1985 Alabama Crimson Tide football team

The 1985 Alabama Crimson Tide football team (variously "Alabama", "UA", "Bama" or "The Tide") represented the University of Alabama in the 1985 NCAA Division I-A football season. It was the Crimson Tide's 93rd overall and 52nd season as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The team was led by head coach Ray Perkins, in his third 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 nine wins, two losses and one tie (9–2–1 overall, 4–1–1 in the SEC) and with a victory in the Aloha Bowl over USC.

1985 Alabama Crimson Tide football
Aloha Bowl champion
Aloha Bowl, W 24–3 vs. USC
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 14
AP	No. 13
Record	9–2–1 (4–1–1 SEC)
Head coach	Ray Perkins (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	George Henshaw (3rd season)
Defensive coordinator	Joe Kines (1st season)
Captains	Jon Hand Thornton Chandler
Home stadium	Bryant–Denny Stadium Legion Field
Seasons ← 1984 1986 →

1985 Southeastern Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 4 Tennessee $	5	–	1	–	0			9	–	1	–	2
No. 5 Florida	5	–	1	–	0			9	–	1	–	1
No. 13 Alabama	4	–	1	–	1			9	–	2	–	1
No. 20 LSU	4	–	1	–	1			9	–	2	–	1
Georgia	3	–	2	–	1			7	–	3	–	2
Auburn	3	–	3	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Ole Miss	2	–	4	–	0			4	–	6	–	1
Vanderbilt	1	–	4	–	1			3	–	7	–	1
Kentucky	1	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Mississippi State	0	–	6	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
$ – Conference champion Florida ineligible for SEC championship due to NCAA probation. Rankings from AP Poll

Highlights of the 1985 season included a last-second, 20–16 comeback victory on Labor Day over Georgia to open the season.^[1] The 1985 edition of the Iron Bowl against Auburn is regarded as one of Alabama's most dramatic victories in the history of the series. In the game, Alabama led 16–10 after three quarters, but saw four lead changes in the fourth quarter, including two in the final minute.^[2] It ended with Van Tiffin's 52-yard field goal as time expired to give Alabama a 25–23 victory.^[2] Tiffin's field goal is remembered simply as "The Kick" in Alabama lore.^[3][4]

Due to NCAA sanctions that led to the forfeit of Alabama's 1993 17–17 tie with Tennessee, and college football's adoption of an overtime that does not allow ties, the 14–14 tie with LSU remains the last official tie in school history.^[5][6]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 2	7:00 p.m.	at Georgia		Sanford Stadium Athens, GA (rivalry)	ABC	W 20–16	81,277	[7]
September 14	6:45 p.m.	Texas A&M*	No. 20	Legion Field Birmingham, AL	ESPN	W 23–10	74,697	[8]
September 21	1:30 p.m.	Cincinnati*	No. 16	Bryant–Denny Stadium Tuscaloosa, AL	PPV	W 45–10	58,714	[9]
September 28	11:30 a.m.	at Vanderbilt	No. 15	Vanderbilt Stadium Nashville, TN	WTBS	W 40–20	41,186	[10]
October 12	2:30 p.m.	at No. 8 Penn State*	No. 10	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)	ABC	L 17–19	85,444	[11]
October 19	11:30 a.m.	No. 20 Tennessee	No. 15	Legion Field Birmingham, AL (Third Saturday in October)	WTBS	L 14–16	75,808	[12]
October 26	1:30 p.m.	at Memphis State*		Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, TN	PPV	W 28–9	37,609	[13]
November 2	1:30 p.m.	Mississippi State		Bryant–Denny Stadium Tuscaloosa, AL (rivalry)		W 44–28	60,210	[14]
November 9	2:30 p.m.	at No. 15 LSU	No. 20	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)	ABC	T 14–14	76,772	[15]
November 16	1:30 p.m.	Southern Miss*	No. 20	Bryant–Denny Stadium Tuscaloosa, AL		W 24–13	58,714	[16]
November 30	2:30 p.m.	vs. No. 7 Auburn		Legion Field Birmingham, AL (Iron Bowl)	ABC	W 25–23	75,808	[17]
December 28	7:00 p.m.	vs. USC*	No. 13	Aloha Stadium Halawa, HI (Aloha Bowl)	ISN	W 24–3	35,183	[18]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

