8/25/2023 football Edit

Memories of garnet and gold: FSU 37, Alabama 37

Quarterback Kim Hammond and FSU tied Alabama on the road in 1967. (FSU sports information)

Jim Joanos

Special to the Osceola

Tallahassee Democrat Sports Editor Bill McGrotha described it as “beyond any question at all, one of the greatest football games ever played anywhere.” He wrote that about the 1967 game played in Birmingham, Ala., between FSU and Alabama that ended in a 37-37 tie. I was fortunate to be there.

No one expected FSU to compete evenly against what was then considered one of the best teams in college football. The year before, Alabama had gone 11-0, including a victory over Nebraska in the Sugar Bowl. They had shut out their opponents in six games and only one team had scored as much as 10 points against them.

On the other hand, FSU had gone 6-5 in 1966. In the first game of the 1967 season, they had been beaten badly at the University of Houston 33-13. Nevertheless, lots of FSU fans made their way to the Birmingham game. Just being able to play mighty Alabama was a big deal. My wife, Betty Lou, and I drove up with some friends, a couple that were Alabama fans. The night before the game we went to dinner with our friends and some of their relatives (all Alabama fans). In our conversations with them, it was obvious that they viewed the game to be just a warmup for their coming important SEC schedule. As we listened to them our hope was that FSU would play well enough not to be embarrassed.

We got to the stadium early for the game. There were more than 70,000 fans, most of whom were there to support the Alabama team. Up, to that point, it was the biggest crowd ever that an FSU team played before.

After the Houston game, FSU had made a few changes to its starting lineup. One of them was to install Kim Hammond at quarterback. It paid off early as FSU scored first on a 11-yard touchdown pass from Hammond to Ron Sellers. Soon after that FSU’s Walt Sumner ran a punt back 75 yards to put FSU in front 14-0. Alabama, behind quarterback Ken Stabler, a future Pro Football Hall of Famer, bounced back and scored two touchdowns together with an extra-point attempt and a two-point conversion to get the lead 15-14 at the end of the first quarter.

FSU outscored Alabama 10-7 in the second quarter. FSU’s kicker, Grant Guthrie, kicked a 27-yard field goal. Alabama ran for a touchdown, and FSU’s Larry Green scored on a 13-yard touchdown pass from Hammond. The teams went to their locker rooms at halftime with FSU unbelievably in front, 24-22.

The only scoring in the third quarter was a 23-yard field goal by Guthrie, with FSU extending the lead to FSU 27-22 at the end of three quarters.

The scoring picked up in the final quarter by both teams. Alabama scored a touchdown on a pass play. Guthrie kicked another field goal. Alabama scored a touchdown on a 3-yard run. Then FSU completed a 65-yard drive, ending in an 8-yard touchdown pass from Hammond to Bill Moreman, followed by an extra-point attempt by Guthrie to tie the game at 37-37 with just over a minute left to play.

Alabama got the ball and started up the field. They got as far as FSU’s 41 when it all ended with an interception by FSU’s safety Chuck Eason.

That game remains as one of the best in FSU football history. A look at the box score reveals an underdog FSU team going to Birmingham before a crowd of over 71,000, the great majority of which were Alabama fans, and matching one of the best teams in the country.

FSU had 21 first downs to Alabama’s 17. FSU outgained Alabama both on the ground, 120 yards to 95, and in the air, 287 yards to 192. Alabama seems to have been rather lucky to come away with the 37-37 tie.

The game had been competitive until the last moments. Consequently, the large crowd did not leave their seats until the final whistle. As we found our way out, we faced lots of Alabama fans going into the opposite direction. I will never forget the looks on their faces. It was as if they had faced ghosts. Maybe they had.