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.

The No. 42 has special significance in the sports world as the one worn by Jackie Robinson during his barrier-breaking career with baseball’s Brooklyn Dodgers.

But at Alabama, the number probably means either Eddie Lacy or Major Ogilvie. And which one you more identify with probably depends on your age.

Ogilvie starred for the Crimson Tide under coach Paul “Bear” Bryant during the wishbone glory days of 1977-80. He won two national championships and three SEC titles during his career, and remains the only player in Alabama football history to score a touchdown in four consecutive bowl games.

Lacy was part of a loaded Alabama backfield during the early Nick Saban era. He won three national championship rings and a pair of SEC titles from 2009-12.

Ogilvie was a superstar at Mountain Brook High School near Birmingham, leading his team to back-to-back state championships in 1975 and 1976 and earning All-America honors by Adidas and Scholastic Coach magazine. His performance in the 1976 state championship game vs. Murphy is legendary — he rushed for 339 yards and four touchdowns as the Spartans won 52-26 at Legion Field.

Ogilvie joined an Alabama that had gone just 9-3 in 1976, failing to win the SEC title for the first time in six years. The Crimson Tide had a star-studded backfield in 1977, featuring All-SEC fullback Johnny Davis and fellow Birmingham high school legend Tony Nathan.

Ogilvie got just 34 carries during the regular season, but did score a touchdown on a 1-yard run midway through the fourth quarter of a 35-6 rout of Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl. Alabama finished 11-1, but controversially was No. 2 behind Notre Dame in the final polls.

Alabama again went 11-1 in 1978, this time finishing No. 1 after beating Penn State in the Sugar Bowl. Ogilvie averaged 6.5 yards per carry and scored eight touchdowns during the regular season, and scored the go-ahead touchdown on an 8-yard run in the third quarter of the Crimson Tide’s 14-7 victory in New Orleans.

Alabama ran the table in 1979, finishing 12-0 and No. 1 again with a 24-9 win over Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl. Ogilvie scored twice in the game — on runs of 22 yards and 1 yard — and was named Most Valuable Player.

The Crimson Tide started 8-0 and remained No. 1 during Ogilvie’s 1980 senior season, but November losses to Mississippi State and Notre Dame ended any hopes of a third straight title. Alabama finished 10-2 and No. 4 overall after a 30-2 victory over Baylor in the Cotton Bowl, with Ogilvie scoring on a 1-yard run in the second quarter.

Ogilvie was a first-team All-SEC pick in 1979 and a second-team selection in 1980, finishing his Alabama career with 1,718 yards and 25 touchdowns in 44 games. Because Bryant believed in rotating several running backs and quarterbacks through the lineup in order to keep them fresh, Ogilvie never totaled more than 97 carries in any one season.

Ogilvie was drafted in the 12th round by the San Francisco 49ers in 1981, but was cut near the end of training camp and retired from football. He has spent many years as an executive for a concrete company in Birmingham and was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 2014 and the Sugar Bowl Hall of Fame in 2017.

Lacy grew up in New Orleans, but finished high school just outside Baton Rouge in Geismar, La., after he and his family had been displaced by Hurricane Katrina. He surprised many when he signed with Alabama in the Class of 2009, which also featured five-star running back Trent Richardson.

Lacy redshirted as a true freshman, as Alabama won the first of its six national championships under Saban; and led by running back Mark Ingram, the Heisman Trophy winner. Working as the third-string running back after Ingram and Richardson in 2010, he rushed for rushed for 406 yards and six touchdowns — including 113 yards and two scores in the season-opening blowout of San Jose State, his college debut.

Ingram was off to the NFL after that season, leaving Lacy to share carries with Richardson in 2011. He ran for 674 yards and seven touchdowns as Alabama finished 11-1 and beat LSU 21-0 for the BCS national championship at season’s end.

Richardson was gone by 2012, leaving Lacy as the lead back at long last. With future star T.J. Yeldon as his backup, he ran for 1,322 yards and 17 touchdowns, leading Alabama to a repeat national title.

Lacy’s signature game at Alabama was his last, a 42-14 blasting of Notre Dame in the BCS title game. He barreled his way for 140 yards rushing on 20 carries, including a 20-yard touchdown run and an 11-yard TD catch, leaving Fighting Irish tacklers — including Heisman finalist Manti Te’o — in his wake all night as he won MVP honors and the Crimson Tide claimed its third championship in four years.

Lacy had a year of eligibility remaining after 2012, but left for the NFL draft. He was selected in the second round and was the league’s Offensive Rookie of the Year after rushing for 1,178 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2013.

Lacy had another 1,000-yard season for the Packers in 2013 before a series of ankle injuries began to take their toll. He finished his NFL career in 2017 with the Seattle Seahawks, and totaled 3,614 yards and 23 touchdowns in five pro seasons.

Though they played more than 30 years apart, Major Ogilvie and Eddie Lacy will always be linked — not only by their shared jersey number, but by their contributions to some of the greatest teams in Alabama football history.

Coming Sunday: Our countdown to kickoff continues with No. 41, an examination of Alabama’s most-questionable national championship claim.