A look back at Alabama’s ‘92 defense

By Robert Rousseau  |   Tuesday, July 29, 2008  |  Comments( 1 )

Alabama Crimson Tide
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It's nice to take a trip down memory lane every once in a while, and Alabama Crimson Tide fans undoubtedly remember fondly the team's 1992 national championship season. It was a season that saw one of the best defenses of all time pave the way for the Tide's glory.

The Tide won the national national championship game 34-13 over Miami, stopping what would’ve been a second straight undefeated, national title-winning year for the Hurricanes. However, it was the way that it was done -- picking off three passes from Heisman Trophy winner Gino Torretta -- which made the victory so sweet for Alabama. Torretta, in fact, completed only 24-of-56 passing attempts on the game, feeling constant pressure from the Tide and its unbelievable twosome of defensive ends (Eric Curry and John Copeland).

What’s more, Bama's 'D' limited Miami to two first downs in the opening quarter and minus-13 rushing yards in the first half. The Canes finished with 48 total rushing yards, 42 of which came on their inconsequential final drive of the game.

Of course, Alabama’s '92 defense was hardly about that one game.

In the end, defensive backs Antonio Langham and George Teague both had six interceptions on the season. In other words, they were as good a defensive back tandem as you’re going to find in the annals of SEC lore. Copeland and Curry were by far the best duo of ends that the modern SEC has seen, with each posting 10.5 sacks on the season.

Despite all the individual accomplishments, what's most impressive is that the unit surrendered only 9.2 points per game, giving up only 20 points on one occasion.

Ultimately, an argument can be made that the Tide's defense from 1992 is the best that college football has ever seen.

Whether that's true is obviously debatable, but Bama's 'D' from that year was truly something special.
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About Robert Rousseau

Robert Rousseau is a sports writer that has been published in a variety of print and online venues. He’s been writing for RealFootball365.com for almost three years now. When Rousseau isn’t writing about college football he tends to be penning mixed martial arts pieces for MMAFighting.com or ...
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