The 1992 college football season will always hold a special place in the hearts of Alabama Crimson Tide fans.
Alabama concluded its season with a dominant 34-13 win over the Miami Hurricanes in the Sugar Bowl to win the national championship. The Crimson Tide finished a perfect 13-0.
Included on their ’92 schedule? A Thanksgiving Day edition of the Iron Bowl matchup with the Auburn Tigers at Legion Field in Birmingham that was nationally televised on ABC. It’s the last time the Crimson Tide have played a football game on Thanksgiving.
For a trip down memory lane, here’s what happened when the Tide and Tigers met at “The Old Gray Lady” on Nov. 26, 1992.
Gene Stallings’ Alabama team was ranked No. 2 in the nation after nail-biting wins over No. 13 Tennessee, 17-10 in Knoxville, and No. 16 Mississippi State, 30-21, in Starkville in the run-up to the Iron Bowl. Standing in the way of an undefeated regular season was an Auburn team that was even more fired up than usual to play its biggest rival.
That’s because the biggest story entering the game wasn’t Alabama’s No. 2 ranking, but the news that broke the night before. Auburn head coach Pat Dye, a former Bear Bryant assistant and personal friend, had announced his resignation late Friday in Birmingham.
When the game kicked off, Auburn fought Alabama to a scoreless tie at halftime. Shortly afterwards, star cornerback Antonio Langham stole the day. With the Tigers having driven to the Alabama 39-yard-line, Langham tipped a pass from Auburn quarterback Stan White for an interception and returned it 60 yards for the game’s first points.
Alabama fans could breathe easy after that. Michael Proctor tacked on a 47-yard field goal late in the third quarter, and Sherman Williams broke a 15-yard touchdown run early in the fourth.
The Tide’s vaunted defense finished off a shutout that day for a 17-0 win. At the time, it was the first shutout win by an Alabama team in the Iron Bowl since Bryant’s 1975 squad blanked the Plainsmen, 28-0.
Two shutout wins by Alabama over Auburn have followed since that Thanksgiving Day at Legion Field in 1992. Under Nick Saban. the Tide snapped a six-game losing streak in the rivalry with a 36-0 win in Tommy Tuberville’s final game as Auburn coach in 2008. Four years later, in the final game for another Auburn coach (Gene Chizik), Alabama won 49-0.
Alabama leads the all-time series vs. Auburn, 50-37-1, and will be seeking their fifth straight win against the Tigers when the two teams meet Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT. The game can be seen on ABC.
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