With His Father In The Stands, New Coach Comes Through Dubose Sees His First Alabama Team Win Easily

Ray DuBose would rather sit at his home in Opp and watch Alabama games on TV. But he fought the traffic and the crowds to see his son’s successful debut as the Crimson Tide’s 23rd football coach.

“When he makes the sacrifice to come, I know it’s something special,” Mike DuBose said after No. 15 Alabama’s 42-17 win over Houston Saturday.

The DuBoses met before the game for a brief, poignant exchange between a proud father who was watching his son’s longtime dream come true. Ever since he put on the Crimson Tide uniform in the early 1970s, Mike DuBose had wanted to someday pace the same sideline as his former coach and mentor, Bear Bryant.

The new coach couldn’t have disappointed even the harshest of critics in his debut.

“When he came to games, my dad had a tendency to swear at the head coach and the quarterback,” DuBose said. “The only thing I told him was not to be swearing at the head coach today.”

Alabama eliminated that possibility by scoring four touchdowns in the first 19 minutes. There were two scores by Curtis Alexander, a one-handed touchdown catch by tight end Rod Rutledge, a Fernando Bryant interception return for a score and more passing than Tide fans had seen in a while.

The offense was pretty much everything DuBose promised when he made Bruce Arians his offensive coordinator.

Arians unveiled split-back and shotgun formations rarely seen in the past at Alabama and quarterback Freddie Kitchens did a good job handling the frequent audibles.

“I wasn’t surprised with the way we came out,” said Kitchens, who finished 12 for 19 for 168 yards and one interception that came when a receiver slipped. “We had two good scrimmages this fall and we were solid all spring offensively. I don’t expect anything less.”

Alexander finished with 138 all-purpose yards and Shaun Alexander had another 96, leaving DuBose with the first major decision of his young tenure - what to do with regular starter Dennis Riddle when he returns from his one-game suspension.

Alabama’s next game is Sept. 11 at Vanderbilt.

xxxx

1. THE TOP 25 The Top Twenty Five teams in The Associated Press college football poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Aug. 30, total points based on 25 points for a first place vote through one point for a 25th place vote and previous ranking: Rec. Pts Pv 1. Penn St. (23) 0-0 1,616 1 2. Florida (14) 1-0 1,543 2 3. Tennessee (7) 1-0 1,523 5 4. Washington (9) 0-0 1,502 4 5. Florida St. (6) 0-0 1,494 3 6. Nebraska (4) 1-0 1,434 6 7. N. Carolina (4) 0-0 1,335 7 8. Colorado (3) 0-0 1,323 8 9. Ohio St. 1-0 1,149 9 10. LSU 0-0 1,098 10 11. Notre Dame 0-0 1,051 11 12. Texas 0-0 999 12 13. Miami 1-0 887 14 14. Michigan 0-0 820 15 15. Alabama 1-0 783 16 16. Auburn 0-0 619 17 17. Stanford 0-0 561 18 18. Clemson 0-0 417 20 19. Brigham Young 0-0 411 19 20. Iowa 0-0 374 21 21. Kansas St. 0-0 245 22 tie. Northwestern 1-0 245 24 23. Southern Cal 0-0 216 23 24. Colorado St. 1-0 197 25. Michigan St. 0-0 162 25 Others receiving votes: Syracuse 146, Virginia Tech 141, Arizona St. 113, N. Carolina St. 87, Texas A&M 71, Washington St. 49, East Carolina 27, Virginia 26, Arizona 21, Georgia 20, West Virginia 19, South Carolina 10, Southern Miss. 8, Rice 3, Utah 2, Georgia Tech 1, San Diego St. 1, Wisconsin 1.

2. USA TODAY/ESPN TOP 25 The Top Twenty Five teams in the USA Today/ESPN college football poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Aug. 30, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote, and previous ranking: Rec. Pts Pv 1. Florida (25) 1-0 1,447 1 2. Penn St. (13) 0-0 1,424 2 3. Tennessee (10) 1-0 1,361 5 4. Washington (7) 0-0 1,341 3 5. Florida St. (3) 0-0 1,302 4 6. Nebraska (2) 1-0 1,269 6 7. Colorado (1) 0-0 1,155 7 8. N. Carolina (1) 0-0 1,127 8 9. Ohio St. 1-0 1,057 9 10. Texas 0-0 898 10 11. Louisiana St. 0-0 878 11 12. Miami 1-0 821 14 13. Notre Dame 0-0 790 12 14. Michigan 0-0 739 13 15. Alabama 1-0 726 15 16. Brigham Young 0-0 473 17 17. Stanford 0-0 432 18 18. Auburn 0-0 407 19 19. Iowa 0-0 380 20 20. Clemson 0-0 311 21 21. Southern Cal 0-0 300 22 22. Virginia Tech 1-0 294 25 23. Kansas State 0-0 236 23 24. Northwestern 1-0 183 NR 25. Colorado St. 1-0 137 NR Others receiving votes: Syracuse 122, Texas A&M 93, Michigan St. 82, Arizona St. 75, Washington St. 60, North Carolina St. 52, West Virginia 51, Georgia 26, Virginia 25, Utah 17, East Carolina 12, Southern Miss. 10, South Carolina 9, Navy 6, San Diego St. 6, Arizona 3, Army 3, Georgia Tech 3, Duke 2, Wisconsin 2, Kentucky 1, UCLA 1, Wyoming 1.