Alabama Crimson Tide football , 1980 – 89 After the most dominant decade in school history , the 1980s marked a period of transition for the Alabama Crimson Tide . After posting the last of his 13 SEC Championships at Alabama in 1981 , 1982 marked the final season for legendary coach Paul " Bear " Bryant . The rest of the decade saw an eclectic mix of struggles and success , including another SEC title in 1989 . 1980 . A 6 – 3 loss to Mississippi State ended Alabama ' s all - time school record 28 - game winning streak and all - time SEC record 27 - game conference winning streak . It also cost the Tide a share of the SEC championship , the first time since 1976 they failed to win the SEC . It was Alabama ' s first loss to Mississippi State since 1957 . Despite surrendering 35 points to Ole Miss , the Alabama defense still allowed only 98 points for the entire season . 1981 . Alabama recovered from a shocking upset loss to a 1 – 10 Georgia Tech team to win its ninth SEC title in eleven years ( shared with Georgia ) . It was Bama ' s 18th SEC championship , and the 13th and last conference title for Paul " Bear " Bryant at Alabama . Alabama ' s 28 – 17 win over Auburn was Coach Bryant ' s 315th career victory , breaking the then all - time record held by Amos Alonzo Stagg . This record is currently held by Bobby Bowden . Alabama ' s Cotton Bowl Classic loss to Texas dropped the Tide ' s all - time record against the Longhorns to 0 – 7 – 1 . 1982 . Alabama was 5 – 0 after beating Penn State 42 - 21 , with the decisive play coming when a Penn State player blocked his own team ' s punt . But after that it was all downhill . Paul Bryant ' s last season as Alabama football coach saw a nine - game winning streak against Auburn and eleven - game winning streaks against Tennessee and LSU all come to an end . The loss to Southern Miss was Alabama ' s first loss in Tuscaloosa since 1963 , breaking a 57 - game win streak in Bryant - Denny Stadium . Coach Bryant retired after Alabama ' s bowl victory against Illinois and died one month later , on January 26 , 1983 . 1983 . Ray Perkins , who played as a wide receiver for Coach Bryant in the 1960s , became the new head coach at Alabama . The Tide suffered a controversial 34 – 28 loss to Penn State when tight end Preston Gothard was ruled out of bounds after appearing to catch a game - tying touchdown pass with eight seconds left in the fourth quarter . Bama avenged the previous year ' s losses to LSU and Southern Miss but lost to Tennessee and Auburn again and had to settle for the Sun Bowl , where they beat SMU . 1984 . In 1984 Alabama went 5 – 6 , its first losing season since the Tide went 2 – 7 – 1 in 1957 under J . B . Whitworth . This season ended Alabama ' s streak of 25 consecutive bowl appearances . Lowlights included blowing a 17 point lead in a season - opening loss to Boston College ( and their quarterback , Doug Flutie , who went on to win the 1984 Heisman Trophy ) , a third consecutive loss to Tennessee in which the Tide blew a 14 - point fourth quarter lead , and Alabama ' s first and loss to Vanderbilt since 1969 . However , Alabama fans got a big consolation prize with an upset Iron Bowl victory over archrival Auburn to end the season , denying the Tigers a berth in the Sugar Bowl . 1985 . Highlights of the 1985 season included a dramatic last - second comeback on Labor Day against Georgia at the beginning of the season and , at the end , possibly Alabama ' s most dramatic Iron Bowl victory ever . A game that Bama led 16 – 10 after three quarters saw four lead changes in the fourth quarter , including two in the final minute . It ended with Van Tiffin ' s 52 - yard field goal as time expired to give Alabama a 25 – 23 victory . Tiffin ' s field goal is remembered simply as " The Kick " . Due to NCAA sanction that led to the forfeit of Alabama ' s 1993 17 – 17 tie with Tennessee , and college football ' s adoption of an overtime that does not allow ties , the 14 – 14 tie with LSU remains the last official tie in school history . 1986 . The Crimson Tide rose to as high as # 2 in the rankings but lost to eventual national champion Penn State and lost out on an SEC title after losses to LSU and Auburn . Highlights of the season included Alabama ' s first ever victory over Notre Dame and a 56 – 28 victory over Tennessee that snapped a four - game losing streak to the Vols . After the season , Ray Perkins left to become head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers . 1987 . New coach Bill Curry led Alabama to a wildly uneven season that included remarkable lows ( a 31 - point loss to Notre Dame , a shutout loss to Auburn , an embarrassing loss to Memphis ) and dramatic highs ( victories over Penn State , Tennessee and LSU ) . The Tide played all home games this season at Legion Field in Birmingham while Bryant - Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa was in the midst of a major expansion . 1988 . Alabama suffered close losses to LSU and Auburn in November but possibly the low point of the season was a 22 – 12 loss on Homecoming to Mississippi , Alabama ' s first ever loss to Mississippi in the state of Alabama . The Tide had zero yards passing in the game . Highlights included a victory over Penn State , Alabama ' s third straight win over Tennessee , and a come - from - behind 29 – 28 victory in the Sun Bowl over Army in which quarterback David Smith threw for 412 yards , an all - time bowl record for an Alabama quarterback . Alabama ' s road game against Texas A & M , originally scheduled for September 17 , was postponed to December 1 when Coach Curry declined to make the trip , worried about oncoming Hurricane Gilbert . When Gilbert made landfall in Mexico and the weather in College Station was clear on gameday , A & M fans called Alabama ' s coach " Chicken Curry " . 1989 . Alabama won its first ten games en route to its best record since 1980 and first SEC championship since 1981 , and 19th overall . Highlights included beating Mississippi 62 – 27 after falling behind 21 – 0 , beating Tennessee 47 – 30 in a match of unbeatens , and a 17 – 16 victory against Penn State in which Alabama blocked an 18 - yard field goal try with 13 seconds left for the win . However , in the season finale against Auburn — the first Iron Bowl ever played at Auburn , Alabama — the Tigers beat Alabama 30 – 20 . Alabama , Auburn and Tennessee finished in a three - way tie for the conference championship . Miami won the national championship after beating Alabama 33 – 25 in the Sugar Bowl . After the season was over , coach Bill Curry quit and took the head coaching job at Kentucky .