This was four years before I was born. The National Anthem was very impressive. You really get the impression that this was one of only a handful of games that were broadcast during the season were you could actually watch Bama or Auburn play on TV.
1966 was the year that Alabama WR Ray Perkins made two great catches on their game winning drive to beat Tennessee in a rainy Knoxville 11-10. Bear benched Kenny Stabler or the first half starting Wayne Trimble instead. His older brother Murry was one of Bears Junction Boys at Texas A&M. With Bama but I'm you 8down 10-0 at the half, the Bear said, "we got them where we want them" and Tennessee was shutout in the second half. Their field goal attempt went slightly left of the upright as time expired. Les Kelley was on of Bear Bryant best athletes he ever coached. I played Dixie youth league baseball with his son. Kelley tried to have a pro career but his knees thought otherwise.
The experts that determined the rankings could not allow Bear Bryant to win the national championship 3 years in a row. The team could have beaten many NFL teams. It was my senior year at the university and I will always remember
I don't care what Bubba said, Alabama got the shaft. We destroyed a great Nebraska team in New Orleans, and despite losing our first four games with the Irish (1973-80 by a combined 13 points), we had Ken Stabler and a veteran team. Bryant called that team one of his best ever. A shame one of the wire services didn't recognize that team as National Champs.
Thanks, Roll Tide! BTW, the Noxema shave cream commercial is a true classic, probably the sexiest tv commercial ever made, the woman had ageless beauty.
@@columbus730for sure But they did beat ND Alabama claims a title in the 80s where they came in 3rd but this was their natty team💯 People of other fan bases LOVE taking away championships from Bama but never bring up them being snubbed of them.
@@jaycie3558 One of Bear Bryant's coaching facts is that his teams could never beat Notre Dame. That didn't happen until Ray Perkins' team beat them in Birmingham. Everyone remembers the hit that Cornelius Bennett put on the Notre Dame quarterback. There's a book about that 1966 team called, "The Missing Ring." If you can find it, it's a good read.
@@jaycie3558 Not while Coach Bryant was there. They, of course didn't get to play them in 1966. The first time they played Notre Dame was the Sugar Bowl on January 1st, 1974. They lost to the Irish in a great game 24-23. Bill Davis missed an extra point. He had not missed one all year. I think they played them again in the Orange Bowl the following year and lost again. When Bryant was there they played in Birmingham and lost again. They didn't beat them ever until Ray Perkins took over.
On an ESPN Classic show dedicated to the 10-10 tie between Michigan State and Notre Dame in 1966, the host (Dave Revsine) mentioned to Rocky Bleier and Bubba Smith that a lot of folks thought Alabama was the top team in the nation in 1966 because they were undefeated and untied. To which Bubba Smith said without any hesitation, "Rocky, we would have killed (Alabama)! I went up against their top offensive linemen in the Senior Bowl and I just destroyed them. Either of our teams would have killed them!" Bleier referred to ND and MSU that year as "co-champs". It's hard for Alabama to go perfect and get only the #3 ranking, but if you watched that ND-MSU game, it was a very physical game with players getting hurt left and right. Ara Parseghian has been excoriated for playing for a tie in the final minute and a half, but it's hard to believe that other coaches wouldn't have done the same thing under the prevailing circumstances with a tie providing a path to the national championship for Notre Dame just like a win would. The following week, ND went to Los Angeles and crushed USC, 51-0 to cement their national title.
Yeah, Bubba liked to talk a lot, but he never really delivered much. Watch the '66 Rose Bowl. His biggest contribution was trying to block punts. An even smaller team (UCLA) slapped MSU around for most of the game. ND probably would have beaten Bama simply because Bear could never beat them anyway. However, never before or since has a team been a two-time defending national champ, go undefeated/untied and not win it a third time. BTW, most coaches in that situation would have at least tried a few passes. Duffy did before he punted.
