Crimson Tide Top 10 Sugar Bowls: No. 4, 1962 Alabama vs. Arkansas

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:

#1 Alabama 10 (Final: 11-0-0)
#9 Arkansas 3 (Final: 8-3-0)

When Paul W. “Bear” Bryant was hired in 1958, he told both the incoming recruits and the holdovers from the previous teams – well, those who survived his brutal offseason-conditioning program – that if they weren’t there to win a national championship, they were in the wrong place.

During his first three seasons, Alabama produced no championships and no All-Americans, but in 1961 the Crimson Tide was coming off an 8-1-2 season, had key players returning, and had increased capacity at Denny Stadium by 12,000 to 43,000.

Led by quarterback Pat Trammell, linebacker/center Lee Roy Jordan and lineman Billy Neighbors, Alabama simply destroyed the competition, beginning with a 32-6 victory at Georgia. Opponents scored 25 points the entire season, compared to 297 for the Tide, with North Carolina State, led by quarterback Roman Gabriel, managing to score the most points, seven.

“They play like it is a sin to give up a point,” Bryant commented.

After Tennessee managed a field goal in a 34-3 loss, Alabama didn’t yield another point during its five final games of the regular season, recording shutouts against Houston, Mississippi State, Richmond, Georgia Tech and Auburn.

“I don’t know if that’s a great team, but they most certainly were great against us,” Auburn coach Shug Jordan said after the 34-0 loss. “I don’t guess anybody has ever hit us that hard.”

Fullback Mike Fracchia was named the most valuable player of Alabama’s first victory at the Sugar Bowl in three attempts.

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

Sugar Bowl Summary

Part of the self-styled mythology of Bear Bryant is how football saved him from a hard life of plowing the fields of his native Arkansas.

“If I hadn’t been lucky I’d still be out there somewhere plowing,” he liked to say.

As it was – more than a decade after begging his way into the Sugar Bowl, and coaching Kentucky to its remarkable victory over Oklahoma – his newest team was plowing through Southern football fields.

Coaching now at his alma mater of Alabama, Bryant’s first national championship was college football’s equivalent of the providential immovable object. This team gave up a total of 22 points in 10 games, none in the last five (“They played like it was a sin to give up a point,” Bryant assessed after the season.”), they led the NCAA in three defensive categories and set 10 school defensive records.

Arkansas coach Frank Broyles knew his team had its work cut out, though he also felt the Razorbacks could move on anybody’s defense. They had a weapon no one had been able to neutralize: halfback Lance Alworth, one of the nation’s most dangerous ball-carriers, running, receiving or returning kicks.

It took the Tide six plays to score. “We noticed something a little different in their defensive alignment,” Alabama tackle Billy Neighbors said, “so we made a slight adjustment.” The adjustment sent running back Mike Fracchia scurrying past a defender who penetrated into the backfield, past another just beyond the line, and racing down the sidelines 43 yards to the Arkansas 12. On the next play, quarterback Pat Trammel faked a pass and then, around left end, ran it in.

A pleased but perplexed Neighbors said later, “We ran that doggone play about six more times and never did do anything with it again.”

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

Alabama Recap

Alabama’s defense proved to be the difference once again as the national collegiate football champs carved out a 10-3 victory over stubborn Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl classic.

Alabama wasted no time in lighting up the scoreboard. With only eight minutes gone in the opening period, the Crimson Tide moved 79 yards, with Fullback Mike Fracchia’s 43-yard dash to the Porker’s 12 highlighting the march. Quarterback Pat Trammell, who called a near perfect game, carried the remainder of the way on a rollout.

A record crowd of 82,910 watched as Tim Davis booted a 32-yard field goal in the second period to put Alabama out in front, 10-0.

Coach Frank Broyles’ Razorbacks, finding it hard to puncture Bama’s granite like defense, cut the Tide’s lead to seven points when Mickey Cissell split the uprights with a 23 yard field goal in the third period. Alabama Head Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant, who guided the Crimson Tide to a perfect season (11-0), was bubbling with joy.

“I thought it was a great game,” Bryant said with a smile. “I’m as proud of them as if the score had been 100-0. We came to play. Our boys rose up real well and stopped them on the big plays.

“Fracchia didn’t let them catch their breath with his shots up the middle and Trammell, like always, did whatever he had to do. Our boys did a good job stopping Lance Alworth. He’s a good competitor, but we just didn’t give him a chance today. If we had, it could have been a different ball game.”

Sugar Bowl Summary

Alabama Recap

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