Products You May Like
When most people think of Alabama football and bowl games, they think of New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.
That’s certainly when Alabama has played most of its postseason games over the years. No SEC team has played in the Sugar Bowl more times than Alabama’s record 17 appearances.
But the Crimson Tide have also played in many non-New Year’s bowls — some more flattering than others. The Tide have even gotten into the holiday spirit by playing on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. It happened on three different occasions, all in the 1980s.
The 1983 Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas, on Christmas Eve saw Ray Perkins’ first Alabama team take on the SMU Mustangs one year after the famed “Pony Express” of Eric Dickerson and Craig James.
In what was an upset win, Alabama stormed to a 28-0 lead at halftime and defeated the sixth-ranked Ponies, 28-7, before a national television audience on CBS. SMU had been a heavy favorite entering the day at 10-1 and having won the Southwest Conference.
Three years later, Alabama was back in El Paso for another Sun Bowl appearance — this time against Don James’ Washington Huskies on Christmas Day 1986. Running back Bobby Humphrey had three touchdowns, and future College Football Hall of Fame defensive end Cornelius Bennett was named the game’s MVP.
Bennett ended his college career with 11 tackles and a sack in a 28-6 Alabama win over Washington. For Perkins, it was his last game as the Crimson Tide’s head coach. It was also the first meeting between Alabama and Washington in a bowl game since the 1926 Rose Bowl, which Alabama won 20-19 in a major upset that has been chronicled in countless books on Crimson Tide and college football history.
Alabama returned to El Paso for another Sun Bowl appearance on Christmas Eve 1988. On that day, Bill Curry’s squad rallied from nine points down in the fourth quarter to eke out a 29-28 win over Army. A go-ahead two-yard touchdown from David Casteal with four minutes to go gave Alabama the lead for good. Future NFL Hall of Fame legend Derrick Thomas was named the game’s MVP.
The Crimson Tide may never play another bowl game on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day again, and certainly not one in El Paso. That’s for the best. But as Yogi Berra once said: “It’s important to know history. There’s more of it these days.”
Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on X, and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Alabama news and notes, plus opinions.
This article originally appeared on Roll Tide Wire: Alabama football has history of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day bowl games