1980 Alabama Crimson Tide football team

The 1980 Alabama Crimson Tide football team (variously "Alabama", "UA" or "Bama") represented the University of Alabama in the 1980 NCAA Division I-A football season. It was the Crimson Tide's 86th overall and 47th season as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The team was led by head coach Bear Bryant, in his 23rd year, and played their home games at Bryant–Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa and Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama. They finished season with ten wins and two losses (10–2 overall, 5–1 in the SEC) and with a victory over Baylor in the Cotton Bowl.

1980 Alabama Crimson Tide football
Cotton Bowl champion
Cotton Bowl, W 30–2 vs. Baylor
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 6
AP	No. 6
Record	10–2 (5–1 SEC)
Head coach	Bear Bryant (23rd season)
Captains	Major Ogilvie Randy Scott
Home stadium	Bryant–Denny Stadium Legion Field
Seasons ← 1979 1981 →

1980 Southeastern Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 1 Georgia $	6	–	0	–	0			12	–	0	–	0
No. 19 Mississippi State	5	–	1	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
No. 6 Alabama	5	–	1	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
LSU	4	–	2	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Florida	4	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Tennessee	3	–	3	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Ole Miss	2	–	4	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Kentucky	1	–	5	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Auburn	0	–	6	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Vanderbilt	0	–	6	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

A 6–3 loss to Mississippi State ended Alabama's school record 28-game winning streak and all-time SEC record 27-game conference winning streak, and was Alabama's first loss to Mississippi State since 1957. It also cost the Tide a share of the SEC championship, the first time since 1976 they failed to win the SEC. Despite surrendering 35 points to Ole Miss, the Alabama defense still allowed only 98 points for the entire season.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 6	1:30 p.m.	Georgia Tech*	No. 2	Legion Field Birmingham, AL (rivalry)		W 26–3	78,410	[1]
September 20	1:30 p.m.	at Ole Miss[A 1]*	No. 1	Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium Jackson, MS (rivalry)		W 59–35	50,686	[3]
September 27	1:30 p.m.	Vanderbilt	No. 1	Bryant–Denny Stadium Tuscaloosa, AL	ESPN	W 41–0	60,210	[4]
October 4	1:30 p.m.	Kentucky	No. 1	Legion Field Birmingham, AL	ESPN	W 45–0	78,400	[5]
October 11	12:30 p.m.	at Rutgers*	No. 1	Giants Stadium East Rutherford, NJ	ESPN	W 17–13	58,107	[6]
October 18	2:30 p.m.	at Tennessee	No. 1	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN (Third Saturday in October)	ABC	W 27–0	96,748	[7]
October 25	1:30 p.m.	No. 20 Southern Miss*	No. 1	Bryant–Denny Stadium Tuscaloosa, AL	ESPN	W 42–7	60,210	[8]
November 1	1:30 p.m.	at Mississippi State	No. 1	Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium Jackson, MS (rivalry)	ESPN	L 3–6	50,891	[9]
November 8	1:30 p.m.	LSU	No. 6	Bryant–Denny Stadium Tuscaloosa, AL (rivalry)	ESPN	W 28–7	60,210	[10]
November 15	2:30 p.m.	No. 6 Notre Dame*	No. 5	Legion Field Birmingham, AL	ABC	L 0–7	78,873	[11]
November 29	1:30 p.m.	vs. Auburn	No. 9	Legion Field Birmingham, AL (Iron Bowl)		W 34–18	78,549	[12]
January 1, 1981	1:00 p.m.	vs. No. 6 Baylor*	No. 9	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (Cotton Bowl)	CBS	W 30–2	74,281	[13]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

^[14]

Roster

1980 Alabama Crimson Tide football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class G 62 Scott Allison Sr RB 33 Billy Jackson Sr QB 5 Don Jacobs Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 90 Tom Boyd Jr DT 47 Byron Braggs Sr DT 98 Jackie Cline So DB 9 Jim Bob Harris Jr LB 39 E.J. Junior Sr DB 23 Benny Perrin Jr DE 81 Mike Pitts So LB 50 Randy Scott Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Bear Bryant Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Notes

1. Prior to the 1980 season, the SEC ruled if two SEC teams scheduled each other independently, and not through the conference office, the game would not count in SEC standings. As such, although both were members of the SEC, the Alabama–Ole Miss games in 1980 and 1981 did not count as conference games in the official SEC standings.^[2]