Alabama football countdown to kickoff: No. 94, Barker breaks out

EDITOR’S NOTE: Every day until Aug. 29, Creg Stephenson is counting down significant numbers in Alabama football history, both in the lead-up to the 2025 football season and in commemoration of the Crimson Tide’s first national championship 100 years ago. The number could be attached to a year, a uniform number or even a football-specific statistic. We hope you enjoy.

Two numbers — 18 and 396 — tell the story of how far Jay Barker came in a little less than two years.

In Alabama’s 34-13 victory over Miami in the 1993 Sugar Bowl, Barker threw for a mere 18 yards. The sophomore was a woeful 4-for-13 with an interception passing, as the Crimson Tide’s running game and defense shouldered the load to secure a national championship.

But on Oct. 1, 1994, Barker shredded Georgia’s defense for a career-best 396 yards in a 29-28 victory at Bryant-Denny Stadium. It was a breakout performance for Barker, who up until that point in his career had worn the dreaded “game manager” label.

“I haven’t looked at the statistics, but I know this was one of Jay Barker’s best games,” Alabama coach Gene Stallings told reporters afterward. “Remember, Jay’s won 28 games. It’s not like he hasn’t done things well.”

Indeed, Barker entered that night against Georgia with a 28-1-1 career record as Alabama’s starter. The lone loss had come to Auburn in the 1993 Iron Bowl, with the tie that same season against Tennessee.

The fifth-year senior had endured an injury riddled 1993 season, missing four games and parts of a few others. He was knocked out of that Iron Bowl loss with a knee injury that resulted in offseason surgery.

Alabama also made a change at offensive coordinator, with Mal Moore moving into administration and the popular Homer Smith returning to Tuscaloosa after a four-year hiatus. He found a willing pupil in Barker.

“I was blessed to have two great offensive coordinators, Mal Moore and Homer Smith,” Barker told The Tuscaloosa News upon Smith’s death in 2011. “But it was Coach Smith who really opened my eyes to the possibilities in the passing game. Before, I had coaches who would tell you something and maybe give you a test. But Coach Smith would make you stand up in the meeting and actually teach. He’d make you go through the entire playbook. Sometimes you’d stand up at the board for an hour-and-a-half, but his theory was, if you could teach it, that meant you knew it. And because of that, when you went on the field, everything came easily.”

Barker and Alabama got off to a 4-0 start in 1994, but had struggled offensively. The Crimson Tide managed just 92 total points in those four games, with 42 coming in the season-opener against FCS opponent Chattanooga.

But once the Georgia game began, it was the Bulldogs’ offense that was clicking. Eric Zeier — who would set the SEC record for career passing yards during the game — staked his team to a 21-10 lead with three first-half touchdown passes.

“He toasted us,” Alabama safety Willie Gaston years later said of Zeier. “We had no answer for Eric Zeier, especially in the first half. And Hines Ward ran all over us.”

Alabama scored on its opening possession of the second half, with Barker hitting Toderick Malone for a 35-yard touchdown. A Michael Proctor field goal cut Georgia’s lead to 21-19, but Zeier threw his fourth touchdown pass to make it 28-19 heading into the fourth quarter.

Barker went to Malone again — this time on a 49-yarder — to pull Alabama within 28-26 with 11:04 left. And after a second straight Georgia punt, he drove the Crimson Tide into position for Proctor’s 33-yard game-winner with 1:12 left.

“I always felt if I had the opportunity to get into a rhythm as a quarterback, that I could get the job done,” Barker said afterward. “Tonight proved that. … I knew we could do it. I knew our offense could do it. I knew I could do it.”

Here are highlights from the game:

Barker continued to play well throughout the season, finishing with 1,996 yards and 14 touchdowns passing with just five interceptions. Those numbers are pedestrian these days, but in 1994 were good enough to put the Alabama quarterback in the conversation for national awards.

Alabama finished the regular season at 11-0 before losing to Florida 24-23 in the SEC championship game. Barker won the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award as the country’s top quarterback and finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy balloting behind Colorado’s Rashaan Salaam, Penn State teammates Ki-Jana Carter and Kerry Collins and Alcorn State’s Steve McNair.