Bear with me a moment.

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

It's 1996. We've lost to Georgia, Auburn, LSU, LA TECH, and Kentucky the previous week. Bama is #8 and rolling in to wipe us out. My classmates and I tailgate and BBQ next to the tennis courts south of the stadium. There is no big crowd, unless you count those in crimson who almost outnumber those of us in marooon and white. My good friend scored some great seats in the middle of the best home seats. We get there and it is almost even maroon and crimson. Bama jumps out to a lead and most of us are just happy to make an adult beverage and enjoy a classic fall evening.

Then something weird starts happening. We start holding Bama down and get closer in score. The boisterous Tide fans are nervous and don't know how to handle this unknown feeling. One Tide Fan sitting just in front of me gets a State fan tossed because he rang his bell. State fans are pissed and are all looking daggers at his guy when the Dawgs make a big play and I stand up and ring the hell put of my bell looking this ******* dead in the eye. Some guy behind me says,"I want to see you get this big 17er thrown out!" The Bammer grabs his **** and leaves, not because of me but the crowd around ready to lynch him.

Back the game... Suddenly the slowest MSU Tight End I have ever seen is running down the field and the Bama guys can't seem to tackle him. I guess he was running too slow. He finally is tackled and Hazelwood makes one of his soon to be patented winning FGs.

The MSU defense, which was dead last in the league giving up almost 400 yds a game holds Fat Freddie Kitchens on their last four possessions and we did the impossible and win 17-16.

We had been completely ****** up until this win. Sherrill was just about out the door but this win, coupled with some key incoming players started a new era of winning for MSU and saved Jackie's job.

Now I tell you guys this just to point out somethings just happen, especially when you least expect it. We could have played that game another 20 times and probably would lose them all. We had no business whatsoever winning that game.

That was a different Bama program, but so were we. Do I think it will happen, of course not. Not in a million years.

But I would enjoy the 17 out of beating Bama once again.

 

[tatedog]

We are recruiting at about the same level we were in 1996 right now. I don't recall Stallings ever putting together a string of top 3 classes like Saban has. Stallings was blessed with Jay Barker who absolutely had a horseshoe stuck up his ***, and a smattering of NFL talent at some key positions. Saban is on a different level.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

We are recruiting at about the same level we were in 1996 right now. I don't recall Stallings ever putting together a string of top 3 classes like Saban has. Stallings was blessed with Jay Barker who absolutely had a horseshoe stuck up his ***, and a smattering of NFL talent at some key positions. Saban is on a different level.

It's amazing just how far the level of competition has risen since those days. They were talented ball players but the ones today are just amazing athletes. It's also amazing how many of them there are.

 

[tatedog]

In Stallings' one title game appearance they were huge underdogs to Miami. His teams seemed to play up in those spoiler/underdog roles. He definitely put some great teams on the field, but never even approached the dominance that Saban has achieved. They were the victims of quite a few shocking upsets.

 

[RocketDawg]

That was the game of the infamous skydiver crash wasn't it? I was there, on the 50 yard line (when they still had the "Special Section R" on the east side, which cost nothing to get other than the price of the ticket. I had those tickets for years, I think up until the Club Level was built.

 

[tatedog]

Yes and Bama was headed to another western division title after crushing LSU in Baton Rogue the previous game I believe. I want to say we were about a 16 pt underdog. It was a weird time in the SEC... at the tops of the divisions almost a reversal from the current balance of power.

 

[Drebin]

It's a different game now than it was in 1996. I don't know if it's because we've gotten better at recruiting evaluations, or if the gap between us and the big boys is just bigger - but odds of winning just seem a lot more insurmountable today than it did back then.

 

[TrapGame.sixpack]

We are recruiting at about the same level we were in 1996 right now. I don't recall Stallings ever putting together a string of top 3 classes like Saban has. Stallings was blessed with Jay Barker who absolutely had a horseshoe stuck up his ***, and a smattering of NFL talent at some key positions. Saban is on a different level.

