It was the homecoming game for the 15th-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide on October 8, 1988 at Bryant-Denny Stadium against the 1-3 Ole Miss Rebels.
Tuscaloosa had also opened the Paul W. Bryant Museum that day as a dedication to the illustrious career of Bear Bryant and the long history of Alabama. Ole Miss was an 18-point underdog coming into the game. Yet none of that mattered to former Ole Miss head coach Billy Brewer.
“From Oxford to Tuscaloosa, we saw signs all kinds of signs, from ‘Beat Ole Miss’ to ‘Roll Tide Roll,’” Billy Brewer, 1988 Ole Miss head coach, said.