@@ericc2083It was far less risky for MSU to pass late in the game, because there was more time remaining on the clock, MSU had its starting QB while ND’s (Terry Hanratty) was knocked out of the game in the first half, and MSU had a much stronger field goal kicker than ND. On ND’s final possession, they went for it on 4th down and converted. Then backup QB Coley O’Brien went back to pass but was quickly sacked. That left time for only one play, which is the only one usually shown on replays-O’Brien running up the middle into the MSU line. Giving Alabama the championship would’ve penalized ND and MSU for playing each other. And Alabama was lucky to beat Tennessee, which missed a short FG attempt on the final play to preserve the 11-10 final score. MSU had a narrow win over Ohio State, 11-8. ND played a demonstrably tougher schedule than MSU and much tougher than Bama, and all 9 of its wins were by 12+ points, with 8 of them by 24+ points, and 6 shutouts by 32+ points each-including 38-0 at Oklahoma and 51-0 at Southern Cal, both of whom entered those games ranked No 10 in the nation. OU later beat Nebraska, 10-9-the team that Bama beat in the Sugar Bowl, 34-7, and the only team with African-American players Bama faced all season. The final polls were taken before the bowls in 1966. Interestingly, Alabama benefitted from both final polls being taken before the bowls in the 1964 season (when Bama lost the Orange to Texas), and also benefitted from the final AP poll in 1965 being taken *after* the bowls (when Bama beat Nebraska in the Orange and No. 1 MSU lost the Rose to UCLA). Bama wasn’t the clear choice for No. 1 in any of those three seasons, so winning 2 of the 3 championships was a pretty good result.
@@johnmanier7968 No doubt ND played a tougher schedule. That's not to say that Bama wouldn't have beaten them all as well. That's all "what-ifs". What isn't hypothetical is my point about a 3-peat. Alabama benefitted in '64, just like ND benefitted in '66, especially when they wouldn't play in a bowl game. If there would have been a post-bowl poll, pretty sure Bama would have got the nod in the coaches poll, especially after that nasty tie and neither ND nor MSU played a bowl game. Remember, Army was a two-time defending National Champ in '44 and '45, went undefeated with only a tie against...wait for it...ND. ND won the NC that year. That's why the AP never had a 3-peat champ. Now, as far as the game goes, you play to win on the field, not in the polls. The players and the fans deserve that much. O'Brien played a solid game. The next week he was outstanding against USC. Who's to say he may have hit a long pass followed by a field goal. I met Ara ten years later. I was working in the Sports Information Department in college and ABC came to town to do their regional games. Ara came 3 times. I was a spotter for him and Bill Fleming during those games. My dad, being a Bama graduate, was not a fan of his, but I thought he was a really nice man, who loved our New Mexican cuisine, especially beef burritos. I asked him once what his biggest regret was in coaching. He said he had two: not throwing the ball more on the last drive against MSU and not shooting that damn horse of USC after they lit him up for 55 straight in his last season.
Yes, when you look at them through the 2024 lens, they have won 12 AP/BCS/CFP National Championships. However, in 1966, they only had 3 up to that point. As an Alabama fan, I will say that Arkansas was cheated out of the 1964 AP National Title that Alabama won before they lost to Texas. However, bowl games did not count until 1965. THEN in 1966, they gave Notre Dame the title before the bowls. So, the NCAA reversed the previous year ruling making the bowl games count just for Notre Dame, who did not go to bowl games in those days. That, to me, more than anything else was wrong. Not just the fact that Alabama was undefeated that year.
I believe Arkansas did finish number 1 in '64 in the Coaches Poll. I didn't think they voted for who should be number 1, after the bowl games until the early 70s. The reason I've always thought that, is because I thought Texas was voted NC in 1970, even though they lost big to Notre Dame in the '71 Cotton Bowl...So now I'm not sure who finished number 1 in 1970.🤔
@@oldiesgeek454 It went back and forth over the years. In 1964, both polls voted on the national championship before the bowls. In 1965, the UPI poll was before the bowls but the AP was after. In 1966, both polls awarded the national championship before the bowls. I believe the AP started selecting the National Championship after the bowls for good in 1970. Texas won the UPI before the bowls, but lost to Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl and Nebraska won the AP after the bowls. UPI continued to award it's national championship before the bowls through 1973. That was the year Alabama won the UPI and then lost to Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl and the Irish won the AP national championship. After that UPI awarded it's championships after the bowls.
