the 1971 season, John Mitchell became the first African American to play on the varsity squad for the Crimson Tide during the regular season after he transferred from Eastern Arizona College.
Wishbone offense
In 1968, Texas head coach Darrell Royal and his offensive coordinator Emory Bellard introduced what would become known as the wishbone offense. The wishbone was derived from the Split-T offense run at Oklahoma under Bud Wilkinson. In the formation, the quarterback lines up with a fullback and two tailbacks behind him, and on any play may keep the ball, hand off to the fullback, or pitch to a tailback. From the time Bryant arrived at Alabama through the 1970 season, the Crimson Tide ran a pro-style offense. By 1969, Bryant began to recruit larger linemen and tailbacks, and after a pair of six win seasons in 1969 and 1970, Bryant saw the success of the wishbone for the Longhorns and decided to implement the offense for the 1971 season. In spring 1971, Alabama assistants Mal Moore and Jimmy Sharpe traveled to Austin where they saw first hand how the wishbone operated during Texas' final week of spring practice.
During the second summer session at the University, both Moore and Sharpe began to work with players on the offensive change, and in August Royal and Bellard traveled to Tuscaloosa and led a coaching clinic for the Alabama staff on the wishbone. In order to keep the change a secret, Bryant closed all of the Crimson Tide's practices closed from the public, screened the practice field from view with a canvas and hired security to keep people away. The change to the wishbone was kept under such secrecy that when the media would visit practice, Bryant had the team practice the pro-style system that was phased out. Alabama later opened the season with an upset victory over USC that was credited to the surprise switch to the wishbone that caught the Trojans off-guard.
Schedule
NFL Draft
Several players that were varsity lettermen from the 1971 squad were drafted into the National Football League (NFL) in the 1972, 1973 and 1974 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 1971 season and finished with a record of four wins and one loss (4–1). The Baby Tide opened the season with a 28–23 victory over Navy at Annapolis. After Randy Billingsley gave Alabama an early 7–0 lead with his nine-yard touchdown run, Navy responded with a trick play that saw Jim O'Brien throw a 33-yard touchdown pass to John Brodhead. In the second quarter, Billingsley scored on a one-yard touchdown run, and again the Midshipmen responded with a 20-yard Brodhead touchdown pass to Rhett Bray that made the halftime score 14–13. The Baby Tide extended their lead to 21–13 after Bob Holmes scored on a three-yard run on the first drive of the third quarter. However, Navy responded with a 46-yard Brodhead touchdown pass to Ward Hill and next with a safety and took a 23–21 lead. Ralph Stokes then went on and scored the game-winning touchdown for Alabama in the fourth quarter on a 38-yard run that made the final score 28–23.
In their only home game of the season, the Baby Tide ran for 359 yards and six touchdowns en route to a 41–7 win over Vanderbilt on a Friday afternoon. The next week, Alabama rallied from a 15-point deficit and defeated Tulane 23–22 at New Orleans. After Danny Ridgeway gave the Baby Tide an early 7–0 lead, Tulane responded with the next 22 points and opened a 22–7 lead. Green Wave points were scored on a 43-yard Steve Foley touchdown pass to Robert Johnson, a one-yard Foley touchdown run, a 50-yard John Washington punt return and on a 31-yard David Falgue field goal. Alabama then rallied for the 23–22 victory behind a pair of Bob Holmes touchdown runs and a pair of Ralph Stokes two-point conversions in the fourth quarter.
At Knoxville, a 36–13 loss to the Volunteers ended an eight-game winning streak for the Baby Tide. Alabama took an early 7–0 lead after Duffy Boles scored on a one-yard run that was set up after the Baby Tide recovered a Tennessee fumble at their one-yard line. The Vols tied the game 7–7 early in the second quarter on a 35-yard Condredge Holloway touchdown pass to John Yarbrough. They then took a 10–7 lead later in the second on a 32-yard Ricky Townsend field goal, and then extended their lead to 16–7 at halftime behind a five-yard halfback pass from Neil Clabo to Holloway. Tennessee further extended their lead to 29–7 with a pair of touchdown runs from John Sapp and one from Kent Fullington in the third quarter. In the fourth, Jim Turley recovered a Tennessee fumble for a touchdown and Carl Stinson scored on a one-yard run for the Vols and made the final score 36–13.
In their final game of the season, before 15,000 fans at Cliff Hare Stadium, Alabama defeated Auburn 13–6. After a scoreless first half, Auburn scored their only points on a 48-yard Mike Fuller touchdown reception in the third quarter. Bob Holmes tied the game 6–6 late in the third with his one-yard run, and Randy Billingsley followed in the fourth quarter with his game-winning, two-yard touchdown run. In the game, the Tigers had seven turnovers and both teams missed several scoring opportunities.