The Tide Machine

In circumstances that seem eerily familiar, 89 years ago today a highly-ranked and undefeated @AlabamaFTBL team needed a last-second field goal to beat a team from Louisiana, but the actual opponent on Nov. 6, 1937, is the twist ending to this college football mystery. Hayward “Sandy” Sanford kicked a 41-yard, game-winning field goal to keep the Crimson Tide unbeaten with a 9-6 victory over the Tulane Green Wave before 30,000 fans in New Orleans. Under legendary coach Frank Thomas, Alabama finished the regular season undefeated and won its third SEC championship in the first five years of the conference’s existence. The Crimson Tide finished No. 4 nationally and only a loss to No. 2 California in the Rose Bowl blemished the overall record. Ironically Sanford’s kick provided the winning margin after both team’s failed to make an extra point following their touchdowns earlier in the game. Tulane took a 6-0 lead into halftime after capitalizing on a blocked punt that led to a first-quarter touchdown. Alabama answered in the third quarter and tied the game 6-6 on a 2-yard run by Victor Bradford. While it’s hard to imagine, Tulane was a charter member, along with Georgia Tech and The University of the South (Sewanee), of the SEC when it transitioned from the Southern Conference after 1932.

The legendary defense of the 1966 @AlabamaFTBL team made sure the No. 4-ranked Crimson Tide remained undefeated 60 years ago today as it shut out the LSU Tigers, 21-0, on Nov. 5 in Birmingham. Alabama’s stalwart unit held LSU to a paltry 90 yards of total offense (52 rushing, 38 passing) and six first downs. Mike Hall started the scoring with a blocked punt that rolled out of the end zone for a safety to give the Crimson Tide a peculiar 2-0 lead. Two field goals by Steve Davis increased the lead to 8-0 by halftime. In the third quarter, Bobby Johns returned an interception 33 yards for the game’s first touchdown to make the score 15-0. Alabama added a late touchdown in the fourth quarter after an interception by Stan Moss.

Just three years ago today Jalen Milroe scored four touchdowns and finished with 374 total yards (155 rushing, 219 passing) to lead No. 8-ranked @AlabamaFTBL to a 42-28 victory over LSU on Nov. 4, 2023 inside Bryant-Denny Stadium. Milroe scored two touchdowns in the first quarter on runs of 23 and 4 yards before adding another touchdown in the second quarter on a 21-yard run as the teams battled to a 21-21 halftime tie. LSU took a 28-21 lead early in the third quarter, but the Crimson Tide answered with three touchdowns to pull away for the victory. Roydell Williams scored on a 16-yard run with 7:30 remaining in the third quarter, while Milroe followed with an 11-yard run. Jase McClellan finished the offensive outburst with a 10-yard touchdown run.

Down by three points with just 1:34 left to play, things looked bleak 14 years ago today for @AlabamaFTBL but then the No. 1-ranked Crimson Tide put together a frantic 72-yard drive to turn Death Valley into Death Rally in a wild 21-17 victory over LSU on Nov. 3, 2012. Trailing 17-14 following a missed field-goal attempt by LSU, AJ McCarron orchestrated the five-play drive for the Crimson Tide that culminated in a 28-yard touchdown pass to T.J. Yeldon, who eluded defenders on his game-winning play. “We told our players, and it’s kind of ironic, that they would have to overcome a lot of adversity to win a game here,” Alabama head coach Nick Saban said. “And when things went bad and the momentum of the game changed, that’s what we kept talking to them about. I’ve never been prouder of a bunch of guys to overcome adversity.” Before the pass to Yeldon, McCarron had moved Alabama down the field with three passes to Kevin Norwood (18, 15 and 11 yards). The stunning comeback negated a strong performance from LSU quarterback Zack Mettenberger, who passed for 296 yards, including 206 in the second half, as the Bengal Tigers turned a 14-3 halftime deficit into a 17-14 advantage. Alabama took its first-half lead on touchdown runs from Eddie Lacy and McCarron.

One century ago, @AlabamaFTBL continued its pursuit of its second consecutive and second overall national championship with a 24-0 homecoming victory over LSU on Oct. 30, 1926. After head coach Wallace Wade surprised the nation in the 1925 season with his first championship run, the Crimson Tide remained a formidable team the following year and returned two blocked punts for touchdowns in its win over the Bengal Tigers. Fred Pickhard blocked both punts, while Hoyt Winslett returned the first one 25 yards for a touchdown and Ben Ennis returned the second one 15 yards for another score. Emile Barnes scored the final touchdown for Alabama and Herschel Caldwell kicked a field goal. The Crimson Tide finished the regular season 9-0 and tied Stanford 7-7 on Jan. 1, 1927, in the Rose Bowl.