Yep, I wonder how many "analysts" Stallings had on payroll.

 

[Go Budaw]

Good post, but has some holes in it. The “slowest MSU TE you had ever seen” was Reggie Kelly, who played 13 years in the NFL. I’m just gonna put that one on the beers by the tennis courts.

I was a 7th grader trying to make a buck selling some drinks and popcorn in the stands at that one. I spent the vast majority of the time watching it, and by mid-3rd quarter the guy in charge of all of us told everyone just to go get comfortable where we could find a seat or a place to stand, like they knew something important / historical was going on. The one play I’ll never, ever forget was Robert Isaac (Keffer’s back-up, after he tore his ACL against USC) running an off-tackle play where he got stood up by 2 or 3 Bama defenders at the 10 yard line after about two yards. Somehow, some way, he spun off all of them and squirmed free for a TD. It was then I realized we might have a shot. Great night and one of those things you just never forget no matter how much time passes.

 

[tatedog]

Great memory!

The main thing I remember feeling before that game was how we were so close in 92 and 94 in much more impactful games, but let them off the hook. I don't think anyone saw the win in 96 coming at all. I'd have definitely traded that one for a win in 92 or 94, but that's how life works.

 

[Drebin]

Great memory!

The main thing I remember feeling before that game was how we were so close in 92 and 94 in much more impactful games, but let them off the hook. I don't think anyone saw the win in 96 coming at all. I'd have definitely traded that one for a win in 92 or 94, but that's how life works.

I also think there's a bit of revisionist history over how good Alabama was that year. There were already some rumblings that Bama folks were unhappy with Stallings - to the point that he and the AD got into a shouting match in the locker room after the game.

I just remember being so happy for Jackie. That win essentially saved his job and set us up for some late 90s magic.

 

[tcdog70]

Great memory!

The main thing I remember feeling before that game was how we were so close in 92 and 94 in much more impactful games, but let them off the hook. I don't think anyone saw the win in 96 coming at all. I'd have definitely traded that one for a win in 92 or 94, but that's how life works.

the Refs took us off the hook in 92 just like many other games.

 

[TBone.sixpack]

Rob Issac looks like he could still play. He attends the same gym as I do and dude is jacked.

 

[Maroonthirteen]

That was the game of the infamous skydiver crash wasn't it? I was there, on the 50 yard line (when they still had the "Special Section R" on the east side, which cost nothing to get other than the price of the ticket. I had those tickets for years, I think up until the Club Level was built.

Yes! Forgot all about that. Dude was coming in hot.... and looked like he bounced. Ouch.

I had tickets in R as well.

 

[Go Budaw]

Rob Issac looks like he could still play. He attends the same gym as I do and dude is jacked.

Wasn’t so jacked in 96 (as far as RB’s are concerned, he was still in really good shape) but that wasn’t a bad thing. He was quick as hell and we took advantage of it.

 

[Go Budaw]

I also think there's a bit of revisionist history over how good Alabama was that year. There were already some rumblings that Bama folks were unhappy with Stallings - to the point that he and the AD got into a shouting match in the locker room after the game.

I just remember being so happy for Jackie. That win essentially saved his job and set us up for some late 90s magic.

It was a home win over a Top 10 team after Shaun Alexander had just set the school rushing record the week before. And it might have been Jackie’s first Top 10 win (don’t know what UF was ranked when we beat them with Shane Matthews). I don’t think anyone confused it for 6-3, but it was still probably in the Top 3 of all the wins we had in the 90’s, maybe even Top 10 overall in MSU history.

 

[tatedog]

It was a home win over a Top 10 team after Shaun Alexander had just set the school rushing record the week before. And it might have been Jackie’s first Top 10 win (don’t know what UF was ranked when we beat them with Shane Matthews). I don’t think anyone confused it for 6-3, but it was still probably in the Top 3 of all the wins we had in the 90’s, maybe even Top 10 overall in MSU history.

