1990 Alabama Crimson Tide football team

The 1990 Alabama Crimson Tide football team represented the University of Alabama for the 1990 College football season. The Crimson Tide was led by first-year head coach Gene Stallings,[1][2] replacing Bill Curry who left for the University of Kentucky.[3]

1990 Alabama Crimson Tide football
Fiesta Bowl, L 7–34 vs. Louisville
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
1990 record7–5 (5–2 SEC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorMal Moore
Captains
  • Efrum Thomas
  • Gary Hollingsworth
  • Philip Doyle
Home stadiumBryant–Denny Stadium
(Capacity: 70,123)
Legion Field
(Capacity: 75,962)
1990 Southeastern Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 13 Florida 6 –1 –0  9 –2 –0
No. 8 Tennessee $ 5 –1 –1  9 –2 –2
No. 21 Ole Miss 5 –2 –0  9 –3 –0
Alabama 5 –2 –0  7 –5 –0
No. 19 Auburn 4 –2 –1  8 –3 –1
Kentucky 3 –4 –0  4 –7 –0
LSU 2 –5 –0  5 –6 –0
Georgia 2 –5 –0  4 –7 –0
Mississippi State 1 –6 –0  5 –6 –0
Vanderbilt 1 –6 –0  1 –10 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • Florida ineligible for SEC championship due to NCAA probation.
Rankings from AP Poll

Summary

The 1990 season got off to an excruciating start, as the Tide and new coach Gene Stallings lost three games by a combined total of eight points. In the opener against Southern Miss, star tailback Siran Stacy tore ligaments in his knee and missed the rest of the season. Against Florida, Alabama lost another star player for the year in wide receiver Craig Sanderson and quarterback Gary Hollingsworth threw three interceptions to Florida safety Will White, and the Gators scored the winning touchdown on a blocked punt.[4]

After wins over lightly regarded Vanderbilt and SW Louisiana (now Louisiana-Lafayette), Bama traveled to Knoxville to face undefeated, third-ranked Tennessee. The result was a shocking 9–6 upset victory, Alabama's fifth in a row in the Third Saturday in October rivalry. The game was a defensive struggle and a field goal duel. UT's kicker Greg Harris, who hit a 51-yard field goal try to tie the game with ten minutes left, attempted a 50-yarder for the win with 1:35 to go, but Alabama's Stacy Harrison blocked the kick and the ball bounced to the Tennessee 37-yard line. The Crimson Tide advanced the ball seven yards on three running plays, setting up Philip Doyle's third field goal, a game-winning 48-yarder as time expired.[5]

The next game was an ugly 9–0 loss to Penn State in which Hollingsworth threw five interceptions and Bama rushed for only six yards.[6] However, Alabama bounced back to win four in a row and salvage a winning season after the 0–3 start. Most importantly, Alabama won its first Iron Bowl in five years, dominating Auburn defensively and winning 16–7. It was the seventh game in a row in which the Alabama defense held the opposition to single digits. The season ended with a lopsided 34–7 bowl loss to Louisville, and Alabama finished 7–5.

Schedule
DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 81:30 p.m.Southern Miss*No. 13
PPVL 24–2775,962
September 1511:30 a.m.No. 24 Florida
WTBSL 13–1770,123
September 222:00 p.m.at Georgia
CBSL 16–1782,122
September 291:30 p.m.Vanderbilt
PPVW 59–2870,123
October 64:00 p.m.at Southwestern Louisiana*
PPVW 25–636,133
October 203:00 p.m.at No. 3 Tennessee
ESPNW 9–696,732
October 274:00 p.m.Penn State*
ESPNL 0–970,123
November 311:30 a.m.at Mississippi State
WTBSW 22–039,252
November 101:30 p.m.LSU
PPVW 24–370,123
November 171:30 p.m.Cincinnati*
W 45–771,327
December 12:00 p.m.vs. No. 20 Auburn
CBSW 16–775,962
January 1, 19913:30 p.m.vs. No. 18 Louisville*No. 25
NBCL 7–3469,098
  • *Non-conference game
  • Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Central time

Statistics
Note: Does not include Fiesta Bowl.

Overall
StatisticsAlabamaOpponents
Touchdowns2613
Points Scored253127
Total First Downs194139
Rushing11162
Passing7265
Penalty1112
Total Yards3,6732,523
Rushing2,1441,007
Passing1,5291,519
Punts–Yards64–2,47379–3,105
FG Made–Att24–2912–17
XP Made–Att25–2511–11

Scoring
 1  2  3  4 Total
Alabama89744248 253
Opponents15243454 127

Passing
NameComp–AttPct.TDINTYardsRatingLong
Hollingsworth 140–28249.74131,46388.760
Woodson 2–1118.2036614.035
Lee 0–10.00000.00

References
  1. "Stallings Hopes To Bring Alabama Program Home". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. January 14, 1990.
  2. "Alabama set to name Stallings". St. Petersburg Times. January 11, 1990. p. 1C. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
  3. "Alabama's Curry quits, reportedly for Kentucky job". The Dallas Morning News. January 8, 1990.
  4. "Loaded For Bear", S. Looney, Douglas. Sports Illustrated, September 24, 1990
  5. "COLLEGE FOOTBALL; Alabama Stuns Tennessee, 9–6", New York Times, October 21, 1990
  6. "Lions' defense smothers Tide in 9–0 win" Archived 2008-08-02 at the Wayback Machine, The Daily Collegian (Penn State University), October 29, 1990
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