UPDATE: I completely ignored the 2004 game in Tuscaloosa because I don’t know why. Hard to believe I could forget a moment of that magical 4-7 season.
Florida, and its new high-powered offense that is capable of scoring as many as 20 points at home in regulation against Kentucky, travels to Alabama this weekend to play the Tide in Bryant-Denny Stadium where AIN’T NO SUPER BOWL TEAM EVER WON. Much has been made and will continue to be made about Nick Saban and Will Muschamp facing each other again because what will our children do without the narratives that have sustained our society over these many years.
Somewhat being overlooked is the return of Kurt Roper, Florida’s coordinator of the offense that just got finished hanging 20 points in 60 minutes on Kentucky, to Bryant-Denny, a place he has not visited as a coordinator-ish of offense since he was at Ole Miss. While he was assisting David Cutcliffe at Ole Miss, Roper coached in Bryant-Denny in 2000 and 2002.
Though he never achieved the title of offensive coordinator at Ole Miss, he was the quarterbacks coach in 2000, and in the 2002 and 2004 visits to Tuscaloosa, Roper was the quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator. However, in all of the games against Alabama, Roper was heavily involved in the offensive plan of attack.
So how did it go? I’ll give you a hint: NOT WELL.
2000 Alabama game
- 45-7 loss to an Alabama team that would go 3-8
- Alabama would actually go on to lose its next five games
- 237 yards of total offense
- 163 passing yards
- Romaro Miller went 15 of 31 (48.3%) for 127 yards, 1 TD, 3 INTs
- Positive note: Eli Manning went 5 of 9 for 36 yards (reminder: Eli Manning, the best player in school history, spent a year of his eligibility watching Romaro Miller take snaps)
- 6 of 18 (33.3%) on 3rd down attempts
- On a personal note, I was so angry after the game that instead of going back to Birmingham, I drove straight back to Oxford, arriving home at 3 AM to find one of my roommates passed out face down in the hall with every light in the house on
2002 Alabama game
- 42-7 loss
- Ole Miss was ranked 21st, Alabama 24th
- At least this Alabama team would go on to not suck, as they finished 10-3
- 223 yards of total offense
- Eli Manning went 18 of 32 (56.2%) for 219 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT
- FOUR RUSHING YARDS
- 3 of 13 (23%) on 3rd down attempts
- On a personal note, I was so angry during the game that I stood up, spotted my friend I was riding with, who was sitting two sections over, he also stood up, spotted me at the same time, and we both made that circular “round up” motion with a hand above our heads that signaled it was time to go
- On a second personal note, it took us long enough to get out of the stadium that Ole Miss got the ball back, punted, and Alabama drove down and scored again
2004 Alabama game
- 28-7 loss (improvement!)
- That Alabama team went on to win SIX HUGE GAMES and finish their season with a loss to Minnesota (yes, THE Minnesota Golden Gophers) in the Music City Bowl
- 192 total yards of offense
- 117 passing yards
- Michael Spurlock went 5 of 15 (33.3%) for 54 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT
- Ethan Flatt appeared in relief and went 5 of 12 for 63 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT
- No turnovers!
- 5 0f 16 (31.2%) on 3rd down attempts
- On a personal note, I remember sitting in the stands and realizing how much of my life I had wasted watching Ole Miss lose badly to mediocre Alabama teams in Tuscaloosa
- On a second personal note, I learned nothing from 2004 and returned to Tuscaloosa to watch Ed Orgeron lose in overtime to an eventual 6-7 Alabama team
- I’d like to say I got better, but I didn’t, returning in 2010 to watch a really bad Houston Nutt team lose to a good, but uninspired Alabama team
So, in review:
- Total score of 115-21
- Average loss of 38.3-7 (consistency!)
- Average of 217.3 yards of total offense
- 2 passing touchdown, 4 interceptions
- Quarterbacks combined for 48 of 99 (48.5%) passing
- Total of 14 of 47 (29.8%) on 3rd down attempts
- I am petty, small, and will NEVER FORGET THE SQUANDERING SO EXPERTLY EXECUTED BY DAVID CUTCLIFFE AND STAFF
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