1986 Alabama Crimson Tide football team

1986 Alabama Crimson Tide football
Sun Bowl champion
Sun Bowl, W 28–6 vs. Washington
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 9
AP	No. 9
Record	10–3 (4–2 SEC)
Head coach	Ray Perkins (4th season)
Offensive coordinator	George Henshaw (4th season)
Defensive coordinator	Joe Kines (2nd season)
Captains	Mike Shula Cornelius Bennett
Home stadium	Bryant–Denny Stadium Legion Field
Seasons ←  1985 1987  →

1986 Southeastern Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 10 LSU $	5	–	1	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
No. 6 Auburn	4	–	2	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 9 Alabama	4	–	2	–	0			10	–	3	–	0
Georgia	4	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Ole Miss	4	–	2	–	0			8	–	3	–	1
Tennessee	3	–	3	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
Mississippi State	2	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Kentucky	2	–	4	–	0			5	–	5	–	1
Florida	2	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Vanderbilt	0	–	6	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1986 Alabama Crimson Tide football team (variously "Alabama", "UA", "Bama" or "The Tide") represented the University of Alabama in the 1986 NCAA Division I-A football season. It was the Crimson Tide's 94th overall and 53rd season as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The team was led by head coach Ray Perkins, in his fourth year, and played their home games at both Bryant–Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa and Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama. They finished the season with a record of ten wins and three losses (10–3 overall, 4–2 in the SEC) and with a victory in the Sun Bowl over Washington.

After opening the season with a victory over Ohio State in the Kickoff Classic, the Crimson Tide won their first seven games and eventually rise to as high as No. 2 in the rankings but lost to eventual national champion Penn State ^[1] and lost out on an SEC championship after losses to LSU ^[2] and Auburn. ^[3] Highlights of the season included their first ever victory over Notre Dame and a 56–28 victory over Tennessee that snapped a four-game losing streak to the Vols. ^[4]

After the season, Ray Perkins resigned on December 31, to become head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League. ^[5]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
August 27	7:00 p.m.	vs. No. 9 Ohio State *	No. 5	Giants Stadium East Rutherford, NJ (Kickoff Classic)	Raycom	W 16–10	68,296	[6]
September 6	11:30 a.m.	Vanderbilt	No. 5	Bryant–Denny Stadium Tuscaloosa, AL	TBS	W 42–10	58,168	[7]
September 13	1:30 p.m.	Southern Miss *	No. 4	Legion Field Birmingham, AL		W 31–17	73,687	[8]
September 20	12:30 p.m.	at No. 13 Florida	No. 4	Florida Field Gainesville, FL (rivalry)		W 21–7	74,685	[9]
October 4	2:30 p.m.	Notre Dame *	No. 2	Legion Field Birmingham, AL	ABC	W 28–10	75,808	[10]
October 11	1:30 p.m.	Memphis State *	No. 2	Bryant–Denny Stadium Tuscaloosa, AL		W 37–0	60,210	[11]
October 18	2:30 p.m.	at Tennessee	No. 2	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN (Third Saturday in October)	ABC	W 56–28	95,116	[12]
October 25	2:30 p.m.	No. 6 Penn State *	No. 2	Bryant–Denny Stadium Tuscaloosa, AL (rivalry)	ABC	L 3–23	60,210	[13]
November 1	11:30 a.m.	at No. 19 Mississippi State	No. 8	Scott Field Starkville, MS (rivalry)	TBS	W 38–3	42,700	[14]
November 8	6:45 p.m.	No. 18 LSU	No. 6	Legion Field Birmingham, AL (rivalry)	ESPN	L 10–14	75,808	[15]
November 15	1:30 p.m.	Temple *	No. 11	Bryant–Denny Stadium Tuscaloosa, AL		W 24–14	60,210	[16]
November 29	2:30 p.m.	vs. No. 14 Auburn	No. 7	Legion Field Birmingham, AL (Iron Bowl)	ABC	L 17–21	75,808	[17]
December 25	1:30 p.m.	vs. No. 12 Washington *	No. 13	Sun Bowl El Paso, TX (Sun Bowl)	CBS	W 28–6	48,722	[18]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

^[19]

Rankings

Further information: 1986 NCAA Division I-A football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend:██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Final
AP	5	4	4 (1)	3	2 (1)	2 (2)	2 (2)	2 (3)	8	6 (1)	11	9	7	13	9
Coaches	6 (1)	4 (1)	4	3 (1)	2 (1)	2	2 (3)	2 (3)	8	6	15	9	7	14	9

Game summaries

Ohio State

1 2 3 4 Total •Alabama 3 3 0 10 16 Ohio St 0 7 3 0 10 Date: August 27 Location: Giants Stadium Television network: Raycom Sports

See also: 1986 Ohio State Buckeyes football team and Kickoff Classic

Vanderbilt

1 2 3 4 Total Vanderbilt 0 0 3 7 10 • Alabama 3 11 14 14 42 Date: September 6 Location: Bryant-Denny Stadium Game attendance: 58,168 Television network: TBS

At Florida

1 2 3 4 Total • Alabama 0 0 14 7 21 Florida 7 0 0 0 7 Date: September 20 Location: Florida Field Game attendance: 74,685

Notre Dame

See also: 1986 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

Memphis State

1 2 3 4 Total Memphis St 0 0 0 0 0 • Alabama 10 7 3 17 37 Date: October 11 Location: Bryant-Denny Stadium Game attendance: 60,210

Homecoming

Penn State

1 2 3 4 Total • Penn St 0 14 3 6 23 Alabama 3 0 0 0 3 Date: October 25 Location: Bryant-Denny Stadium Game attendance: 60,210 Television network: ABC

