before 1996 just seemed invincible to us. It did not matter that we would play our best game, and that maybe they would play one of their worst, they would still win. And the thing that would make it worse was that you knew the officials were going to screw us, so you had to fight them as well. It also sucked because it seemed like their fans were so cocky, but yet their team would deliever for them. They would say things like "I believe in my team" whereas we would be thinking "how are we going to screw this up or when do we get screwed?"

The whole 1996 game was really eerie to. I remember it started at 8 o'clock at night, and then the game got delayed because of the parachuters. But I also remember how electric that crowd was before the game. I was in the band and when we came in, I thought "this is what it's like to go to a major college football game". I found myself trying to not get excited because I was waiting for the impending doom, so when that 4th down pass went incomplete, I was in absolute shock. After the game I couldn't really beleive how delusional their fans were. They were saying things like we should have let them win because they had a better chance of winning the SEC Championship Game for the West. (Not kidding)

But as far as saving Jackie's job- which I think it did in combination of the Egg Bowl win that year in Oxford- it also kind of signaled the end of Bama's dominance. The Monday after that game they basically fired Gene Stallings, and they've had a coaching carousel ever since. In all honesty, they probably should have kept Stallings around, because I'm sure that he was better than DuBose. (Long limb there, I know).