Memorable Games in Alabama Football History by Tommy Hicks

Author:Tommy Hicks
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sports Publishing
Published: 2012-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

Bennett would have a hard time convincing Beuerlein that he hit other players harder than he did the Irish quarterback on that first-quarter play in 1986. Even though he remained in the game for the remainder of that offensive series, it was clear Beuerlein’s senses weren’t clear. Jimmy Creed, covering the game for the Tuscaloosa News as a correspondent, was assigned to go to the Notre Dame locker room after the game and produce a feature. He chose to interview Beuerlein and get his take on what had happened on the play and what he recalled from the rest of the game.

“I was still bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, just a correspondent for the Tuscaloosa News,” Creed, who was attending Alabama, said of his assignment as a 19-year-old sportswriter-to-be. “The job got me a pass to the game and I thought that was unbelievable. When I got to their locker room, he had a cut on his chin where Bennett had hit him, and he still had a paper towel or Kleenex or something attached to his chin, trying to stop the bleeding. I couldn’t believe he was still bleeding. He told me that after he got hit he was playing on autopilot for a few plays. ‘I knew I was in trouble when I could see my teammates’ mouths move, but I couldn’t understand the words,’ he told me. It was amazing how that play really just knocked him silly. Even in the postgame interview, he was still in a daze.

“It was one of those plays, everybody saw it. I remember thinking it was like somebody hit the fast-forward button on the VCR. You couldn’t believe Bennett was on him that fast. The impact engulfed the whole stadium. You heard people say ‘Ooooohh.’ It was like everyone had the breath knocked out of them. . . . I know that’s one of those plays, that as many plays as I have seen over the years, it still stands out.

“You knew he was a great player, but that play put a watermark on his career. I can tell you that was Alabama playing Notre Dame and that they played in Birmingham at Legion Field, but I couldn’t tell you that Alabama won the game or the score or anything else about the game. That hit, that’s what I remember. It was one of those plays that was almost bigger than the game itself. . . . If I had to pick the top five plays in college football history, that would be one of the plays I would pick. Beating Notre Dame for the first time was just icing on the cake.”

In his story for the Tuscaloosa News, Creed quoted Beuerlein as saying, “It was to the point where I would be trying to figure out where [Bennett] was before the snap, and realize where he was going to be coming from, things you really don’t want to be thinking about before the play even gets started.” Later in the story, Creed

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