See also: 1986 Penn State Nittany Lions football team and Alabama–Penn State football rivalry

LSU

1 2 3 4 Total • LSU 0 14 0 0 14 Alabama 7 0 3 0 10 Date: November 8 Location: Legion Field Game attendance: 75,808 Television network: ESPN

Auburn

1 2 3 4 Total • Auburn 0 7 0 14 21 Alabama 7 7 3 0 17 Date: November 29 Location: Legion Field Game attendance: 75,808 Television network: ABC

See also: 1986 Auburn Tigers football team and Iron Bowl

Vs. Washington (Sun Bowl)

Washington vs. Alabama

1 2 3 4 Total No. 12 Huskies 0 6 0 0 6 •No. 13 Crimson Tide 0 7 14 7 28 Date: December 25 Location: Sun Bowl, El Paso, TX Game attendance: 48,722 Game weather: 45 °F (7 °C), Sunny, Wind NNE 4 mph (6.4 km/h) TV announcers (CBS): Brent Musburger, Ara Parseghian, John Dockery

Main article: 1986 Sun Bowl

See also: 1986 Washington Huskies football team

Roster

1986 Alabama Crimson Tide football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB Doug Allen WR Marco Battle WR Albert Bell RB John Cassimus RB David Casteal OL Bill Condon TE 85 Howard Cross So RB Kerry Goode RB Murry Hill RB 26 Bobby Humphrey So RB Gene Jelks OL David Johnson OL Joe King OL Wes Neighbors WR Greg Payne WR 17 Greg Richardson Sr RB Carlos Robinson OL Larry Rose QB 11 Mike Shula  (C) Sr QB David Smith TE Angelo Stafford WR Clay Whitehurst RB Bo Wright	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 97 Cornelius Bennett  (C) Sr LB George Bethune DB Britton Cooper DB Vantriese Davis LB Wayne Davis LB Greg Gilbert CB 36 Chris Goode Jr DL Curt Jarvis DB Kermit Kendrick DB Freddie Robinson LB Randy Rockwell DL Derrick Slaughter DL Cliff Thomas LB 55 Derrick Thomas So DB Ricky Thomas	Special teams Pos. # Name Class P 5 Chris Mohr So K 3 Van Tiffin Sr	Head coach Ray Perkins Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Awards and honors

• Cornelius Bennett : Lombardi Award, SEC Player of the Year, Unanimous First-team All-American

1987 NFL Draft

Main article: 1987 NFL draft

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Cornelius Bennett	Outside Linebacker	1	2	Indianapolis Colts
Freddie Robinson	Defensive back	6	142	Indianapolis Colts
Greg Richardson	Wide receiver	6	156	Minnesota Vikings
Curt Jarvis	Defensive tackle	7	169	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Wayne Davis	Linebacker	9	229	St. Louis Cardinals
Wes Neighbors	Center	9	231	Houston Oilers
Chris Goode	Defensive back	10	253	Indianapolis Colts
Mike Shula	Quarterback	12	313	Tampa Bay Buccaneers

^[20]

References

General

• "1986 Game Recaps". 1987 Alabama Football Media Guide (PDF). Tuscaloosa, Alabama: UA Athletics Media Relations Office. 1987. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 26, 2014. Retrieved February 21, 2012.

Specific

1. Looney, Douglas S. (November 3, 1986). "A midseason run for respect". Sports Illustrated. SI.com. Archived from the original on July 17, 2012. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
2. 1986 Game Recaps, Game No. 10
3. 1986 Game Recaps, Game No. 12
4. Maisel, Ivan (October 27, 1986). "Vol-in tears". Sports Illustrated. SI.com. Archived from the original on July 16, 2012. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
5. Wheat, Jack (December 31, 1986). "Perkins takes Tampa Bay coaching job". The Tuscaloosa News. p. 1. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
6. "Alabama capitalizes on OSU's mistakes". The Akron Beacon Journal. August 28, 1986. Retrieved February 20, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
7. "Bama crashes Vandy's party, 42–10". The Tennessean. September 7, 1986. Retrieved February 20, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
8. "USM falls short in bid to knock off Tide". Hattiesburg American. September 14, 1986. Retrieved February 20, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
9. "Bama rules Gators for 21–7 victory". The Orlando Sentinel. September 21, 1986. Retrieved February 20, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
10. "Alabama makes quick work of Irish". Chicago Tribune. October 5, 1986. Retrieved February 20, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
11. "Bama overwhelms downtrodden Tigers". The Jackson Sun. October 12, 1986. Retrieved February 20, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
12. "'Bama offense destroys Vols". Johnson City Press. October 19, 1986. Retrieved February 20, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
13. "Move over Miami: State bombs Bama". Sunday News. October 27, 1986. Retrieved February 20, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
14. "Humphrey, Tide crush reeling 'Dogs". Clarion-Ledger. November 2, 1986. Retrieved February 20, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
15. "Tigers capitalize on low Tide to gig floundering Alabama". Alexandria Daily Town Talk. November 9, 1986. Retrieved February 20, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
16. "Owls can't stem Tide; Palmer gains 145 yards". The Philadelphia Inquirer. November 16, 1986. Retrieved February 20, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
17. "Tillman's mistake helps Auburn over Bama". The Montgomery Advertiser. November 30, 1986. Retrieved February 20, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
18. "'Bama defense shines in Sun". El Paso Times. December 26, 1986. Retrieved February 20, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
19. "1986 Alabama football archives". RollTide.com. University of Alabama Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
20. "1987 NFL Draft". pro-football-reference.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2007. Retrieved September 1, 2019.