Alabama 77 VPI 6

[Crimson1967]

We aren’t playing today but I found this article and found it interesting. The game comes up on here a good bit so I thought everyone would enjoy reading it. A lot of historical data is included and is pretty interesting.

I was six when the game was played and have no memory of it so this is all new to me.

Enjoy the read and Roll Tide.

10 wild facts & stats about one of Alabama’s biggest-ever blowout wins, 50 years later

Crimson Tide beat Virginia Tech 77-6 on Oct. 27, 1973

www.al.com

 

[ROCKEE]

We aren’t playing today but I found this article and found it interesting. The game comes up on here a good bit so I thought everyone would enjoy reading it. A lot of historical data is included and is pretty interesting.

I was six when the game was played and have no memory of it so this is all new to me.

Enjoy the read and Roll Tide.

I was there and definitely remember. They had the ugliest mascot. It was a skinny and tall turkey. Probably 10 ft tall and the head would sway from side to side. Had to be super uncomfortable. Their team was really bad. Bear played everybody except the water boy.

 

[Bama9001]

Was there supposed to be a link included?

 

[Tidewater]

Holy smokes! What was the Vegas point spread?

 

[Ledsteplin]

There's nothing to read! Your link didn't work.

 

[Crimson1967]

I have added the link. Sorry about that.

 

[Slowpoke Catracho]

The Gobblers!

 

[Tidelines]

We could have easily topped 800 yards that day.

 

[UAH]

I was there and definitely remember. They had the ugliest mascot. It was a skinny and tall turkey. Probably 10 ft tall and the head would sway from side to side. Had to be super uncomfortable. Their team was really bad. Bear played everybody except the water boy.

I was there as well. Over the years I had attended quite a number of games against opponents such as South Carolina, Clemson, Virginia Tech and FSU. On a normal gameday particularly in the late 60's Alabama would play just about everyone and languish around scoring in the 30's and not looking very good doing it. Just as and example Bama beat South Carolina 35-14 in 1965 and 24-0 in 1966. The 73 wishbone offense was just that good and Alabama was loaded with talent which is an understatement in the days of unlimited scholarships. It was amazing to watch the ground game score from anywhere on the field with Alabama likely playing the entire bench in the second half.

 

[TexasBama]

I remember listening to some of it on the radio. It was like listening to a game show we were ringing it up so fast. I did attend the opener a few weeks earlier where we beat Cal 66-3. Cal had Chuck Muncie, Vince Ferragamo, and Steve Bartkowski on that team. The coach was Mike White, who coached Illinois in CPB’s last game.

 

[22Musso22]

I was there. I was only 12, but will never forget it. Even though the 73 team lost to Notre Dame in the National Championship Game, I have always thought that was Bear's greatest team.

 

[TexasBama]

 

[FitToBeTide]

I was there also. We truly "run-ed da ball" all day long. Sitting in the south end zone, I can still see Calvin Culliver breaking up the middle on the dive play, looking like he ran for 5 miles untouched for the score.

 

[TitleWave]

‘Bama ran up the score by running up the middle virtually every play of the second half. For somebody who grew watching the “tedious” wins of the 60s vs. the likes of S. Carolina, Clemps and Mittitippi Tate - not that there was anything wrong with that - the field day against them VPI Gobblers was a great gold rush. Even if the rushing total could easily have topped 1,000 yards had not 95% of the plays in the 2nd half gone right up the gut—as Coach Bryant could really do nothing more to halt the humiliation of VPI and their coach Charlie Coffey, who was in his third and final year of what had been a promising head coaching career. Coffey never coached again, and VPI reverted to form until BeamerBall and the VaTech Hokies became the thing in Blacksburg.

 

[Tidewater]

Take Bama and give the 70 points.

 

[bamadwain]

Listened on the radio, long time ago I was 12! But if I remember correctly it was played at night and back then it was something special listening to a Bama game at night on the radio

 

[4Q Basket Case]

I grew up in Tuscaloosa and was at the game — age 14. Somebody gave me a free ticket, so I was there by myself, and that was a big deal, too.

Hadn’t thought about Calvin Culliver in years, but he did bust up the middle and looked like Secretariat running away from the defense.

We led 21-0 at the end of the first quarter, and Gary Rutledge’s day was done. 42-0 at the half, and Richard Todd was on the bench well before the half. Remember, that was running the wishbone, so games tended to be shorter. Jack O’Rear got the most playing time of his career.

VT had a QB named Don Strock who was supposed to be pretty good, but he was no match.

We could have scored 100 if we’d wanted to, but ran it up the gut starting midway through the 2nd quarter, using every player including maybe the waterboy.

I thought the loss to Notre Dame notwithstanding, it was Bryant’s second-best team. I thought 1979 was his best.

 

[bamadwain]

I grew up in Tuscaloosa and was at the game — age 14. Somebody gave me a free ticket, so I was there by myself, and that was a big deal, too.

Hadn’t thought about Calvin Culliver in years, but he did bust up the middle and looked like Secretariat running away from the defense.

We led 21-0 at the end of the first quarter, and Gary Rutledge’s day was done. 42-0 at the half, and Richard Todd was on the bench well before the half. Remember, that was running the wishbone, so games tended to be shorter. Jack O’Rear got the most playing time of his career.

VT had a QB named Don Strock who was supposed to be pretty good, but he was no match.

We could have scored 100 if we’d wanted to, but ran it up the gut starting midway through the 2nd quarter, using every player including maybe the waterboy.

I thought the loss to Notre Dame notwithstanding, it was Bryant’s second-best team. I thought 1979 was his best.

Ole Calvin Culliver wore number 33 if I remember correctly

 

[PaulD]

View attachment 37770

That old scoreboard reminds me of how the stadium looked back in my student days in the '70s. It's hard to believe that the current one is built on top of it.

 

[PaulD]

I remember this game from my freshman year with pleasure. The score and how the game was played is an obvious reason, but another was that it was a night game. Back then, games in Tuscaloosa weren't televised and had a standard start time of 1:30 (I think). The smaller stadium with its Astroturf field was HOT, even in October. The night game was much more comfortable.

I remember looking in my program in the second have to try to figure who we had on the field and we were playing guys who weren't even in the program!