2002 Alabama Crimson Tide football team

2002 Alabama Crimson Tide football
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Division	Western Division
Ranking
AP	No. 11
2002 record	10–3 (6–2 SEC)
Head coach	Dennis Franchione (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Les Koenning (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Carl Torbush (2nd season)
Captain	6 Jarret Johnson Kenny King Kindal Moorehead Tyler Watts Ahmaad Galloway Lane Bearden
Home stadium	Bryant–Denny Stadium (Capacity: 83,818) Legion Field (Capacity: 83,091)

The 2002 Alabama Crimson Tide football team (variously "Alabama", "UA", "Bama" or "The Tide") represented the University of Alabama in the 2002 NCAA Division I-A football season. It was the Crimson Tide's 106th overall season, 70th as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and its 11th within the SEC Western Division. The team was led by head coach Dennis Franchione, in his second year, and played their home games at Bryant–Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. They finished the season with a record of 10–3 (6–2 in the SEC) to finish in first place in the SEC West; however, the team was ineligible to compete in the 2002 SEC Championship Game or a bowl game due to a two-year postseason ban imposed as part of the penalty for National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) violations.

Summary

The team was led by second-year head coach Dennis Franchione. The team began the season with a 4–1 record, only losing a very close game to then #8 ranked Oklahoma. On October 5, the Crimson Tide lost another hard-fought game to the #4 Georgia 27–25 at home. The team would then defeat their next five opponents by an average of 24.4 points. In the 2002 Iron Bowl, the team was defeated by the Auburn Tigers by a score of 17–7. The team would end their season by defeating Hawaii. Though the team finished at 10–3 (6–2) and atop the SEC West standings, they were ineligible to play in the postseason due to receiving NCAA sanctions in 2001.

On December 5, head coach Dennis Franchione left the University of Alabama to take a head coaching job at Texas A&M which was left vacant by the firing of R. C. Slocum.^[1]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent#	Rank#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	11:30 a.m.	Middle Tennessee*		Legion Field • Birmingham, AL	JPS	W 39–34	80,091
September 7	2:30 p.m.	at No. 2 Oklahoma*		Oklahoma Memorial Stadium • Norman, OK	ABC	L 27–37	75,564
September 14	6:00 p.m.	North Texas*		Bryant–Denny Stadium • Tuscaloosa, AL	PPV	W 33–7	79,818
September 21	6:00 p.m.	Southern Miss*		Bryant–Denny Stadium • Tuscaloosa, AL	ESPN2	W 20–7	83,818
September 28	6:45 p.m.	at Arkansas		Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium • Fayetteville, AR	ESPN	W 30–12	73,551
October 5	2:30 p.m.	No. 7 Georgia	No. 22	Bryant–Denny Stadium • Tuscaloosa, AL (rivalry)	CBS	L 25–27	83,818
October 19	2:30 p.m.	No. 21 Ole Miss	No. 24	Bryant–Denny Stadium • Tuscaloosa, AL (rivalry)	CBS	W 42–7	83,818
October 26	6:45 p.m.	at No. 16 Tennessee	No. 19	Neyland Stadium • Knoxville, TN (Third Saturday in October)	ESPN	W 34–14	107,722
November 2	1:00 p.m.	at Vanderbilt	No. 12	Vanderbilt Stadium • Nashville, TN	PPV	W 30–8	36,407
November 9	1:00 p.m.	Mississippi State	No. 11	Bryant–Denny Stadium • Tuscaloosa, AL (rivalry)	PPV	W 28–14	83,818
November 16	8:00 p.m.	at No. 14 LSU	No. 10	Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)	ESPN	W 31–0	92,012
November 23	2:30 p.m.	Auburn	No. 9	Bryant–Denny Stadium • Tuscaloosa, AL (Iron Bowl)	CBS	L 7–17	83,818
November 30	6:45 p.m.	at Hawaii*	No. 14	Aloha Stadium • Honolulu, HI	ESPN	W 21–16	50,000
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. #Rankings from AP Poll. All times are in Central Time.

• Source: Rolltide.com All-time Football Results: 2002 Season^[2]

Roster

References