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Alabama football is so rich in tradition that it’s almost impossible to pick out and hold up 10 individual dates as the most esteemed in program history. Ten dates isn’t enough to encompass the national championships — the school claims 15.
There were a few dozen significant dates that missed the cut, and every Tide fan has their individual favorites. But here are 10 historic dates that every Alabama football fan should know.
Nov. 11, 1892: University of Alabama law student William G. Little, a prep school import from Massachusetts, learned the game of football and began teaching it to fellow students early in 1892, so the story goes. At any rate, the university played its first football game on this date, beating a Birmingham high school all-star team of sorts, 56-0. Those involved couldn’t have had any clue of the game’s significance.
Jan. 1, 1926: Many consider the Rose Bowl win against Washington as the most important game in Alabama football history. After allowing a single score in nine previous games, Bama trailed, 12-0, at halftime. legendary coach Wallace Wade’s halftime speech reportedly consisted of a single sentence: “And they told me Southern boys would fight.” The Tide came back for a thrilling 20-19 win, taking the first national championship in school history. It also continued what would become a 20-game winning streak, ending with a 7-7 tie with Stanford in the Rose Bowl the following year.
Jan. 1, 1935: In a rematch of the tie with Stanford in ’27, Alabama earned a Rose Bowl appearance with a 9-0 regular season under coach Frank Thomas. This time the Tide clobbered the Indians, 29-13, as legend Don Hutson caught touchdown passes of 46 and 59 yards. The victory gave Alabama its fourth national championship, depending on which polls you trust. It also propelled Bama to a 3-0-1 record in the Rose Bowl, a source of great regional pride.
Jan. 1, 1979: The fifth and perhaps most spectacular of Paul “Bear” Bryant’s national championships, the ’79 Sugar Bowl is one of the most legendary coaching matchups of all-time, pitting Bryant against Joe Paterno, both in their primes. Alabama made the iconic Goal Line Stand, stuffing the Nittany Lions three times inside the 1-yard line to seal a 14-7 win. Oh, and the game marked the debut of Alabama’s mascot, Big Al.
Dec. 29, 1982: We could’ve picked any number of dates related to Bryant. But the day he retired seems most appropriate. In addition to representing his then-record 323rd win, it signaled one of the greatest eras of any college football program ever. The Tide won 13 SEC championships and six national championships under Bryant. The coach joked after his final Liberty Bowl win that he’d “probably croak in a week.” It wasn’t far from the truth, as he died less than one month later.
Jan. 1, 1993: It had been 13 seasons and three coaches since Alabama won its last national championship, and it would be another 17 seasons before Bama won another. But coach Gene Stallings led this Tide team to a surprise upset over the heavily-favored Miami Hurricanes, 34-13, ending a 29-game winning streak in the process. George Teague’s “The Strip” probably is the greatest non-play in football history. In a desert of sorts for Crimson Tide football, this year and this game was a wonderful oasis.
Feb. 1, 2002: Calling the rules violations “some of the worst that have ever occurred,” the NCAA said it thought of imposing the death penalty on the Alabama football program. Instead, it handed the Tide a two-year bowl ban and stripped Bama of 21 scholarships over three years. The forgettable Mike Price/Mike Shula eras soon followed.
Jan. 3, 2007: Nick Saban announced he’d become the next coach at the University of Alabama. Saban previously had said “I’m not going to be the Alabama coach,” but after a dogged pursuit by then-athletic director Mal Moore, the coach couldn’t resist a return to the college game and the SEC. Saban since has won three national championships for the Tide, which is 49-7 in regular-season SEC play since ’08.
Feb. 6, 2008: Julio Jones. Mark Barron. Courtney Upshaw. Barrett Jones. Marcell Dareus. Mark Ingram. Dont’a Hightower. Terrence Cody. Robert Lester. After winning seven games in ’07, Saban signed all those players and more as part of the ’08 recruiting class. The ’09 class was amazing as well, but, pardon the pun, the ’08 group turned the Tide. Players from the class who stayed five years, like Jones, left with three national championship rings. Jones, a five-star receiver, was the first major five-star signee of the Saban era and opened the floodgates. Bryant may have built his dynasty from a tower overlooking the practice field on a hot day, but Saban built his through recruiting.
Dec. 12, 2009: Running back Mark Ingram won the first Heisman Trophy in Alabama football history, edging Stanford’s Toby Gerhart and Texas’ Colt McCoy in what was then the closest vote in the history of the award. Ingram ran for 1,658 yards and 17 touchdowns that season as the top offensive weapon on a team that finished 14-0, winning a national championship and ending a 17-year drought.
An itinerant journalist, Christopher has moved between states 11 times in seven years. Formally an injury-prone Division I 800-meter specialist, he now wanders the Rockies in search of high peaks.
