60 Fun Facts About Alabama Crimson Tide Football

What is Alabama's traditional rallying cry?

The other three belong to Auburn, Nebraska and Ole Miss, and using the wrong one in Tuscaloosa is not recommended.

In which year did Alabama play its first football season?

Law student William G. Little learned the game at prep school in Andover, Massachusetts and taught it to his classmates.

Alabama's home stadium is named for coach Bear Bryant and which university president?

It opened as Denny Stadium in 1929 with 12,000 seats; the legislature added Bryant's name in 1975 while he was still coaching.

What is the listed seating capacity of Bryant-Denny Stadium?

The record crowd was 101,821 when the south end zone expansion opened in 2010.

Sportswriter Hugh Roberts coined the Crimson Tide nickname to describe a 1907 game played in what conditions?

The underdog Tide held favoured Auburn to a 6-6 tie in it; before that the papers called them the Thin Red Line.

Before "Crimson Tide" caught on, headline writers popularised which nickname for the team?

The elephant tag came later, in 1930, when a sportswriter heard a fan yell that the elephants were coming.

Alabama's elephant mascot stems from a 1930 Everett Strupper report quoting a fan shouting what?

Strupper and other writers started calling the team the Red Elephants, and Big Al is the descendant of that line.

The Million Dollar Band was named in 1922 when Champ Pickens was asked what Alabama had at a game against which school?

The band had raised its own money to travel with the team, which impressed him more than the score did.

At which campus building does the Elephant Stomp pregame tradition gather before marching to the stadium?

The band, at around 400 members, is the largest student organisation on campus.

Each spring since 1948, Alabama's team captains have left what in cement at the base of Denny Chimes?

The Walk of Fame ceremony happens during A-Day festivities under the 115-foot bell tower.

How many national championships does Alabama claim?

Thirteen came from the AP or Coaches' polls; five are pre-poll titles from 1925 to 1941 that other rankings awarded.

Alabama's 1926 Rose Bowl win, its first bowl appearance, is remembered by what nickname?

The Tide scored all 20 of its points in the third quarter, and MVP Johnny Mack Brown went on to a career in Hollywood westerns.

The 1926 Rose Bowl was the first to be broadcast on radio, called by which former Olympic sprinter?

Paddock, the 1920 Olympic 100m champion, was working as a sportswriter at the time.

Which coach led Alabama to that 1926 Rose Bowl and its first national titles?

He coached from 1923 to 1930, then left for Duke, whose stadium bears his name.

How did Paul Bryant earn his famous nickname?

The carnival was in Fordyce, Arkansas, and by his own account he never got the promised dollar for it.

What pattern was Bear Bryant's trademark hat?

The black-and-white check is still everywhere on game day, and Bryant-Denny's suites are trimmed in it.

How many national championships did Bear Bryant win at Alabama between 1958 and 1982?

1961, 1964, 1965, 1973, 1978 and 1979; he retired with 323 wins, then the most in the sport's history.

Asked why he left Texas A&M for Alabama in 1958, Bryant famously said who had called?

"And when Mama calls, you just have to come runnin'." He had played end on the 1934 championship team.

Which future Alabama coach was among Bryant's "Junction Boys" at Texas A&M in 1954?

He survived the brutal Texas training camp as a player and later coached the Tide to the 1992 title.

How long after his final game did Bear Bryant die?

He won the Liberty Bowl in December 1982 and suffered a fatal heart attack on January 26, 1983.

Which quarterback did Bryant call "the greatest athlete I ever coached"?

He led the 1964 title team, then signed with the Jets for a record $427,000 and guaranteed Super Bowl III.

Alabama's 42-21 home loss to which team in 1970 helped spur integration of Southern football?

John Mitchell became the first Black player to start for the Tide in the rematch a year later, a 17-10 Alabama win in Los Angeles.

Shug Jordan coined "Iron Bowl" in 1964 because the game was played in which steel-industry city?

The game lived at Legion Field for decades; Auburn took its home dates to Jordan-Hare in 1989 and Alabama to Tuscaloosa in 2000.

For roughly how many years did Alabama and Auburn refuse to play each other after 1907?

Disputes over player expenses and officials froze the series until 1948, when Alabama won the resumption 55-0.

How far did Auburn's Chris Davis return a missed field goal for the winning touchdown in the 2013 Iron Bowl?

The "Kick Six" came on a 57-yard attempt with one second left, a second Alabama had itself argued to have restored to the clock.

Van Tiffin's 52-yard field goal that won the 1985 Iron Bowl at the buzzer is known simply as what?

Paul Finebaum later called it the greatest football game he had ever seen; Alabama won 25-23.

"Punt Bama Punt" refers to Auburn's 1972 win in which the Tigers did what twice?

Both blocks went back for touchdowns in the last six minutes to turn a 16-3 deficit into a 17-16 win.

Alabama's rivalry game with Tennessee is traditionally called what?

The winners hand out cigars afterward, a 1950s tradition the schools now self-report as an NCAA violation every year.

Alabama's 15-game winning streak over Tennessee ended in 2022 with what final score?

