Bama Bowl Report

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Alabama bowl report

Dec. 5, 1999

SportsLine staff

In the Zone

Mike DuBose says he's born again … and that's certainly true about his coaching career, too.

The Alabama coach had a miserable start to the 1999 season, and nothing less than a glorious finish.

Now his Crimson Tide rides into the Orange Bowl to face Michigan in one of college football's elite postseason spots.

The Tide dismantled Florida, 34-7, in the SEC championship game on Dec. 4, as five different players scored touchdowns, and they limited the vaunted Gators offense to a stunning seven first downs and just 114 yards of total offense -- the lowest total ever for a Steve Spurrier-coached team.

It was a performance remarkably similar to the one that the last great Alabama team performed, back in 1992, when the Tide won the national championship by humiliating a heavily favored Miami team in the Sugar Bowl, 34-13.

This team wasn't perfect -- far from it, as DuBose says again and again ("nobody's perfect") -- but has shown to be as resilient as any team can be.

"People wrote us off so early in the year it wasn't even funny," said wide receiver Jason McAddley, whose 27-yard touchdown reception late in the first half lifted Alabama to a lead it never relinquished in the Georgia Dome. "But we showed a lot of character, guts, composure, whatever you want to call it. That makes this really special. But I still think the best is yet to come for this team."

If nothing else, Alabama knew there would be no repeat of last season's finale, when the Crimson Tide got embarrassed and frozen over in a 38-7 defeat to Virginia Tech in the Music City Bowl on a night in Nashville where the freezing rain and sleet made for a miserable finish.

No, by virtue of its stunning turnaround after the Louisiana Tech loss, complete with its two victories over Florida, Alabama knows the last season of the century will be remembered for its 21st SEC championship.

Alabama overcame a lot but nothing more than the week after the third game, when Louisiana Tech came to Tuscaloosa and stunned the Tide. It led directly to the firing that week of athletic director Bob Bockrath and left head coach Mike DuBose in limbo, especially considering his shaky tenure after admitting to an extra-marital affair with a university employee that ended up costing DuBose $360,000. While he has yet to get a public vote of confidence from new AD Mal Moore, DuBose certainly seems to have ridden out the storm.

That's because the Tide rebounded from the Tech loss by beating Arkansas, stunning Florida in overtime in Gainesville, and beating Ole Miss before losing a tough one to Tennessee. But Alabama finished strong, ending the regular season with victories over Southern Miss, LSU, Mississippi State and Auburn.

Alabama heads into Orange Bowl with one of the best, most complete running backs in the land in Shaun Alexander, who gained 1,383 yards and scored a national-best 24 touchdowns, with a good portion of that coming on an injured ankle late in the season.

Another ankle injury might actually have helped the Tide in the long run, because when starting quarterback Andrew Zow also sprained his ankle -- in the same LSU game that Alexander went down -- backup Tyler Watts not only gained valuable experience, he challenged for the starting job.

DuBose went into the Florida game compelled to use both of his quarterbacks, and actually alternated them by possession … and it worked very well.

Zow completed 10 of 17 passes for 134 yards, and Watts was 3-for-7 for 21 yards and ran for another 18 yards. With Zow being considered the better runner and Watts the better thrower, it's apparent that the two are almost interchangable.

That's especially true when they can get the ball to Alexander (also a fine receiver) or big-play specialist Freddie Milons, who dashed 77 yards for a spectacular touchdown on an end-around against Florida.

"They set the standard by which all programs are measured and all programs are judged in the SEC," DuBose said after burying Florida. "It's fortunate we were able to close the gap before the next century starts."

They scored 74 points against the Gators in the two games. They outgained them in the championship game, 462-114.

Alabama has officially bounced back from the probation-wracked years in the mid-1990s. Suddenly, the 1992 title doesn't seem like such a long time ago.

The Personnel File

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR:

Shaun Alexander, Sr., TB.

He was so important in the Tide's resurgence … not just for his rushing statistics, but for his overall versatility and leadership.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR:

Saleem Rasheed, Fr., LB.

Rasheed was named SEC Freshman Defensive Player of the Year after playing inside and outside linebacker. He had a team-high 81 tackles in the regular season, eight for minus-29 yards, and three sacks. He was the first true defensive freshman to start and play all season for Alabama.

COACH UPDATE:

Mike DuBose (21-14 in three seasons, all at Alabama).

DuBose has shown teams improve and finish strong. Last year, Alabama was 4-3 before ending the regular season 7-4. This year, the Tide fell to 2-1 by losing to Tech and, considering his off-the-field problems, DuBose was getting ready to clean out his office. But another strong finish has him sitting remarkably pretty … watch for a vote of confidence, or even more at some point.

STRENGTHS:

The defense was sensational as the year wore on, finishing third in the country in rushing defense (75.3 yards a game -- for an SEC team, no less), and ninth in overall defense (297.3 yards a game). … Obviously Alexander is a problem for any opponent, and Milons is a big-play threat at all times, as he showed against Florida. The defense has shown an ability to come up big throughout the season and every time it needs to make a big play, it seems to do so.

CONCERNS:

The Tide has been susceptible at times to big-play passes, allowing 19 touchdowns with only 12 interceptions through the 11 regular-season games. But in the SEC championship game, Alabama picked off four Gator passes and allowed only the one first-quarter touchdown.

Noteworthy

UNLIKE BEAR:

Perhaps most significant about the way Alabama handled Florida was that the Tide "out-Gatored the Gators," with various five-receiver formations and plays -- and lining up receivers at quarterback.

"Everything worked out great," said QB Tyler Watts. "We had a great gameplan. You've got to do whatever is working. This feels great."

It's the vastly different offensive approach that DuBose promised when he took over for Gene Stallings, the respected coach who led the Tide to the 1992 title in the Bear Bryant-style ball-control offense and stiff defense.

This team fits the new millennium, with a more multiple offense and varied defense. But it looks more like Florida's glory teams than Alabama's.

RB COMPARISON:

The Orange Bowl will provide a good chance to compare two of the top running backs in the country in Alabama's Alexander and Michigan's Anthony Thomas … making for one of the best matchups of backs for any bowl.

SHUFFLING:

Making moves on defense has helped Alabama. And the Tide didn't stand still after winning at Florida, making personnel changes at linebacker, safeties and cornerback because of injuries and performance. In the first four games, Alabama created only five turnovers. In the last seven of the regular season, the Tide created 17, including 10 interceptions in the last four regular-season games.

THREE RESPECTED:

The teams could only dress out 70 players for the SEC Championship Game, but DuBose saved three of those spots for players who were injured and lost for the season when Alabama beat LSU. Defenders Marvin Constant, who made the game-saving tackle in that game, Kenny Smith and Canary Knight all made the trip.

BEST IN BOWLS:

In 49 previous bowl appearances, most in the nation, Alabama is 28-18-3. Next comes Southern Cal and Tennessee (39 each). Before losing last season's Music City Bowl to Virginia Tech, Alabama had won its past five bowl games.

1999 Orange Bowl