Crimson Tide Top 10 Sugar Bowls: No. 1, 1979 Alabama vs. Penn State

Alabama has had some amazing Sugar Bowl games, but the goal-line stand against Penn State stands out.

Author:
Christopher Walsh
Publish date:
Dec 23, 2022 4:00 PM EST

In this story:

The Alabama Crimson Tide will be making its 17th appearance in the Sugar Bowl, the most of any team, when it squares off against the No. 9 Kansas State Wildcats inside Caesars Superdome on Dec. 31 (11 a.m. CT on ESPN).

BamaCentral is counting down the Top 10 Sugar Bowls for Alabama:

#2 Alabama 14 (Final: 11-1-0, #1)
#1 Penn State 7 (Final: 11-1-0, #4)

A 30-yard pass from quarterback Jeff Rutledge to split end Bruce Bolton with eight seconds remaining in the first half gave Alabama a 7-0 lead, and the two teams traded touchdowns in the third quarter with running back Major Ogilvie following a block by tight end Rick Neal. But Alabama’s defense was setting the tone for the game, as Penn State’s longest gain in the first half was a 10-yard run by fullback Matt Suhey, and a 32-yard reception by tailback Mike Guman was negated by an illegal-motion penalty.

However, in the final minutes Penn State recovered a misdirected pitchout at the Alabama 19 and soon found itself with third down at the 1-yard line.

“It was gut-check time,” linebacker Barry Krauss said. “We looked at each other. We knew this could be it. When they broke the huddle, everything got silent. Boy, talk about gut-checks.”

Defensive back Don McNeal made the first stop roughly a foot away from the end zone and when Nittany Lions quarterback Chuck Fusina walked to the line of scrimmage to see how far the ball was from the goal line, defensive tackle Marty Lyons supposedly warned him: “You’d better pass.”

Instead, Paterno called Guman’s name for a run up the middle.

Immediately after the snap, the pile started to form. Linemen David Hannah, who had an injured knee drained by doctors the day of the game and wasn’t supposed to play but went in for the stand, Byron Braggs and Lyons did their part, neutralizing the Penn State blockers, so when Guman hit the hole there was only him and Krauss, who met in a bone-jarring head-on collision. With the fullback stood straight up short of the end zone, defensive back Murray Legg and linebacker Rich Wingo quickly closed to push Guman backward and finish him off.

The blow broke Krauss’ helmet and he fell to the ground. Due to a pinched nerve, he remained on the field unable to move his left side until Lyons reached down and grabbed him and the two made their way to the sideline.

Alabama held on for the 14-7 victory, and topped the final Associated Press poll, but Southern Cal leapfrogged the Tide to No. 1 in United Press voting, resulting in a split national title. Krauss, an All-American and the Sugar Bowl MVP, was selected in the first round of the NFL Draft. He played 10 years for the Baltimore Colts before finishing his career with the Miami Dolphins.

But his No. 77 on the goal-line stand was the image of the 1978 season and graced the cover of numerous magazines, including Sports Illustrated.

“That goal-line stand was something I’ll never forget,” Bryant said.

Excerpt from "100 Things Crimson Tide Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die."

Sugar Bowl Summary

What remained was a fourth quarter for all the marbles, and the Nittany Lions’ one chance to claim it came when defensive end Joe Lally recovered an Alabama fumble on the Tide 19 with 7:57 to play.

On the next play, fullback Matt Suhey ran 11 yards to the Bama 8 for a first down. Then Guman took a pitch and gained two yards to the 6.

On second down, Fusina dropped back and quickly delivered a pass to Fitzkee, who was flaring out near the right sideline. Fitzkee caught the pass at the 1, but before he could turn to find the end zone he was slammed out of bounds by cornerback Don McNeal two feet short of a touchdown.

It’s a play that Fitzkee and Penn State fans have relived in their minds for years, but it always ends the same: coming up a little bit short.

“People still bring it up,” Fitzkee said decades later. “I’ve heard a lot of criticism, and I’m sure those guys who didn’t get in on third and fourth down have heard it too.”

That would be Suhey and Guman.

On third down, Suhey took the handoff up the middle, but he was wrapped up by linebacker Rich Wingo.

“Fusina came out to look at the ball,” Bama tackle Marty Lyons recalled, “and I was standing in the way, in between him and the ball. He started smiling. ‘How much is it?’ he asked. I told him, ‘’Bout this much.’ ‘Ten inches?’ ‘Yeah,’ I said. ‘You better pass’.”

On fourth down, the Nittany Lions tried to muscle it in again, but Guman ran into Krauss.

“They had called timeout before the fourth down, and they were trying to figure out what they were going to do and what we were going to do,” Krauss said. “We thought they’d go outside or throw because they had run it on third down (to no avail), so I had given myself a little more depth so I could flow to the outside. When he gave it back to Guman, and he came back inside, there was a hole. He saw it, and I did too.”

The collision was one that, as Krauss remembers it, made time stand still.

“He came over and I was able to hit him,” Krauss said. “After that, I wasn’t sure what happened.”

Krauss, who had all but resigned himself to the likelihood that Penn State was going to score, never thought the hit would knock Guman short of the goal line. “It seemed like he was so close,” Krauss said. “He was falling, and what was actually a couple of seconds seemed like five minutes.”

But Guman did come down short, and so did Penn State.

The Alabama defense left the field jumping, whooping and hollering, not noticing that Krauss remained prone on the field. Eventually the dazed line

Excerpted from the book “Sugar Bowl Classic: A History” by Marty Mulé.

Alabama Recap

One vivid image was permanently etched into the minds of the 76,824 in the Superdome and the millions of television viewers who watched the 45th annual Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day, 1979. Penn State, the nation’s No. 1 team, was stopped on two consecutive plays inside the one-yard line by the Alabama defense to preserve a 14-7 victory for Alabama’s second-ranked Crimson Tide. The famous goal-line stand won a national championship for Paul “Bear” Bryant and the Crimson Tide.

What Sports Illustrated Said ...

The Rising of the Tide, by John Underwood

On the day before his Sugar Bowl showdown with Penn State, Bear Bryant breakfasted in the elegant refuge of his hotel suite high above New Orleans on a floppy-looking egg-and-bacon sandwich (brought up in a brown paper bag) and coffee in a Styrofoam cup. Between swallows the Bear was saying that if there was one thing you could be sure of about his Alabama defense it was that you couldn't be sure of his Alabama defense. It had been great at times and unsound at times, and that's "not recommended" when you play the No. 1 team in the nation, one that had not lost in 19 games.

Bear noted that the Tide defense had been hurt a lot. That it had been particularly slowed in the secondary by those injuries, and by, well, being slow in the secondary. And that it was about to go under the gun against a quarterback, Penn State's Chuck Fusina, whom Coach Joe Paterno called the best passer he ever had. The situation fairly cried out for a dedicated, if not wild-eyed, pass rush, and "rushing the passer is the thing we do worst," said Bryant.

As for the Alabama fans who were establishing themselves as No. 1 in whoops and hollers downstairs in the hotel and up and down Bourbon Street, Bryant said he wished they'd be quiet until after the game.

Well, Bear, you can come down now and join the merry group. And bring the defense with you. On second thought, have them bring you.