Even though the University of Alabama football team had pulled out the victory defensive back Ricky Davis didn’t particularly want to be in Tuscaloosa that night. Granted, the 8-7 win kept the Crimson Tide’s undefeated season intact, but considering what it took against an opponent that hadn’t won a game in two years a short road trip seemed in order.
“I can remember standing on the sideline, late in the game when it was 7-3, looking up at the scoreboard and just thinking, ‘You’ve got to be kidding,’” Davis said.
“There were a handful of us, we drove to Birmingham just to get out of Tuscaloosa, we were so embarrassed about the way we played. There really was a circle the wagons type of moment.”
Of course, Davis and his former teammates can laugh about it now and figure to do so again when the 1974 Crimson Tide holds its 40-year reunion this weekend as Alabama hosts Southern Miss at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
The seniors on that team had made up the final freshman squad in 1971 and over their four years helped the Crimson Tide post a remarkable 43-1 record during the regular season.
“That’s always fun to get back together with guys,” said Davis, a prominent attorney who has represented numerous coaches throughout his career. “Every year the stories get bigger and bigger.”
Coming off the dramatic 24-23 loss to Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl the 1974 Crimson Tide was expected to be good, just probably not national-championship good. Alabama was ranked fourth in the preseason Associated Press poll, yet had a young defense and numerous injuries.
Among them, starting quarterback Gary Rutledge hurt his shoulder and essentially missed the whole season, while backup Richard Todd also spent time sidelined.
With that backdrop, Alabama opened at Maryland, which was coached by Jerry Claiborne, who had both played for Paul W. “Bear” Bryant at Kentucky and served as one of his assistant coaches at Alabama and Texas A&M. At the time, no one quite understood how good the No. 14 Terrapins would be.
“They had Randy White, who was a first-round draft pick,” Davis said. “Walter White was the tight end. Louis Carter was the running back and played in the NFL. Bob Avellini was the quarterback. They had a great team.”
Alabama won 21-16 and subsequently pulled out wins against a good Vanderbilt team and Ole Miss for a 4-0 start when Florida State came to T-town on Oct. 12. Only this wasn’t the Seminoles program that Bobby Bowden built. FSU was coming off a 0-11 season, and even though three of its first four games under Darrell Mudra had been close the losing streak was up to 16.
Florida State took the opening kickoff and drove 78 yards in nine plays to take a 7-0 lead, nearly ate up the entire clock in the second quarter, and finished with 345 yards of total offense, including 207 rushing yards.
Yet Alabama scored five points in the final 1:27 of the game to pull it out. Deep in its own territory Florida State took a safety and Willie Shelby had a good return off the free kick to set up Buckey Berrey’s game-winning 36-yard field goal.
“It was a heartbreaker,” Mudra said at the time. “I just hope we can get this one out of our system.”
Florida State didn’t, winning just one of its final six games, and after going 3-8 in 1975 lured Bowden away from West Virginia.
Meanwhile, the subsequent buzz about Alabama was that it was ripe for an upset.
“The next week we’re going to Tennessee and everybody’s talking about, ‘You guys are in trouble,’” Davis said.
Coming off a loss in Baton Rouge to LSU, the Volunteers were led by quarterback Condredge Holloway and running back Stanley Morgan on offense, Reggie White on defense, and coached by none other than Bill Battle – the former Alabama player who is now the Crimson Tide’s Director of Athletics.
But like usual, Bryant pushed the right buttons with his team. The coach didn’t overact or lash out when it struggled against Florida State, and he treated the days leading up to the “Third Saturday in October” like it was business as usual.
“He was just a master at handling situations,” Davis said. “Paul Brown was the coach at Cincinnati when I played up there, it was his last year, and I was in Tampa with Coach (John) McKay, and Marv Levy one of the years I was in Kansas City. But Coach Bryant was head and shoulders better than any of these other guys at handling the team. He would pull a rabbit out of a hat every time, it was unbelievable.”
With both Rutledge and Todd in street clothes on the sideline, Jack O’Rear started at quarterback, only to go down with an injury during the first quarter. Reserve Robert Fraley – the future attorney who represented numerous Alabama coaches and tragically died when legendary golfer Payne Stewart’s plane crashed in 1999 — took over and helped lead a dominating 28-6 victory.
Not only was the win its fourth straight in the rivalry, and continued the 11-game winning streak that wouldn’t be snapped until 1982, it gave the Crimson Tide a big boost of confidence.
“After the Tennessee game the defense really took charge and started playing championship football,” Davis said. “The Florida State and Tennessee games sort of helped us get our act together.”
Over its next three games – against TCU, Mississippi State and LSU – Alabama only yielded a combined three points, and didn’t give up a touchdown until visiting Miami on Dec. 16, a 28-7 victory. Voters in the polls bumped Alabama up to No. 2, setting up a rematch with Notre Dame.
The Crimson Tide ended up losing 13-11 in the Orange Bowl, but when Alabama first topped No. 7 Auburn, 17-13, it captured its fourth straight SEC title, and eighth under Bryant.
Davis finished with season with six interceptions, including one for a touchdown. He was also in on 47 tackles, and subsequently selected in the eighth round of the NFL draft by the Bengals.
The only other Crimson Tide player to be picked that year was defensive back Mike Washington in the third round by the Colts. Some of the 1974 defensive contributors to be drafted during the subsequent years included Woodrow Lowe, Bob Baumhauser, Charlie Hannah and Leroy Cook. The team’s leading receiver was Ozzie Newsome.
As for who will be the first one to bring up Florida State game at this reunion, your guess is as good as anyone else’s.
“That was kind of a wake-up call for everybody,” Davis said. “It was a bad game, but I think it sort of a turning point for the season.”
Christopher Walsh has covered Alabama football since 2004 and is the author of 19 books. In his free time, he writes about college football.