In just his second season as the head coach, @AlabamaFTBL legend Wallace Wade set the stage for things to come and 102 years ago today his Crimson Tide destroyed the Ole Miss Rebels, 61-0, in Montgomery on Nov. 1, 1924. Johnny Mack Brown, a Dothan native who later became a movie star, had two touchdowns against the Rebels which included an 80-yard scoring run. Emile Barnes, Herschel Caldwell and Dave Rosenfeld each added a touchdown, while Andy Cohen scored on a 75-yard run. The 1924 edition of the Crimson Tide finished 8-1 with wins over Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Sewanee and Georgia to win its first Southern Conference championship. Brown, Barnes and Caldwell returned in 1925 and led the Crimson Tide to its first undefeated season and national championship as Alabama defeated Washington 20-19 in the Rose Bowl for a 10-0 record.

Six years ago today on a Halloween night during the middle of the COVID pandemic, DeVonta Smith put on a receiving clinic for @AlabamaFTBL as he caught 11 passes for 203 yards and four touchdowns in a 41-0 victory over Mississippi State on Oct. 31, 2020. Mac Jones completed 24 of 31 passes for 291 yards as the No. 2-ranked Crimson Tide remained unbeaten and @devontasmith continued his historic season that ended with the Heisman Trophy. Smith caught two touchdowns passes in the first quarter on 35 and 53 yards, before scoring his third touchdown on an 11-yard pass in the second quarter. Jones and Smith connected one final time in the fourth quarter on a 10-yard scoring pass. Will Reichard kicked two fields (40 and 24 yards) and Patrick Surtain returned an interception 25 yards for Alabama’s final touchdown.

During one of the most dominating regular seasons ever that did not result in a national championship for @AlabamaFTBL, one of the most unlikeliest teams actually scored the most points against the Crimson Tide during that run 60 years ago today on Oct. 29, 1966. Unranked Mississippi State scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns in a 27-14 loss to No. 4-ranked Alabama in Denny Stadium and those points were the most allowed by an opponent all season. The 1966 Crimson Tide finished 11-0 and its defense surrendered just 44 total points (4.4 per game). No other team scored more than one touchdown against that stalwart defense which also had six shutouts. In the victory over the Bulldogs, quarterback Wayne Trimble threw two touchdown passes to Ray Perkins (26 and 39 yards) and another to Jerry Duncan on a 48-yard, tackle-eligible play. Steve Davis also kicked a 35-yard field goal for the Crimson Tide. Despite being the two-time defending national champion, Alabama finished third in the polls behind Notre Dame and Michigan State. Author Keith Dunnavant chronicles the voting shenanigans to deny the Crimson Tide its third consecutive national championship in his book “The Missing Ring.”

While field-goal kicking has seemed to haunt @AlabamaFTBL fans now and again, that wasn’t the case 37 years ago in Happy Valley. No. 6-ranked Alabama survived a trip to State College, Pa., with a miraculous 17-16 victory over No. 14-ranked Penn State when Thomas Rayam broke through the line and blocked a last-second, chip-shot field goal attempt by Nittany Lion place-kicker Ray Tarasi on Oct. 28, 1989. Behind the running of Blair Thomas, who carried it 11 consecutive times on the last drive, Penn State drove to the Alabama 1-yard line with 13 seconds remaining. Instead of going for a touchdown, Nittany Lion coach Joe Paterno decided to place the outcome on the foot of Tarasi with a 17-yard field goal attempt. Tarasi had already made three field goals in the game. On a special teams play called “Desperation Block,” Rayam used every inch of his 6-foot-7 body to swat away the kick from Tarasi to keep Alabama undefeated at 7-0. “I didn’t see (the ball),” Rayam said after the game. “I just threw my hands up.” Siran Stacy led an Alabama offense that misfired at times with 106 yards rushing which included a 12-yard touchdown run. Quarterback Gary Hollingsworth threw four interceptions, but threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Lamonde Russell. Philip Doyle also added a field goal for the Crimson Tide.