A LOOK BACK: Tide-Buckeyes have enjoyed close games in the past
Scenes from the first meeting between Alabama and Ohio State in the 1978 Sugar Bowl, a game won by the Crimson Tide, 35-6. (Photos courtesy Paul W. Bryant Museum)
By GRAHAM DUNN
Can we learn anything about Monday’s College Football Playoff championship game by looking at past meetings between Alabama and Ohio State?
The Crimson Tide holds a 3-1 advantage in the series but Ohio State won the last meeting in the 2015 College Football Playoffs.
While the meetings have been infrequent, each of the games have had plenty of narrative behind it.
The two teams first met on Jan. 2, 1978 in the Sugar Bowl, a 35-6 Tide win.
Only one of the three previous meetings were not in post season. That was in 1986 when the two blue bloods met in the now defunct Kickoff Classic, a 16-10 Bama victory.
When the two teams met in 1978, the focus was on the two coaches. Paul “Bear” Bryant and Woody Hayes met for the first time in their illustrious careers. At the time, they were the winningest duo in the country.
Ohio State entered the game with a 9-2 record losing its last game to Michigan, which cost the Buckeyes the Big 10 championship and a trip to the Rose Bowl.
Alabama was 11-1 with the lone loss coming to Nebraska in the second game of the season. The Tide was ranked third heading into the bowl game with an outside chance of winning a national championship. The Buckeyes were ranked 11th with their other loss coming at the hands of Oklahoma.
The game was never in doubt. After a scoreless first quarter, the Crimson Tide led by 13 at halftime and added another score with a two-point conversion midway through the third quarter before Ohio State scored its lone touchdown of the game in the early portion of the fourth period.
Led by Sidney Lanier great Johnny Davis, the Tide rushed for 286 yards and held the Buckeyes to just over 200 yards of total offense.
Despite the win, Alabama was shut out of No. 1 in both polls as Notre Dame jumped from fifth to first after an upset of top-ranked Texas in the Cotton Bowl. Bama would finish second while Ohio State finished 11th in the AP poll and 12th in the UPI (coaches).
It would be eight years before the two teams met again in East Rutherford, N.J. at Giants Stadium for the season opener for both teams. The made-for-TV series was just three years old but had become a precursor to what is now season openers for many teams such as Alabama, which has opened the season in places like Atlanta and Dallas under Nick Saban.
The game featured Ray Perkins in his fourth and final season at the helm at Alabama while Earl Bruce was the coach at Ohio State.
The Buckeyes took 10-6 lead into the fourth quarter before Alabama got a 3-yard touchdown pass from Mike Shula to Al Bell followed by a Van Tiffin 28-yard field goal for the final points in a 16-10 victory.
Alabama started the season fifth in the country and got as high as second before losing to Penn State in late October. The Tide would finish with a disappointing 10-3 record and Perkins would leave for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers soon after season ended.
The two teams met again in the 1995 Florida Citrus Bowl in Orlando. Under Gene Stallings, the Crimson Tide had gone through the ’94 regular season undefeated before falling to Florida in the SEC Championship game.
Ohio State finished the regular season 9-3 under head coach John Cooper.
Much like the previous meeting, Alabama had to fight from behind to win. The Buckeyes held a 17-14 lead early in the fourth quarter but Alabama tied the game on Michael Proctor’s 27-yard field goal. In the final minute, Sherman Williams scored on a 50-yard pass from Jay Barker to ice the win.
Alabama would finish fourth in the AP poll and fifth in the CNN-USA Today coaches’ Poll. Ohio State was 14th and ninth respectively.
Most would agree the most significant meeting between the two took place in the first-ever College Football Playoff following the 2014 season.
It was labeled another battle between iconic coaches Nick Saban and Urban Meyer, who had locked horns in the SEC Championship games in 2008 and 2009 while Meyer was at Florida.
In the 2015 Sugar Bowl, Alabama was 12-1 with the loss coming at the hands of Ole Miss while Ohio State lost an early-season battle with Virginia Tech.
The Buckeyes had suffered an injury to its top two quarterbacks in the previous games, leaving third-stringer Cardale Jones as the starter. He had carved up the Wisconsin defense in the Big 10 championship and continued his mastery against the Crimson Tide in a 42-35 victory.
Running back Ezekiel Elliott broke a Sugar Bowl record with 230 yards rushing including the back-breaker late in the game, an 85-yard romp to give OSU a two-touchdown lead. Alabama would fight back to pull within a touchdown but on its final drive, quarterback Blake Sims threw his third interception of the game to end the comeback attempt.
Ohio State would go on to win the national championship, defeating Oregon, 42-20, in the championship.
The Crimson Tide will be making its fifth appearance in the CFP Championship game, winning two in 2016 and 2018. Ohio State’s championship in 2015 is the lone appearance for the Buckeyes.