1973 Cotton Bowl

This is The 1/1/1973 Cotton Bowl. Alabama vs Texas. Both had one bitter loss coming in. Texas had lost to Oklahoma in a game that The Sooners were accused of spying on UT Practices to stop a key fake punt late in the game. In an ironic twist The Punting game had cost Alabama dearly in a bitter loss to rival Auburn. The now famous or infamous Punt Bama Punt game. Despite these losses these were both excellent teams. They had fully adopted The Wishbone at This time and this was in effect a Wishbone war. As it turned out even The Bear wasn't immune to disrespecting opponents. He had been asked before The Auburn game if he would rather beat rival Auburn more than Texas. A loaded question which caused him to snap at the thought. He said he'd rather beat The Cow College "Auburn" than Texas anytime. It didn't turn out well after that. The first Half, approximately 22 minutes is silent. The Second is the Original Broadcast. I claim no rights.

[@sashacougar]

I've been looking for a copy of this game for a long time. Nice.

[@mr.g1758]

At age 11, I thought this was the greatest spectacle I'd ever seen. My first Tide bowl game; I've been to every one since (53 in a row). Had we not had the two blocked punts in loss to Auburn we'd have been ranked #2 and playing for a shot at a national title, but I'm not sure had we won those last two if we might have gotten a split title, as USC went 12-0 that year. It's pretty apparent that Alan Lowry stepped out of bounds on their game winning score late in the 4th quarter, but they may have scored anyhow. Players later said their heart just wasn't in this game after the stunning loss in Legion Field that spoiled our season. But glad to see this tape, a most memorable game. Some college poll shortly thereafter voted this one of the top 40 games of all-time. Of course it's largely forgotten today. But not in my mind.

[@heathcompton1336]

Thank you for posting this game!!!!

[@danielcrowe9324]

It's noteworthy that Coach Bryant said in an interview that he had tried to schedule Texas during the regular season but they wouldn't agree to a regular season game. Understandable, due to the Texas/Oklahoma rivalry and the NC being decided by popularity polls.

[@nathaniellathy6559]

Texas was a thorn in Alabama's side in 70s and 80s. They beat the Tide in the 73 and 82 Cotton Bowls. Bear must have hated losing to Texas since they were a rival when he coached at Texas A&M

[@bradtaylor4765]

Not really a rival, Texas owned them until cheating Jackie Sherrill came along

[@DavidSmith-fs6pi]

Alabama was screwed in this game the Texas QB was out of bounds on his big run

[@gregford2103]

True, but if the correct call is made, Texas would have a first down deep in Alabama territory. They would be in excellent scoring position, and barring a turnover, the Longhorns could have tied it with a field goal.

[@patclements7195]

Coach Bryant commented that Texas would have probably scored anyway as Bama couldn't stop them.

[@bradtaylor4765]

Still crying after all these years. There was still time and Texas would have probably scored anyway. Bama fans are amazing

[@bradtaylor4765]

Oh, and bama dude, how about that call last year when bama visited Austin? The No safety call. One of the worst ever. Stop crying, you’ve gotten more than your share of calls go your way.

[@rjhyden]

@@bradtaylor4765 Yeah! Hookem !

[@JTWaters68]

Alabama failed to win any bowl games from 1968-74, this was one of them.

[@MalcolmPusey-dc1ku]

Where's the sound?