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OPEN DAILY
9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
5/18/1979
Coach Paul Bryant goes back to Texas for a reunion with his 1954 Texas A&M team, the famed squad taken to Junction, Tex., for what was termed a "football boot camp." Only 27 players returned from the Junction to play for Texas A&M and 23 of those were at the reunion. While Bryant is out of town, the Birmingham News reports the league coaches are picking Alabama to repeat as SEC Champions but only two Bama players receive "best awards." Dwight Stephenson is listed as the "best offensive lineman" and Major Ogilvie the "best blocker in the SEC." |
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Coach: Frank Thomas (Notre Dame) Record: 6-2-1
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Captain(s): James Walker
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Coach Frank Thomas found replacing Dixie Howell and Don Hutson an unenviable undertaking and the 6-2-1 season was a disappointment. An opening day 7-7 tie with Howard (now Samford) and a season-ending Thanksgiving Day loss to Vanderbilt (14-6) accentuated the fact this Bama team was a notch below the previous two championship squads.
However, on a fateful third Saturday in October, Paul "Bear" Bryant displayed the iron resolution that would become his trademark in years to come by playing with a broken leg against old foe Tennessee. Bryant was magnificent in a 25-0 victory. An Atlanta paper doubting the veracity of the report of the fractured bone requested x-rays to impugn the credibility of the Tide medical staff. The x-rays proved without question, the end named Bryant had indeed competed in an agonizing situation.
A 20-16 win over Georgia Tech in Atlanta later that year further augmented a rebuilding year for Bama. Riley Smith was a Bama All-American in '35 |
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Notes: Alabama continues to travel outside "Dixie" going to Washington, D.C. to play George Washington and winning 39-0. Riley Smith is picked as the first recipient of the Jacobs Trophy, given to the best blocker in the SEC. |
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