^[19]

Rankings

Further information: 1985 NCAA Division I-A football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
AP	—	—	20	16	15	12	10	15	—	—	20	20	—	—	15	15	13
Coaches	—		16	12	10	8	8	14	—	20	20	—	—	—	14	14	14

^[20]

Game summaries

Texas A&M

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Aggies	0	3	7	0	10
• No. 20 Crimson Tide	7	3	0	13	23

• Date: September 14
• Location: Legion Field
• Game attendance: 74,697
• Television network: ESPN

   

Scoring summary

1		ALA	Chester Braggs 2-yard run (Van Tiffin kick)	ALA 7–0
2	2:46	A&M	Eric Franklin 20-yard field goal	ALA 7–3
		ALA	Van Tiffin 57-yard field goal	ALA 10–3
3		A&M	Anthony Toney 1-yard run (kick)	Tied 10–10
4	11:15	ALA	Van Kiffin 40-yard field goal	ALA 13–10
		ALA	Van Kiffin 51-yard field goal	ALA 16–10
	1:07	ALA	Craig Turner 32-yard run (Tiffin kick)	ALA 23–10

See also: 1985 Texas A&M Aggies football team

^[21]

At LSU

Alabama at LSU

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 20 Crimson Tide	7	0	0	7	14
No. 15 Tigers	0	0	14	0	14

• Date: November 9
• Location:
  Tiger Stadium,
  Baton Rouge, Louisiana
• Game start: 2:30 p.m. CST
• Game attendance: 76,772
• Referee: Joe Hicks
• TV announcers (ABC Sports): Keith Jackson, Frank Broyles, and Tim Brant

Scoring summary

1	7:57	BAMA	Gene Jelks 34-yard run (Van Tiffin kick)	Alabama 7–0
3	14:06	LSU	Garry James 49-yard run (Ron Lewis kick)	Tied 7–7
3	10:12	LSU	Wendell Davis 67-yard pass from Jeff Wickersham (Lewis kick)	LSU 14–7
4	1:23		Gene Jelks 3-yard pass to Mike Shula (Tiffin kick)	Tied 14–14

See also: 1985 LSU Tigers football team

Vs. Auburn

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• Crimson Tide	10	6	0	9	25
No. 7 Tigers	0	10	0	13	23

• Date: November 30
• Location: Legion Field
• Game attendance: 75,808

Scoring summary

Q1		ALA	Turner 1-yard run (Tiffin kick)	ALA 7–0
Q1		ALA	Tiffin 26-yard field goal	ALA 10–0
Q2		ALA	Tiffin 32-yard field goal	ALA 13–0
Q2		AUB	Jackson 7-yard run (Johnson kick)	ALA 13–7
Q2		ALA	Tiffin 42-yard field goal	ALA 16–7
Q2		AUB	Johnson 49-yard field goal	ALA 16–10
Q4		AUB	Jackson 1-yard run (Johnson kick)	AUB 17–16
Q4		ALA	Jelks 74-yard run (pass failed)	ALA 22–17
Q4	:57	AUB	Ware 1-yard run (run failed)	AUB 23–22
Q4	:00	ALA	Tiffin 52-yard field goal	ALA 25–23

See also: 1985 Auburn Tigers football team and Iron Bowl

Van Tiffin kicked his fourth field goal of the game, from 52 yards out, as time expired to give Alabama the Iron Bowl victory. ^[22]

Vs. USC (Aloha Bowl)

Main article: 1985 Aloha Bowl

See also: 1985 USC Trojans football team

Roster

1985 Alabama Crimson Tide football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 1 Albert Bell Jr TE 85 Howard Cross Fr RB 26 Bobby Humphrey Fr RB 22 Gene Jelks Fr WR 17 Bennie Magee Fr QB 11 Mike Shula Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 97 Cornelius Bennett Jr CB 36 Chris Goode So LB 55 Derrick Thomas Fr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class P 5 Chris Mohr Fr K 3 Van Tiffin Jr	Head coach Ray Perkins Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt