1993 Alabama vs. Ole Miss recap...

Alabama vs. Ole Miss
October 23, 1993

Live from: Oxford, Mississippi

Your hosts: Keith Jackson and Bob Griese and Lynn Swann on the sidelines.

1st Quarter: This is the first game in this series to be played in Oxford. Ole Miss kicks off to start the game and David Palmer loses it in the sun which forces to Kevin Lee to pick it up at this own 3 and he gets leveled for it. Well, that’s a good start. Now for starting lineups…

Alabama Offense
QB Jay Barker
TB Sherman Williams
FB Taurus Turner (Tarrant Lynch was injured and didn’t even make the trip)
SE Kevin Lee
FL David Palmer
TE Tony Johnson
LT Matt Hammond
LG John Clay
C Tobie Sheils
RG Dennis Deason (Jon Stevenson was injured as well)
RT Roosevelt Patterson


Ole Miss Defense
DL Dewayne Dotson
DL Tim Bowens
DL Norman Hand
DL Cassius Ware
LB Gary Abide
LB Abdul Jackson
DB Alundis Brice
DB Johnny Dixon
DB Michael Lowery
DB Derek Jones
DB Tony Collier

On and 1st and 10 from his own 3, Barker drops back and passes from his own endzone complete to Palmer out to the 23. Well, that’s one way to get out of that hole. On 1st down from the 22, a pitch to Williams goes nowhere and Ole Miss thinks they’ve recovered a fumble, but the refs rule he was down. Replay shows Ole Miss was right. Oh, well. Play action pass on 2nd down and Barker finds Palmer again for 9 more yards to the Ole Miss 32. On 3rd and 1, Williams takes an inside handoff and gains about 4 for the 1st down. On 3rd and 6, Ole Miss blitzes and almost takes Barker’s head off and forces an incomplete pass. Bama punts and Ole Miss takes over at their own 22, but a block in the back is called so they will begin play at their own 10 with 11:52 remaining in the quarter. On 1st and 10, Mark Smith takes the handoff and gets decked by Dameian Jeffries who came through virtually untouched for a loss of 3. More starting lineups…

Ole Miss Offense
QB Lawrence Adams
TB Mark Smith
FB Jeremy Veasley
SE Eddie Small
FL Roell Preston
TE Chris Turner
LT Jeff Miller
LG Chris May
C Darrell Moncus
RG Wesley Melton
RT Clint Conlee

Alabama Defense
DL Dameian Jeffries
DL James Gregory
DL Shannon Brown
LB Lemanski Hall
LB Michael Rogers
LB John Walters
LB Will Brown
CB Antonio Langham
SS Sam Shade
FS Willie Gaston
CB Tommy Johnson

2nd and 13 now as Smith takes another handoff and gets hit in the backfield, but is able to gain about 6 on the play. Nice, tough run. Ole Miss loses two on 3rd down and has to punt. Palmer receives the punt and goes down at the Ole Miss 43. Palmer is under center on and 2nd and 10 gets dropped for a loss of 3 on the draw play. Incomplete pass on 3rd down and it’s time to punt. Ole Miss takes over at the 20 after the touchback. On 1st and 10, Adams gets flushed out of the pocket and gains 8. After gaining a 1st down, Adams passes complete to Small for 15 yards to 45. On 2n and 8, Adams completes another pass to Turner to the Alabama 41. Rogers got burned on the coverage. Adams completes his 3rd consecutive pass for a 9 yard gain to Small and the Rebels have got themselves a drive going. On 2nd and 1 Adams makes the late pitch to Smith on the option and he gains 13 down to the Alabama 19. On 3rd and 12 from the 21, Adams takes the snap from some weird-looking shotgun formation and passes complete to Small for the Ole Miss touchdown. Crap. Adams made an excellent throw and made sure Small was the only one that had a chance at catching it. The extra point is good and Ole Miss leads 7-0 with 4:38 remaining in the quarter. Another poor kickoff return and Alabama has to start from its own 18. Alabama goes 3 and out and has to punt for the third time. Norman Hand is just wreaking havoc up front and causing all kinds of problems. 1st and 10 from their own 33, and Ole Miss attempts a halfback pass which gets bottled up by Andre Royal for a loss of 7. Ole Miss is unable to make a 1st down of their own and is forced to punt. Alabama is unable to make a 1st down and has to punt after another three and out. After a 15 yard return, Ole Miss will take over at the 33 as the 1st quarter ends.

2nd Quarter: On 2nd and 11, Kelvin Moore blasts through the line on an attempted fake reverse and takes Adams down for a loss of 10 back to the Ole Miss 23. Unable to make a 1st down, Ole Miss has to punt. A booming kick sends Palmer back to his 22. He backtracks to set up his blockers, finds a crease and winds his way through the Ole Miss coverage team and gets the ball all they way up to the Alabama 49 after running into his own blocker. That thing looked like it was going nowhere. Just an amazing return. On 1st down, Barker goes play action and completes to Lee to the Ole Miss 38 and as he was being forced out of bounds near the sideline, Alundis Brice doesn’t let go and slings Lee head first into one of the box fans near the bench. Ouch! Of course a flag is thrown and 15 more yards gets added onto the catch and Stallings is pissed. After the penalty, Barker gets sacked back to the 30 on 3rd down and Michael Proctor comes on kick a 47 yard field goal. The kick is good and the score is now 7-3 Ole Miss with 10:43 remaining in the half. After taking over at the 21 on kickoff, Ole Miss is flagged for illegal motion and gets backed up the 16. Stat of the game so far…Rushing yards: Alabama 10 Ole Miss 3. On 3rd and 11, Adams goes deep to Small and is intercepted by Willie Gaston! Gaston returns it up to the Alabama 46. 3rd and 10 now, as Barker fires down the middle of the field to Palmer and it’s complete to the Ole Miss 30 for a gain 24! Maybe this will the get the offense going. 1st and 10, Barker drop back and here comes the Ole Miss defense on a hard blitz and they sack Barker back at the 41…and he’s hurt. I mean, they took him down HARD. Here comes Brian Burgdorf. Ugh. And as soon as I type that he makes me eat my words a little as he completes a pass to Chad Key down to the 21 yard line. Nice. On 3rd and 1, Sherman Williams goes off right tackle to gain 2 yards and the 1st down. Barker looks to be in some serious pain on the sideline. Bama works their way to a 1st and Goal at the 9 on a pass to Palmer and two runs by Williams. Bama is only able to get down to the 5 after 3 plays, so Proctor comes on and makes a 22 yard field to bring the score to 7-6 Ole Miss with 3:42 remaining in the half. Coming back from commercial, they give an update on Barker’s condition and Griese says that Burgdorf’s back-up now is true freshman Freddie Kitchens. Jackson remarks, “He’s gonna be a good one.” Moving right along… A block in the back on the kickoff moves Ole Miss back to their own 8 yard line. After a sack by Will Brown and Lemanski Hall on 1st down, Renard Brown gains 11 yards to the 17 on 2nd and 12 on a nice run. Ole Miss is able to work the ball just across midfield before time expires in the 1st half. At halftime, Ole Miss 7 Alabama 6.

3rd Quarter: Halftime stats show Alabama with 2 yards rushing. Yikes. Ole Miss takes the 2nd half kickoff and returns it to the 24 yard line. Mark Smith takes the handoff on 2nd and 10 and goes up the middle for 14 yards at the 38 yard line. Ole Miss proceeds to lose 8 yards over the next 3 plays and is forced to punt. After a poor Ole Miss punt, Palmer takes a fair catch at his 45. So, Bama squanders the good field position and has to punt after 3 downs and then blows the chance to pin Ole Miss deep and crappy punt gives Ole Miss the ball at their 28 yard line. The offense is absolutely stinking up the joint today, especially with Barker out. Bama is trying to get something going in the running game, but Norman Hand is just causing all kinds of trouble in the middle. After gaining 5 yards over the next 3 plays, Ole Miss has to punt yet again, which was highlighted by a shoestring tackle by Mario Morris on 3rd down on a play that only gained 5, but could’ve gone for much more? Alabama once again gets great field position after the punt and takes over at the Ole Miss 49. On 2nd and 9, Burgdorf keeps on an option play and just flat out drops the ball with no one around him. Luckily, he was able to recover. Burgdorf on 3rd and 6 from the 45, fires down the middle to Palmer who catches the pass and goes down at the 34 for a 1st down. A false start on 1st down backs Bama up to the 39. 2 steps forward, 2 steps back. Burgdorf rolls out on 3rd and 9 coming out of a timeout and gets sacked and fumbles, which is recovered by Taurus Turner at the 35. Geez. This is pretty hard to watch even already knowing the outcome. Proctor is out on 4th down to attempt the man-sized 54 yard field goal….and it’s good!!! Wow!!! He absolutely knocked the crap out of that one. Alabama takes the lead 9-7 with 5:37 remaining in the quarter. Whew. Ole Miss takes over at their 30 after the kickoff. On 3rd and 3 from the 37, Adams completes to Joe Woods for 7 yards to the 44 and a 1st down. After a procedure penalty on 1st down, Ole Miss comes up about 6 yards short and has to punt. Palmer calls for the fair catch at the 23. Now it gets interesting as David Palmer goes under center on 2nd and 11, but a delay of game is called and it negates the surprise factor. But, wait, Palmer stays in at quarterback! On 2nd and 16 from the 18, Palmer manages to avoid almost the entire Ole Miss defense on a QB keeper and gains 15 on the play to the 33. What a run! An unsportsmanlike penalty on Ole Miss gives Alabama 15 more yards up to the 48. 1st and 10 now, as Palmer comes around right end and breaks free! He runs all the way down to the Ole Miss 14 before he’s brought down. Burgdorf comes back in at QB to give Palmer a breather and pitches to Brian Steger for no gain. That play ends the 3rd quarter as Alabama leads 9-7. What was going to be an overall dull 3rd quarter, David Palmer came in and kicked up the excitement level a couple of notches.