Arkansas has a claim for the '64 title, but remember Namath was hurt before the bowl game and came in when Texas was up 14-0. Bama lost 21-17 but controversy when Namath apparently scored on goal line on 4th and 1 in that Orange Bowl late in 4th quarter. He had goal line chalk on his jersey. Had Namath not been hurt Bama would have scored 30 against the Horns.
I remember this game. Thanks for the upload. It's like spending 4 hours again in my youth; with the commercials it all comes back.
This was four years before I was born. The National Anthem was very impressive. You really get the impression that this was one of only a handful of games that were broadcast during the season were you could actually watch Bama or Auburn play on TV.
The amount of men wearing a suit and tie at a football game sure does says something about the times.
1966 was the year that Alabama WR Ray Perkins made two great catches on their game winning drive to beat Tennessee in a rainy Knoxville 11-10. Bear benched Kenny Stabler or the first half starting Wayne Trimble instead. His older brother Murry was one of Bears Junction Boys at Texas A&M. With Bama but I'm you 8down 10-0 at the half, the Bear said, "we got them where we want them" and Tennessee was shutout in the second half. Their field goal attempt went slightly left of the upright as time expired. Les Kelley was on of Bear Bryant best athletes he ever coached. I played Dixie youth league baseball with his son. Kelley tried to have a pro career but his knees thought otherwise.
The experts that determined the rankings could not allow Bear Bryant to win the national championship 3 years in a row. The team could have beaten many NFL teams. It was my senior year at the university and I will always remember
Yep 💯 they couldn't stand that, BAMA was the only undefeated and untied team, it should've counted and gave the BEAR a 3-peat
Love the older era college football games and the commercials were good too. Roll Tide !
My matrrnal grandfather and I attended this game. We were seated in the North endzone.
I don't care what Bubba said, Alabama got the shaft. We destroyed a great Nebraska team in New Orleans, and despite losing our first four games with the Irish (1973-80 by a combined 13 points), we had Ken Stabler and a veteran team. Bryant called that team one of his best ever. A shame one of the wire services didn't recognize that team as National Champs.
Alabama was punished for their civil rights laws
@@dannytalley5559I thought it was because the team wasn't integrated.
It would've also gave BAMA a 3-peat
@@ezmoney79 Something I want to see before they put me in my pine box. Had a couple of chances to do it under Saban.
Who or what is Bubba?😮
Thanks, Roll Tide! BTW, the Noxema shave cream commercial is a true classic, probably the sexiest tv commercial ever made, the woman had ageless beauty.
Wow! What a time capsule!
I saw Forrest Practicing before the Game !! # 44..
Bill Fleming and Noxema shaving cream. That gal sold me.
Back when American women were feminine.
Flemming
That happens to be Miss Sweden 1961. Her name is Gunilla Knutsson. She was a finalist in the 1961 Miss Universe contest.
Great find!
David Hartman @ 11:07 Mclean Stevenson @ 2:05:26
Weird seeing Tobacco advertising since it's been banned for over 20 years now.
BAMA deserved the national championship this year
Bama's best team. Should have been National Champions.
I doubt that they would have beaten any of Nick Saban's teams.
@@columbus730for sure
But they did beat ND Alabama claims a title in the 80s where they came in 3rd but this was their natty team💯
People of other fan bases LOVE taking away championships from Bama but never bring up them being snubbed of them.
@@jaycie3558 One of Bear Bryant's coaching facts is that his teams could never beat Notre Dame. That didn't happen until Ray Perkins' team beat them in Birmingham. Everyone remembers the hit that Cornelius Bennett put on the Notre Dame quarterback. There's a book about that 1966 team called, "The Missing Ring." If you can find it, it's a good read.
