NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (AP) -Of all the great feats Bear Bryant accomplished at Alabama, one thing he never did was beat Texas.
Heck, no Crimson Tide coach has.
Among the story lines going into the BCS championship game between No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Texas on Thursday night is whether the Longhorns can keep their grip on the bragging rights between these powerhouse programs.
They’ve met eight times and the best the Crimson Tide could muster was a tie. The Longhorns have won under all sorts of circumstances – ranked higher or lower, playing at home or on the road, meeting during the regular season or in the Cotton, Orange and Sugar bowls.
“I don’t think there is a ‘Texas whammy’ on Alabama,” Bryant said after a tight, tough loss in the 1982 Cotton Bowl. “Their players and coaches beat us – not a ‘whammy.”’
but can’t be called a rivalry. The shortest span between games was five years, and this matchup ends the longest stretch, 28 years, since that Cotton Bowl.
“I was, I think, 11 years old,” said Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, who actually was still 10 that day.
Texas football was in its 10th season, and Alabama its 11th when the schools first squared off on Nov. 18, 1902. The Longhorns won 10-0 in Tuscaloosa, then blanked the Crimson Tide again in the rematch in Austin – 13 years later.
Bama finally scored in the third meeting, but still lost 19-10.
Starting in 1948, every matchup has come in a bowl game. The first was a rout (27-6), but the last four have all been decided by four points or less.
The most famous matchup was on Jan. 1, 1965, in the Orange Bowl, with Joe Namath leading No. 1 Alabama against Tommy Nobis and No. 5 Texas in the first nationally televised New Year’s night game.
The Crimson Tide rolled into Miami having already been crowned the top team for the 1964 season. The Longhorns, led by their own coaching icon, Darrell Royal, had been national champs the year before and came into the game having lost only once, by one point to No. 2 Arkansas.
got the Tide within 21-17.
After an interception, Alabama was facing first-and-goal from the 6. Steve Bowman rumbled to the 2-yard line. He slammed up the middle on the next two plays, too, but only gained a yard. On fourth down, Namath kept it, trying to sneak in over right guard.
Nobis stopped him a foot short of the goal line, the play ending when the whistle blew. About the same time, Bowman jarred Nobis, freeing Namath to spin into the end zone.
Controversy? The Bear wouldn’t allow it.
“When you can’t score from the 1, you don’t deserve to win,” he said after the game. “Let’s face it, gentlemen. Texas was just better prepared for the game. Darrell and his staff simply did a better job than I.”
The final play remains a source of debate, though.
Texas coach Mack Brown recalls being at a Hall of Fame ceremony and seeing Namath tell Nobis, “You know, I scored on the quarterback sneak,” with Nobis responding: “Joe, not only did you not score, none of your offensive linemen got in either!”’
More than 6 minutes remained after that goal-line stand. Namath got the ball back twice, but threw an interception, then saw time run out after the last of four straight incompletions.
Nonetheless, he was so dazzling that he received the game’s MVP award.
“Namath was great,” Nobis said after the game. “I was scared the whole second half.”
ama has been to a record 57 and Texas is second on that list with 49.
Bama has a record 31 bowl wins; Texas is fourth with 25.
Texas is No. 2 on the all-time wins list with 845 and Alabama is sixth with 812.
Both coaches have lost their only games against these schools, but obviously not with these schools. Brown lost to Alabama while coaching North Carolina in the 1993 Gator Bowl; Tide coach Nick Saban lost to Brown and the Longhorns while coaching LSU in the 2003 Cotton Bowl.
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