The most important part of this win was that it ended a 16 year losing streak to them (and that 1 win in 1980 was the only one we had in about a 30 year stretch).

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

Good post, but has some holes in it. The “slowest MSU TE you had ever seen” was Reggie Kelly, who played 13 years in the NFL. I’m just gonna put that one on the beers by the tennis courts.

I was a 7th grader trying to make a buck selling some drinks and popcorn in the stands at that one. I spent the vast majority of the time watching it, and by mid-3rd quarter the guy in charge of all of us told everyone just to go get comfortable where we could find a seat or a place to stand, like they knew something important / historical was going on. The one play I’ll never, ever forget was Robert Isaac (Keffer’s back-up, after he tore his ACL against USC) running an off-tackle play where he got stood up by 2 or 3 Bama defenders at the 10 yard line after about two yards. Somehow, some way, he spun off all of them and squirmed free for a TD. It was then I realized we might have a shot. Great night and one of those things you just never forget no matter how much time passes.

I know it was Kelly and I was just joking because all these fast players were buzzing around him but couldn't bring him down. Their speed made him look slow compared to them but it was amazing how he just keep going like a big bull with a dogs jumping all around but they can't stop him.

 

[mount lefroy]

That was the game of the infamous skydiver crash wasn't it? I was there, on the 50 yard line (when they still had the "Special Section R" on the east side, which cost nothing to get other than the price of the ticket. I had those tickets for years, I think up until the Club Level was built.

Dont think so. I believe that was a Southern Miss game that the Golden Knights guy burned in on.

 

[SpiritofSuttleHall]

A game to remember

One of my favorite experiences at Davis-Wade Stadium was walking out with everyone going crazy after the game and crossing paths with two tearful Tide fans. One said to the other, "They think they won the GD Super Bowl!!"

I relish that memory.

 

[Negative Waves]

Dont think so. I believe that was a Southern Miss game that the Golden Knights guy burned in on.

It was definitely the 96 Bama game. I thought I had just witnessed a death when he crashed into the turf. One of the coldest games I have ever sat through, but the end was worth it!

 

[dogmatic]

This game may be my favorite memory in a life of football at Scott Field. I watched it with my dad, who couldn't believe it either.

My dad was still buying season tickets then and we were in Section C, row 17. That's relevant because, when the parachuter burned in, he bounced, I swear, almost goalpost crossbar high - something no video does justice to because of the angles of perspective, but I had a good view of it from where I sat to be able to see how high he bounced. I'm still stunned he wasn't dead. How that lick didn't liquify his innards, I can't fathom. I was sure he was as dead as Julius Caesar.

Bama fans were everywhere and the home crowd was there just because, why not? Before the game there were State fans giving away tickets, just handing them over and leaving. I saw one guy throw a handful of them into the bushes on the southwest corner of the stadium and walk away.

The Bama fan directly in front of me would stand up and do the "first down" signal every time Bama got one, which was frequently early on, then progressively less so. When they turned it over on downs at the end I went to jump down in front of him and return the same salute, but he and his crew had blown away like a breath of menthol cigarette smoke in a Reform trailer park.

It was a surreal experience, and I can still go back to it in my mind now 23 years on. I remember how cold it was, and how I was so happy the cold didn't matter. I can remember the grin on my dad's face and how folks from all over both sides of the stadium, not just the students, rushed the field.

It was the game that proved, for me, if you're going to see big upsets in person, you have to go when you don't expect to win.

 

[RocketDawg]

Yes! Forgot all about that. Dude was coming in hot.... and looked like he bounced. Ouch.

I had tickets in R as well.

Yeah, the wind was pretty strong out of the north, and for some reason they were landing with the wind. It's possible they couldn't come in from the south because of the M-Club bulding in the south end zone. He pretty much just stalled his 'chute about 50 feet above the ground and fell. Lucky he lived, but he had a couple of broken legs I believe.