@@columbus730 but they did?
@@jaycie3558 Not while Coach Bryant was there. They, of course didn't get to play them in 1966. The first time they played Notre Dame was the Sugar Bowl on January 1st, 1974. They lost to the Irish in a great game 24-23. Bill Davis missed an extra point. He had not missed one all year. I think they played them again in the Orange Bowl the following year and lost again. When Bryant was there they played in Birmingham and lost again. They didn't beat them ever until Ray Perkins took over.
I was an infant the day this game was played 😢
Yeah, I always find the "integrated" team argument interesting. ND had ONE black guy...Alan Page, who happened to be really good.
On an ESPN Classic show dedicated to the 10-10 tie between Michigan State and Notre Dame in 1966, the host (Dave Revsine) mentioned to Rocky Bleier and Bubba Smith that a lot of folks thought Alabama was the top team in the nation in 1966 because they were undefeated and untied. To which Bubba Smith said without any hesitation, "Rocky, we would have killed (Alabama)! I went up against their top offensive linemen in the Senior Bowl and I just destroyed them. Either of our teams would have killed them!" Bleier referred to ND and MSU that year as "co-champs". It's hard for Alabama to go perfect and get only the #3 ranking, but if you watched that ND-MSU game, it was a very physical game with players getting hurt left and right. Ara Parseghian has been excoriated for playing for a tie in the final minute and a half, but it's hard to believe that other coaches wouldn't have done the same thing under the prevailing circumstances with a tie providing a path to the national championship for Notre Dame just like a win would. The following week, ND went to Los Angeles and crushed USC, 51-0 to cement their national title.
Yeah, Bubba liked to talk a lot, but he never really delivered much. Watch the '66 Rose Bowl. His biggest contribution was trying to block punts. An even smaller team (UCLA) slapped MSU around for most of the game. ND probably would have beaten Bama simply because Bear could never beat them anyway. However, never before or since has a team been a two-time defending national champ, go undefeated/untied and not win it a third time. BTW, most coaches in that situation would have at least tried a few passes. Duffy did before he punted.
And Bama crushed ND
@@ericc2083It was far less risky for MSU to pass late in the game, because there was more time remaining on the clock, MSU had its starting QB while ND’s (Terry Hanratty) was knocked out of the game in the first half, and MSU had a much stronger field goal kicker than ND. On ND’s final possession, they went for it on 4th down and converted. Then backup QB Coley O’Brien went back to pass but was quickly sacked. That left time for only one play, which is the only one usually shown on replays-O’Brien running up the middle into the MSU line. Giving Alabama the championship would’ve penalized ND and MSU for playing each other. And Alabama was lucky to beat Tennessee, which missed a short FG attempt on the final play to preserve the 11-10 final score. MSU had a narrow win over Ohio State, 11-8. ND played a demonstrably tougher schedule than MSU and much tougher than Bama, and all 9 of its wins were by 12+ points, with 8 of them by 24+ points, and 6 shutouts by 32+ points each-including 38-0 at Oklahoma and 51-0 at Southern Cal, both of whom entered those games ranked No 10 in the nation. OU later beat Nebraska, 10-9-the team that Bama beat in the Sugar Bowl, 34-7, and the only team with African-American players Bama faced all season. The final polls were taken before the bowls in 1966. Interestingly, Alabama benefitted from both final polls being taken before the bowls in the 1964 season (when Bama lost the Orange to Texas), and also benefitted from the final AP poll in 1965 being taken *after* the bowls (when Bama beat Nebraska in the Orange and No. 1 MSU lost the Rose to UCLA). Bama wasn’t the clear choice for No. 1 in any of those three seasons, so winning 2 of the 3 championships was a pretty good result.
