#1 ranked Oklahoma Sonners came to Tuscaloosa with all of the confidence necessary to win a national title, ...or to get in trouble. Bama's stadium holds 83,000, but since that day over two million Alabamians claim to have been in attendance (about three million in the state may have watched the game on TV). Coach Shula obviously worked hard to expand the offense in just seven days. Some claimed they even doubled the number of plays in the game plan. Whatever, it didn't matter as Alabama would not be denied on this day as the steely grit of this team was forged in the heat of one of the most fiercely fought battles ever witnessed on the gridiron. After four quarters at 95* and 95% humidity, it was a wonder that either of the two teams could survive through two overtimes, much less continue the savage hitting evidenced on both sides of the ball. After watching Shaud Williams and Ray Hudson carry the team's running attack for three hours in the sweltering heat, Ken Darby came on in the 2nd overtime to catch a swing pass from Croyle and jitterbug his way 25 yards into the end zonefor a 26-23 win by Bama. The entire team, and the 75,000 Bama fans, stayed on the field for 45 minutes celebrating the victory. Everyone that watchted this game knew that this was the start of something special on the Capstone.
24 days and counting..............RTR
08-06-2003
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