TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA - As a player, Mike Shula was part of Alabama teams that played tradition-rich nonconference opponents like Penn State, Ohio State and Notre Dame.
Never Oklahoma, though. That dubious privilege comes Saturday night when the top-ranked Sooners visit Bryant-Denny Stadium, with both teams fresh from lopsided season-opening wins.
``I think if our guys said if it wasn't more special, they'd probably be lying,'' Shula said Tuesday. ``I would think as a young student-athlete ... when you think about playing college football, this is what you think about.
``This is why we coach. It doesn't get much better than this.''
Last year's meeting would be hard to top also.
Alabama rallied from a three-touchdown deficit only to see the second-ranked Sooners score two touchdowns in the final three minutes to win 37-27 in their first meeting since 1970.
The Crimson Tide's comeback bid ended when Eric Bassey rambled 45 yards for a touchdown with 24 seconds left after recovering a Tyler Watts fumble with nobody between him and the end zone.
The Tide, which had barely beaten Middle Tennessee the week before, is still stinging a bit from that game even though they came closer than many expected.
``A lot of the guys that were on the team last year feel like we owe them one and feel like we really had a good chance to beat them,'' tailback Shaud Williams said. ``We feel like the game this year is a little bit of revenge.''
Williams remembers the atmosphere for that game as well as he does the outcome.
``I remember warming up in front of the student section and getting booed like I'd never been booed before,'' he said. ``It was a great atmosphere. Their fans were excited and ready to go and it was loud from the opening kickoff to the very last play.
``That's what I remember most. I'm sure it's going to be loud here Saturday. I'm sure our student section will boo them, too. It's about time they get booed.''
Alabama is coming off a 40-17 win over South Florida in Shula's debut at Legion Field in Birmingham. The Sooners are the highest ranked team to visit Bryant-Denny Stadium since No. 4 TCU won 23-6 on Oct. 13, 1956.
They're also the first No. 1 team not named Alabama to play in Tuscaloosa.
ESPN will broadcast its popular GameDay show from campus, adding to the atmosphere.
The fans had better savor it. There won't be too many more nonconference games like this for Alabama in the near future. The Tide and Penn State have postponed their meetings scheduled for the next two years until 2013 and 2014.
``Anytime you get two football programs with the tradition at both of them, it's great for college football,'' Shula said. ``It's neat to see over the years how the schools have gone on with their national championships and the seasons that they've had.
``Now we get two of them together.''
Shula remembers the buildup for such big games from his playing days in the mid-1980s, when such high-profile nonconference matchups were more common.
The first few days, he said, the players were too busy focusing on class and football to get too excited. Then there was Thursday, when preparation winds down and practices ended earlier.
``We always used to hear the band playing, getting ready and that used to always get us going,'' Shula said.
A win would go a long way toward healing the wounds of an offseason that saw Dennis Franchione leave to coach Texas A&M, Mike Price get fired and the university call on a former Tide quarterback with no head coaching experience.
Not to mention the burden of NCAA sanctions that prevent a bowl berth this season and last.
``We're all excited about it,'' Williams said. ``We know it's a chance to show everybody that we're still going to play football here.
``We're not going to let what's happened to us over the last few months keep us from playing football.''
Sunday
March 30th, 2025
4:54AM