@@johnmanier7968 No doubt ND played a tougher schedule. That's not to say that Bama wouldn't have beaten them all as well. That's all "what-ifs". What isn't hypothetical is my point about a 3-peat. Alabama benefitted in '64, just like ND benefitted in '66, especially when they wouldn't play in a bowl game. If there would have been a post-bowl poll, pretty sure Bama would have got the nod in the coaches poll, especially after that nasty tie and neither ND nor MSU played a bowl game. Remember, Army was a two-time defending National Champ in '44 and '45, went undefeated with only a tie against...wait for it...ND. ND won the NC that year. That's why the AP never had a 3-peat champ. Now, as far as the game goes, you play to win on the field, not in the polls. The players and the fans deserve that much. O'Brien played a solid game. The next week he was outstanding against USC. Who's to say he may have hit a long pass followed by a field goal.
I met Ara ten years later. I was working in the Sports Information Department in college and ABC came to town to do their regional games. Ara came 3 times. I was a spotter for him and Bill Fleming during those games. My dad, being a Bama graduate, was not a fan of his, but I thought he was a really nice man, who loved our New Mexican cuisine, especially beef burritos. I asked him once what his biggest regret was in coaching. He said he had two: not throwing the ball more on the last drive against MSU and not shooting that damn horse of USC after they lit him up for 55 straight in his last season.
The thing Bubba said that I agree 100000% is this " You can't win a championship unless you beat the other team. A tie shouldn't win a championship""
That game was a blood letting.
Back when America was free.
;You mean back when Alabama was white!
@@columbus730who beat black teams☠️
Stupid comment. Certainly wasn't free for minorities or poor whites. They had a draft lottery for Vietnam in 69. Doesn't sound free to me.
31:53 - Don Morrow for AC Spark Plugs
BYU won a NC! And how many teams could have beaten them?
And they only had to beat a 6-5 Michigan team in the Holiday Bowl.
Most of them
i mem the shell platformate commercials for 1 more mile per gallon. what happened to that?
I miss REAL football.
Alabama has won plenty.
Yes, when you look at them through the 2024 lens, they have won 12 AP/BCS/CFP National Championships. However, in 1966, they only had 3 up to that point. As an Alabama fan, I will say that Arkansas was cheated out of the 1964 AP National Title that Alabama won before they lost to Texas. However, bowl games did not count until 1965. THEN in 1966, they gave Notre Dame the title before the bowls. So, the NCAA reversed the previous year ruling making the bowl games count just for Notre Dame, who did not go to bowl games in those days. That, to me, more than anything else was wrong. Not just the fact that Alabama was undefeated that year.
I believe Arkansas did finish number 1 in '64 in the Coaches Poll. I didn't think they voted for who should be number 1, after the bowl games until the early 70s. The reason I've always thought that, is because I thought Texas was voted NC in 1970, even though they lost big to Notre Dame in the '71 Cotton Bowl...So now I'm not sure who finished number 1 in 1970.🤔
@@oldiesgeek454 It went back and forth over the years. In 1964, both polls voted on the national championship before the bowls. In 1965, the UPI poll was before the bowls but the AP was after. In 1966, both polls awarded the national championship before the bowls. I believe the AP started selecting the National Championship after the bowls for good in 1970. Texas won the UPI before the bowls, but lost to Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl and Nebraska won the AP after the bowls. UPI continued to award it's national championship before the bowls through 1973. That was the year Alabama won the UPI and then lost to Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl and the Irish won the AP national championship. After that UPI awarded it's championships after the bowls.
@@robertdewitt814 Thanks so much for the explanation. 😊
Arkansas has a claim for the '64 title, but remember Namath was hurt before the bowl game and came in when Texas was up 14-0. Bama lost 21-17 but controversy when Namath apparently scored on goal line on 4th and 1 in that Orange Bowl late in 4th quarter. He had goal line chalk on his jersey.
Had Namath not been hurt Bama would have scored 30 against the Horns.
Alabama would not have beaten the Florida A&M Rattlers in 1966.
I'm sure A&M was good, but going 11-0 back in that day was difficult to do.