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Tennessee Volunteers |
Alabama Crimson Tide © |
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Played October 15, 1977 at Legion Field Birmingham, Alabama |
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Teams' Belt Records
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Team |
Belt Reigns |
Overall Record |
Home Record |
Away Record |
Neutral Record |
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W |
L |
T |
PCT |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
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| Tennessee | 1 | 6 | 1 | 1 | .813 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .250 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Alabama © | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .500 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | ||||
Previous Belt Meetings: None
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1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
Final |
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Tennessee |
3 |
0 |
7 |
0 |
10 |
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Alabama |
3 |
13 |
8 |
0 |
24 |
Coach Johnny Majors first year at Tennessee had started slowly. His Volunteers brought a 2-3 record to Birmingham for the conference match-up with the 4th ranked, 4-1 Alabama Crimson Tide of coach Bear Bryant. Tennessee did have All-SEC punter Craig Colquitt but he would be needed too much for the Volunteers to win the game. Alabama's QB Jeff Rutledge ran for 2 touchdowns & threw for another as the Crimson Tide defeated Tennessee for the 7th straight season with a 24-10 win which also retained The Belt. The teams exchanged field goals in the 1st quarter with Alabama getting a 20-yard kick from PK Roger Chapman & Tennessee’s PK Jim Gaylor connecting from 41 yards. The Crimson Tide broke the game open late in the 2nd quarter with Rutledge finishing a 78-yard drive with a 4-yard touchdown run giving Alabama a 10-3 lead. Alabama got a break when Colquitt’s punt traveled only 23 yards giving the Crimson Tide another chance to score before halftime from the Tennessee 40-yard line. It only took Rutledge two plays to get into the end zone as he hit All-American TE Ozzie Newsome for a 31-yard gain & carried the final 9 yards himself for the touchdown with just 0:13 left in the half. The missed extra-point attempt left Alabama with a 16-3 halftime lead. In the 3rd quarter, Rutledge threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Newsome as the Crimson Tide took a 24-3 lead. The Volunteers final points came on a 13-yard touchdown pass from QB Joe Hough to RB Kelsey Finch. The game could have been a much bigger rout but Alabama failed to score from inside the Tennessee 35-yard line on six different occasions. Rutledge finished with 82 yards passing with his touchdown while All-SEC RB Johnny Davis rushed for 103 yards. Hough threw for 76 yards with a touchdown & an interception in the loss. Alabama finished the season 11-1; SEC Champions & ranked 2nd nationally while the Volunteers finished 4-7. Tennessee would play for The Belt again in 1980.
