Cary Moss 🐘

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.

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.

Last season @AlabamaFTBL beat Louisiana-Monroe 73-0 for the most points scored by the Crimson Tide since 77 that happened 53 years ago today in a rout over Virginia Polytechnic Institute on Oct. 27, 1973, inside Denny Stadium. No. 2-ranked Alabama crushed the VPI Gobblers, 77-6, with its wishbone offense piling up a then-record 748 yards rushing on 63 carries. Today VPI is better known as Virginia Tech and the Gobblers have been renamed the Hokies. The Crimson Tide has scored more than 77 points but those were all before 1922 and against programs that are considered much lower tiers than Division I. Four players rushed for 100 yards against the Gobblers that night in Tuscaloosa led by James Taylor (142 yards), Wilbur Jackson (138), Calvin Culliver (127) and Richard Todd (102). Paul “Bear” Bryant emptied the bench against VPI, but the free-flowing substitutions did not curb the scoring. “I didn’t want the score to be like that,” Bryant said afterwards. “They just got tired and we played over 70 people who were rested. They’ve got nothing to be ashamed of and I hope people realize that. We definitely were not trying to run up the score.”

While Kent Waldrep did not play for @AlabamaFTBL very few touched the program and Paul “Bear” Bryant more than the former TCU running back, who suffered an injury that left him paralyzed while playing the Crimson Tide 52 years ago today on Oct. 26, 1974, at Legion Field. In the second quarter of a 41-3 victory by Alabama, Waldrep injured his neck while being tackled and almost died following the play. The horrific event affected Bryant so much that he made sure to be at Waldrep’s bedside when he awoke from surgery. “I can remember so well waking up in intensive care, in the first few days after the injury and looking up and seeing Coach Bryant’s face,” Waldrep described to author Keith Dunnavant in his autobiography of Bryant. “My mama later told me that he was near tears out in the hall waiting to see me.” The special relationship between Waldrep and the Alabama football program grew from that tragic moment. He became an honorary member of the Crimson Tide’s A-Club letterman’s association, and later helped champion the Americans with Disabilities Act. When Waldrep’s two sons, Trey and Charley, were ready for college in the mid-2000s, The University granted them Bryant scholarships, a program established for children of former Bryant players. Waldrep passed away on Feb. 27, 2022, at the age of 67.

For today’s younger generation, it would be hard to imagine @AlabamaFTBL having a stretch of five years without beating a ranked opponent, but that’s how far the program had fallen before Paul “Bear” Bryant returned to restore the honor of his alma mater. Led by Gary O’Steen’s kicking and running, Alabama upset No. 19-ranked Mississippi State, 9-7, and ruined the homecoming festivities in Starkville 68 years ago today on Oct. 25, 1958. The Bulldogs entered the game favored by two touchdowns, but O’Steen rushed for 66 yards and his five quick-kicks kept Mississippi State off balance. Alabama scored its nine points on a 21-yard field goal by Fred Sington and a 21-yard pass from Bobby Jackson to Norbie Ronsonet. The Crimson Tide finished the 1958 season with a 5-4-1 record, but Bryant had poured the foundation for a championship program. Alabama also stunned No. 20 Georgia Tech, 17-8, later in the season. Prior to Bryant’s arrival, the last time Alabama had beaten a ranked opponent occurred when the Crimson Tide beat No. 16 Auburn, 10-7, in 1953.

Homecoming usually brings warm memories to Tuscaloosa, but today it brings uncomfortable questions. No. 13 @AlabamaFTBL hosts @AggieFootball at 2:30 p.m. with Kalen DeBoer facing an upset fan base whose goodwill took a beating in Tennessee’s 26–10 victory last week. Can the coaching staff give returning alumni something to believe in again? A convincing performance would be a start in soothing the current emotional wounds. Re-establishing the dominance the Crimson Tide displayed in wins over South Carolina and Mississippi State may not erase all questions, but it most certainly wouldn’t add more. Injuries complicate today’s task. Ryan Coleman-Williams and Terrance Green remain out, while center Racin Delgatty, cornerback Zabien Brown and running back EJ Crowell are doubtful. Texas A&M enters with its own disgruntled fanbase, a disappointing 4-3 record and shattered preseason playoff expectations. The Aggies have failed to score a touchdown in their two previous road games, and a Crimson Tide defense extending their offensive woes would be a nice homecoming surprise. And if Alabama loses a third consecutive game for the first time in 19 years would it be the worst homecoming loss since 1988? A loss engrained in Crimson Tide lore for involving a brick tossed through the window of Bill Curry’s office over the weekend.

Perhaps today’s flashback from 16 years ago will help erase the most recent Third Saturday in October as we remember when No. 8-ranked @AlabamaFTBL rolled into Knoxville and left with a 41-10 victory on Oct. 23, 2010. Alabama blew open a 13-10 halftime lead with four second-half touchdowns to trounce the Volunteers and enjoy the cigar-lighting tradition in Neyland Stadium. Despite a fractured his left hand, Julio Jones had 221 yards receiving after having a metal plate and screws inserted, while Trent Richardson rushed for 119 yards and a touchdown and also scored on a 5-yard pass. Mark Ingram rushed for 88 yards and two touchdowns. Dont’a Hightower led the defense with six tackles and two quarterback pressures.

For those that had the privilege to see the greatness of linebacker Derrick Thomas in person, they will remember the significance of what happened 38 years ago today when the @AlabamaFTBL legend ensured the Crimson Tide would not lose in an 8-3 victory over Penn State on Oct. 22, 1988, inside Legion Field. Thomas terrorized Penn State’s Tony Sacca all afternoon and finished with three sacks, nine quarterback hurries, eight tackles and almost outscored the Nittany Lions by himself with a fourth-quarter safety. Led by the heroic performance, the Crimson Tide defense allowed just 21 yards in the second half. In the 1988 season, Thomas won the Butkas Award as the nation’s top linebacker and finished with a staggering 27 sacks. To put that in perspective, Alabama as a team had 25 sacks last season with one extra game. “We made some changes at halftime to free Derrick Thomas,” Alabama head coach Bill Curry said. “Once Derrick Thomas is flying around, all kinds of things happen. They start looking for him. It’s a real nightmare when there’s a player like that on the other team.” CBS televised the defensive slugfest and announcer Brent Musburger described Thomas’s afternoon as, “the most dominating performance I’ve ever seen by a college player.” Philip Doyle scored the only offensive points for Alabama with a 39-yard field goal in the second quarter, before giving the Crimson Tide a 6-3 lead with a 35-yard field goal in the third quarter. Thomas added his safety early in the fourth quarter and a late quarterback hurry ended Penn State’s final offensive series when Lee Ozmint intercepted Sacca. Penn State finished with just 169 yards of total offense (98 passing, 71 rushing) and eight first downs.