Pat Dye’s Tigers beat Paul “Bear” Bryant’s Crimson Tide 23-22 on Nov. 27, 1982, getting the winning touchdown on Bo Jackson’s 1-yard dive “over the top.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second in a series of stories marking the 40th anniversary of the end of the Paul “Bear” Bryant era at Alabama, which came in 1982. This story examines that season’s Iron Bowl, which Auburn won 23-22 for its first victory over the Crimson Tide since 1972.
“Looking back at it now, it’s almost as if we were watching Alabama become Auburn and Auburn become Alabama in that game,” said Keith Dunnavant, a long-time sports writer and historian who has authored a number of books on college football,. “You had this younger version of Bear Bryant, who had taken over at Auburn, and it was a damn good football team.
“Sixty minutes,” Dye supposedly replied, though he neither confirmed nor denied the remark when asked about it in later years. Auburn got to 3-0 before getting hammered 41-7 by a Nebraska team that would finish 12-1, but then won its next three to check into the national rankings for the first time in late October. In addition, the 1982 Tigers had something that year no team before them had had — a phenom freshman running back from the Birmingham suburbs named Bo Jackson.
The Crimson Tide limped into the Auburn game at 7-3, its worst record at that point of the season since the pre-integration days. Alabama was still ranked 20th nationally, but was trying to avoid its first three-game losing streak in 25 seasons under Bryant. Auburn lost close games to Florida and eventual SEC champion Georgia to fall out of the national rankings, but also reached the Iron Bowl at 7-3. Alabama was a 4.5-point favorite according to oddsmakers, but the Tigers had all the confidence in the world they could — and would — win the game.
“You wanted to be really subtle about anything you did differently for the Alabama game, because you didn’t want to set off any alarm bells with the players,” Crowe said. “You didn’t want to make them think everything we’d done to that point wasn’t good enough. But we put in six offensive plays Alabama had never seen, and they were all designed for critical downs, third downs or inside the 10. And all six worked.
Two plays later, James ran into the end zone for the tying touchdown. After one quarter, the 1982 Iron Bowl was tied 7-7. “We dominated the game from a statistical standpoint,” Lewis said. “But in football, there are about five to six plays that determine every game. And you don’t know if it’s you that is going to make them or not make them, or it’s going to come down to a decision by an official, or a coach. You just don’t know what’s coming. That’s why you’ve got to execute every play to the fullest in order to be successful. And we didn’t do that on that day.
Both teams punted on their next possessions, and Jackson made his first — but not his last — major impact play early in the fourth quarter. He took a toss sweep and raced 53 yards around left end to the Alabama 12, where safety Tommy Wilcox caught him. Jackson got three yards and a first down, and Campbell later hit Mike Edwards for another first down at the Alabama 30. The next play was perhaps the game’s most controversial.
Auburn's Bo Jackson carries the ball in the 1982 Iron Bowl as Alabama's Stan Gay tries to make the tackle. Auburn led 23-22 before Alabama defensive end Russ Wood stopped Campbell short on a two-point conversion try. And though in the popular memory Jackson’s touchdown clinched the Tigers’ victory, there was still plenty of action remaining.
Auburn’s defense stiffened, though, and an intentional grounding call on Lewis pushed Alabama back deep into its territory and effectively ended the game. Following a fourth-down incompletion, the Tigers — and their fans — could finally celebrate. The orange and blue faithful poured out of the stands, first to congratulate Dye, Jackson, Harris and their other heroes. They then trained their attention on the goal posts, climbing up and riding them to the ground in ecstasy.
For Harris and his teammates, it was payoff time. The Tigers were able to cash in all those difficult offseason workouts, early morning runs and physical practice sessions they’d experienced since Dye’s arrival.
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