The1985 Alabama Crimson Tide football team (variously "Alabama", "UA", "Bama" or "The Tide") represented theUniversity of Alabama in the1985 NCAA Division I-A football season. It was the Crimson Tide's 93rd overall and 52nd season as a member of theSoutheastern Conference (SEC). The team was led by head coachRay Perkins, in his third year, and played their home games at bothBryant–Denny Stadium inTuscaloosa andLegion Field inBirmingham, Alabama. They finished the season with a record of nine wins, two losses and one tie (9–2–1 overall, 4–1–1 in the SEC) and with a victory in theAloha Bowl overUSC.

Highlights of the 1985 season included a last-second, 20–16 comeback victory onLabor Day overGeorgia to open the season.^[1] The 1985 edition of theIron Bowl againstAuburn is regarded as one of Alabama's most dramatic victories in the history of the series. In the game, Alabama led 16–10 after three quarters, but saw four lead changes in the fourth quarter, including two in the final minute.^[2] It ended withVan Tiffin's 52-yardfield goal as time expired to give Alabama a 25–23 victory.^[2] Tiffin's field goal is remembered simply as "The Kick" in Alabama lore.^[3][4]

Due to NCAA sanctions that led to theforfeit of Alabama's1993 17–17 tie withTennessee, and college football's adoption of anovertime that does not allow ties, the 14–14 tie with LSU remains the last official tie in school history.^[5][6]

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 2	7:00 p.m.	atGeorgia		Sanford Stadium Athens, GA (rivalry)	ABC	W 20–16	81,277	[7]
September 14	6:45 p.m.	Texas A&M*	No. 20	Legion Field Birmingham, AL	ESPN	W 23–10	74,697	[8]
September 21	1:30 p.m.	Cincinnati*	No. 16	Bryant–Denny Stadium Tuscaloosa, AL	PPV	W 45–10	58,714	[9]
September 28	11:30 a.m.	atVanderbilt	No. 15	Vanderbilt Stadium Nashville, TN	WTBS	W 40–20	41,186	[10]
October 12	2:30 p.m.	at No. 8Penn State*	No. 10	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)	ABC	L 17–19	85,444	[11]
October 19	11:30 a.m.	No. 20Tennessee	No. 15	Legion Field Birmingham, AL (Third Saturday in October)	WTBS	L 14–16	75,808	[12]
October 26	1:30 p.m.	atMemphis State*		Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, TN	PPV	W 28–9	37,609	[13]
November 2	1:30 p.m.	Mississippi State		Bryant–Denny Stadium Tuscaloosa, AL (rivalry)		W 44–28	60,210	[14]
November 9	2:30 p.m.	at No. 15LSU	No. 20	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)	ABC	T 14–14	76,772	[15]
November 16	1:30 p.m.	Southern Miss*	No. 20	Bryant–Denny Stadium Tuscaloosa, AL		W 24–13	58,714	[16]
November 30	2:30 p.m.	vs. No. 7Auburn		Legion Field Birmingham, AL (Iron Bowl)	ABC	W 25–23	75,808	[17]
December 28	7:00 p.m.	vs.USC*	No. 13	Aloha Stadium Halawa, HI (Aloha Bowl)	ISN	W 24–3	35,183	[18]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings fromAP Poll released prior to the game All times are inCentral time

^[19]

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^[20]

Van Tiffin kicked his fourth field goal of the game, from 52 yards out, as time expired to give Alabama the Iron Bowl victory.^[21]

General

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• 1985 Southeastern Conference football season
• Alabama Crimson Tide football seasons
• Aloha Bowl champion seasons
• 1985 in sports in Alabama

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