4th Quarter: A graphic shows that Palmer has 172 all purpose yards so far. Something tells me he’s not quite done. Alabama seems to have some momentum on offense now, so let’s see if we can’t punch this in for 6. Burgdorf under center now and throws over the middle to Palmer and….it’s intercepted in the endzone by Alundis Brice. Well, so much for that. On 3rd and 10, Alabama tries to hold Ole Miss to three and out, but Adams connects with Small for 17 yards and a 1st down to the Ole Miss 37. Fortunately, no further damage is done and Ole Miss punts after coming up short on the next 3 plays. Palmer fair catches at the 21 and they’ll take over there. Palmer back under center on 1st down and John Clay moves early and draws the false start penalty. Burgdorf back now at QB, and Roosevelt Patterson now moves early, but luckily a timeout was granted before the penalty. Replay shows Patterson moved before the timeout was called, so we catch a break there. More musical QBs as Palmer goes under center and runs around right end and hands the ball to Kevin Lee on a reverse! Lee takes it and is finally brought down at the 38 for a gain of 22! More confusion as Palmer has to burn Alabama’s final time out. Palmer still in at QB looks as if he goes going to around right end, but heaves it downfield and it’s caught by Kevin Lee at the Ole Miss 9! Palmer just rared back and launched it as far as he could and Lee went over an Ole Miss defender to make the spectacular catch! Wow! 1st and goal Burgdorf tosses back to Williams, who spins his through the Ole Miss defense and goes in for the touchdown! Extra point is good and Alabma leads now 16-7 with 12:07 remaining in the game. Kickoff is returned up to the Ole Miss 24. The defense stands tall as Lemanski Hall and Will Brown combine for sacks on 2nd and 3rd down which forces Ole Miss to punt. Adams didn’t have a chance on 3rd down. Brown came in untouched. Alabama is going to have excellent field position as the punt is downed at the Ole Miss 41. On 1st down Burdorf pitches the ball back to Palmer on a reverse, who then hands it Kevin Lee and he’s off! He’s goes 41 yards on the double reverse for a touchdown! And Lee just misses getting nailed by someone’s drink as ice goes all over the place. Lee is unaware and takes his helmet off in the endzone. Seeing that the Ole Miss fans are chunking stuff from the stands, Tony Johnson immediately comes in and puts Lee’s helmet back on. As for the play, he juked Cassius Ware out of his shoes on the corner and he was gone from there. But, wait….there’s a flag and Alabama is called for clipping. Good Lord. Burgdorf throws into double coverage again on 2nd and 5 and manages not to get intercepted. This guy is horrible. Burgdorf passes incomplete again and Alabama has to punt. Bryne Diehl kicks it high and gets it to stick at the 1 yard line. Nice punt. Adams drops back to pass in his own endzone and it’s intercepted by Antonio Langham! Langham returns it to the Ole Miss 19. Williams gets the handoff on the next two plays and work it down to the 4 yard line. Weird situation on the next play as Ole Miss is called for a facemask which is half the distance, but Alabama is called for a personal foul which backs the ball out to the 17. I guess offsetting penalties had not come into effect yet. That effectively kills the drive as the offense gets backed up more on the next couple of play and Alabama has to settle for a field goal. Proctor boots the 49 yarder through and Alabama leads 19-7 with 4:26 remaining in the game. Kickoff is returned to the 28. Adams passes to Renard Brown for a gain of 12 on 1st down to the 40. After a run and a catch by Mark Smith, Ole Miss now finds themselves on the Alabama 14. On 2nd and 1, Adams rolls out to his right and finds Ta’Boris Fisher for the Ole Miss touchdown. Crap. Extra point is good and the score is now 19-14 Alabama with 3:28 remaining. Ole Miss elects to kick it deep and Palmer returns it all the way up to the Alabama 33 yard line. Alabama gains about 15 on a busted reverse, but it’s called back on a procedure penalty. Williams carries on 3rd and 14 from the 29 and gets it out to the 40 and there’s a facemask penalty on Ole Miss and that’ll just about do it. Alabama runs out the clock, but not before an Ole Miss defender gets a cheap shot in on Tobie Sheils before the snap and Tobie is PISSED. A personal foul is called and the thug gets ejected. Palmer runs out the clock and that’s the end of the game. Alabama wins! Final score: Alabama 19 Ole Miss 14


Offensive Player of the Game: David Palmer(216 all purpose yards)

Defensive Player of the Game: Lemanski Hall