American Football Database
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1983 Alabama Crimson Tide football
Sun Bowl champion
Sun Bowl, W 28–7 vs. SMU
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 12
APNo. 15
1983 record8–4 (4–2 SEC)
Head coachRay Perkins (1st season)
CaptainWalter Lewis
CaptainRandy Edwards
Home stadiumBryant–Denny Stadium
(Capacity: 60,210)
Legion Field
(Capacity: 75,808)
Seasons
← 1982
1984 →
1983 SEC football standings
v · d · e Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
#3/3 Auburn 6 0 0     11 1 0
#5/5 Georgia 5 1 0     10 1 1
#6/6 Florida 4 2 0     9 2 1
Tennessee 4 2 0     9 3 0
#15/12 Alabama 4 2 0     8 4 0
Ole Miss 4 2 0     6 6 0
Kentucky 2 4 0     6 5 1
Mississippi State 1 5 0     3 8 0
LSU 0 6 0     4 7 0
Vanderbilt 0 6 0     2 9 0
† – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll/Coaches Poll

The 1983 Alabama Crimson Tide football team (variously "Alabama", "UA", "Bama" or "The Tide") represented the University of Alabama in the 1983 NCAA Division I-A football season. It was the Crimson Tide's 91st overall and 50th season as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The team was led by head coach Ray Perkins, in his first 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 eight wins and four losses (8–4 overall, 4–2 in the SEC). Ray Perkins, who played as a wide receiver for Bear Bryant in the 1960s, was named as the new head coach at Alabama on December 14, 1982, to succeed Bryant after his 25-year tenure as Alabama's head coach.[1]

After opening the season with four consecutive wins and rising to #3 in the AP poll, The Tide suffered a controversial 34–28 loss to Penn State. Trailing 34-7 entering the 4th quarter, Alabama rallied and seemed to be an extra point away from victory after tight end Preston Gothard appeared to catch a game-tying touchdown pass with eight seconds left in the game. One official signaled a touchdown but was overruled by the back judge who ruled Gothard was out of bounds. Video replay indicated otherwise, however instant replay in college football was still decades away.[2][3] Bama avenged the previous year's losses to LSU and Southern Miss but lost to Tennessee and Auburn again.[4] The Crimson Tide completed their season with a 28–7 victory over SMU in the Sun Bowl.[5]

Schedule[]

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 101:30 p.m.Georgia Tech*No. 14W 20–777,413
September 171:30 p.m.Ole MissNo. 12W 40–060,210
September 247:00 p.m.at VanderbiltNo. 6W 44–2441,418
October 11:30 p.m.Memphis State*daggerNo. 6W 44–1360,210
October 82:30 p.m.at Penn State*No. 3CBSL 28–3485,614
October 151:30 p.m.TennesseeNo. 11L 34–4177,237
October 291:30 p.m.Mississippi StateNo. 18W 35–1860,210
November 511:30 a.m.at LSUNo. 19ABCW 32–2670,606
November 121:30 p.m.Southern Miss*No. 16W 28–1674,424
November 2512:30 p.m.at No. 15 Boston College*No. 13
  • Sullivan Stadium
  • Foxboro, MA
CBSL 13–2058,047
December 32:30 p.m.vs. No. 3 AuburnNo. 19ABCL 20–2377,310
December 242:00 p.m.vs. No. 6 SMU*CBSW 28–741,412
Source: Rolltide.com All-time Football Results: 1983 Season[6]

References[]

General

Specific

  1. Steve, Martin (December 15, 1982). "Giants' Ray Perkins taking coaching job". The Tuscaloosa News (Google News): p. 1A. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=FXg0AAAAIBAJ&sjid=saUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5831%2C3782402. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
  2. Neff, Craig (October 17, 1983). "They're Lion low no more". Sports Illustrated (SI.com). http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1121388/index.htm. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
  3. "Archived copy". http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2011/09/preston_gothard_and_thomas_ray.html.
  4. 1983 Game Recaps, Game Nos. 6, 8, 9, 11
  5. 1983 Game Recaps, Game No. 12
  6. "All-time Football Results: 1983 Season". RollTide.com. University of Alabama Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. Archived from the original on December 2, 2011. https://www.webcitation.org/63dbQSj7C?url=http://www.rolltide.com/sports/m-footbl/archive/m-footbl-results-archive.html. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
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