Cary Clark's Greatest Games: 1993 Ole Miss

'The Deuce' Got Loose To Rebs' Chagrin

Surprisingly, Alabama football had never played a game in Oxford, Miss. That changed Oct. 23, 1993. 

No. 4 Alabama trailed early 7-0, and then got a pair of Michael Proctor field goals. Before the half, starting quarterback Jay Barker went out with a shoulder injury.

What to do? Simple. “The Deuce” came to the rescue and man, did he get loose.

Normally a wide receiver, junior David Palmer alternated with Brian Burgdorf in the final 30 minutes at quarterback. Here’s what Palmer got done that sunny Saturday afternoon: He threw for 54 yards going 1-1 passing. He ran for 38. He caught eight passes for 76 yards. He had 41 punt return yards and added 34 more returning kick-offs.

Total net yards accounted for Palmer: 243. There were not as many “Hotty Totties” as there would have been without Palmer’s extraorindary performance.

Oh, he had help. Receiver Kevin Lee caught two passes for 67 yards and accounted for Palmer’s lone completion with a 54-yard grab to set up a touchdown. Lee was tackled at the 8, and a play later Sherman Williams took it in from there behind a block from first-time starting fullback Taurus Turner.

Lee also ran two reverses for 35 yards while fellow Mobile native Williams ran for 40 yards on 16 totes from his tailback slot.

On defense, Bama’s top tackler was linebacker Lemanski Hall with nine. The Tide got seven stops each from John Walters, Antonio Langham and Will Brown.

Proctor kicked four field goals that afternoon.

All that said, no one who was there or saw the game in person will forget what Palmer did to break the hearts of the Rebels and their fans. He was simply phenomenal, as he was the entire three years he played in Tuscaloosa.

Palmer went on to finish third that year in Heisman voting and if he’d returned in 1994 many felt he’d have been the favorite to become the Tide’s first winner of that trophy. Instead, Palmer opted for the NFL draft and spent six seasons returning kicks and playing some at receiver for Chris Walsh’s Minnesota Vikings.