Throwback Thursday: 1986 Kickoff Classic, Alabama vs. Ohio State

Emotional Crimson Tide players played with heavy hearts as they opened the 1986 season against the Buckeyes with a 16-10 victory

Alabama was in the national spotlight when it faced Ohio State in the 1986 Kickoff Classic at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., but the 16-10 victory was also an emotional one for the Crimson Tide. 

Following the high-profile season opener, the team dedicated the victory to former teammates George Scruggs and Willie Ryles, who both died during the offseason. 

Scruggs, a running back who had redshirted the previous season at Alabama, was killed and two other Crimson Tide players were injured when their car went out of control on a Huntsville, Ala., highway on April 26.  

Ryles collapsed during a practice and lapsed into a coma with a blood clot on the brain a week before the Kickoff Classic. He died five days later.

Scruggs had won the Johnny Musso "Most Improved Offensive Back" award in the spring, while Ryles had earned a starting job on the Alabama defensive line. 

"Give our guys a lot of credit for the way they prepared and handled the last seven or eight days," Crimson Tide coach Ray Perkins said. "Some of these young men have matured past their years and they played 60 minutes against Ohio State tonight."

Alabama took an early lead in the tight game with two Van Tiffin field goals, 38 and 44 yards in the first half, to take a 6-0 lead. 

Ohio State answered in the second quarter midway through the second quarter when Jamie Holland scored on a 26-yard reverse for a 7-6 lead. The Buckeyes extended the lead to 10-6 on a Pat O'Morrow 37-yard field goal. 

But Alabama dominated the fourth quarter. 

While the linebackers Derrick Thomas and Phillip Brown led the defense, quarterback Mike Shula connected with flanker Al Bell on a 3-yard touchdown pass with 9:33 remaining. Gene Jelks was a key part of the 73-yard drive, with 34 of his 68 rushing yards. 

Alabama closed the scoring with another Tiffin field goal, 28 yards with 1:02 to go. 

Alabama coaches named Wes Neighbors, Randy Rockwell and Tiffin the Crimson Tide's players of the game. 

The Kickoff Classic, which was held from 1983-2002, was an attempt at holding the equivalent to a season-opening bowl game by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority (NJSEA), when the Garden State Bowl failed to draw a strong following.

Sports Illustrated tagged the Crimson Tide's 1986 schedule the "toughest schedule in the nation," and the win was the first of seven straight. Alabama climbed to No. 2 in the polls before taking a loss to eventual national champion Penn State.