It was the first time Tennessee had beaten Nick Saban in his Alabama tenure, and the goalposts ended up in the Tennessee River.

Alabama's 1992 national title came in the Sugar Bowl with a 34-13 upset of which team?

The Hurricanes had won 29 straight and had the Heisman winner at quarterback; George Teague's "Strip" was the game's signature play.

Which coach was dismissed by Alabama in 2003 before ever coaching a game?

He had been hired from Washington State months earlier; Mike Shula was brought in to replace him.

Nick Saban left which NFL team to take the Alabama job in January 2007?

Weeks earlier he had told reporters, "I guess I have to say it. I'm not going to be the Alabama coach."

What was Alabama's record in Saban's first season, 2007?

The next year the Tide went 12-0 in the regular season, and the title in 2009 was the first of six under him.

Nick Saban won his first national title in 2003 at which school?

That made him the first coach to win national titles at two different major schools in the AP poll era once Alabama won in 2009.

Alabama beat which team 37-21 in the Rose Bowl to win the 2009 season's BCS title, its first since 1992?

Colt McCoy was knocked out on the first drive by Marcell Dareus, who later returned an interception for a score.

Who was Alabama's first Heisman Trophy winner?

His 2009 win over Toby Gerhart was by 28 points, the closest vote in the award's history at the time.

Alabama's 21-0 win in the BCS title game after the 2011 season was a rematch against which team?

The Tigers had won the November "Game of the Century" 9-6 in overtime; the rematch was the first shutout in a title game in two decades.

How many rushing yards did Derrick Henry pile up in his 2015 Heisman season, an SEC record?

He is the only player to rush for 2,000 yards in a season in high school, college and the NFL.

Alabama's 45-40 win over Clemson for the 2015 title turned on what fourth-quarter gamble?

Adam Griffith's kick was caught by Marlon Humphrey, and Kenyan Drake's 95-yard kickoff return followed soon after.

In the 2017 title game, Alabama beat Georgia in overtime on a touchdown thrown on what down and distance?

Freshman Tua Tagovailoa, sent in at halftime for Jalen Hurts, hit DeVonta Smith for 41 yards after taking a sack on first down.

DeVonta Smith's 2020 Heisman made him the first wide receiver to win it since which player in 1991?

Teammates called the slight Smith the "Slim Reaper"; he caught 117 passes for 1,856 yards that season.

Alabama beat which team 52-24 to complete its undefeated 2020 championship season?

Smith caught three touchdowns before halftime and left with a hand injury; the Tide went 13-0 in an all-SEC schedule.

Which distinction does Bryce Young hold among Alabama's Heisman winners?

The 5'10" passer went first overall to Carolina in 2023 and set the school record with 559 yards in a game against Arkansas.

The 2023 Iron Bowl was won by a touchdown pass on 4th-and-31 from Jalen Milroe to which receiver?

The play, thrown with about half a minute left at Jordan-Hare, is known as the Gravedigger.

On what date did Nick Saban announce his retirement from coaching?

The playing surface at Bryant-Denny was renamed Saban Field that year, and he moved to ESPN's College GameDay desk.

Kalen DeBoer came to Alabama from which school, where he had just reached the national title game?

The Huskies went 14-1 in 2023, losing only to Michigan in the final; DeBoer had won three NAIA titles at Sioux Falls before that.

DeBoer's first Alabama team lost 40-35 to which SEC opponent, the Tide's first defeat to them since 1984?

The loss ended a 23-game streak against the Commodores; the 2024 team finished 9-4.

Alabama holds the NCAA record for consecutive ten-win seasons. How many in a row, from 2008 to 2023?

The streak spanned Saban's entire run after his 7-6 debut and ended in DeBoer's first year.

Which Alabama linebacker won the 1988 Butkus Award and later set the NFL record of seven sacks in a game?

He recorded 27 sacks in his final college season and was drafted fourth overall by Kansas City.

Julio Jones, drafted sixth overall by Atlanta in 2011, was the first true freshman at Alabama to do what?

The Falcons traded five picks to Cleveland to get him; his given first name is Quintorris.

How many statues of national-championship coaches stand on the Walk of Champions outside Bryant-Denny?

Wade, Thomas, Bryant, Stallings and Saban, whose statue was added in 2011 while he was still coaching.

What is the name of Alabama's costumed elephant mascot?

The elephant link dates to a 1930 report of a fan yelling that 'the elephants are coming' as the Tide's huge linemen took the field.

Which student, who learned the game at Andover, Massachusetts, introduced football to Alabama in 1892?

Alabama's first game, in Birmingham on 11 November 1892, was a 56–0 win over a team made up mostly of high schoolers.

Which team won the first ever Iron Bowl, played at Lakeview Park in Birmingham in February 1893?

The rivalry later went four decades without a game before resuming in 1948.

Which Alabama coach's 1992 team went 13–0 and was one of the 'Junction Boys' under Bear Bryant at Texas A&M?

Stallings had coached the NFL Cardinals through their move to Arizona before returning to Tuscaloosa in 1990.

Which Alabama tight end nicknamed 'The Wizard of Oz' later ran the Baltimore Ravens' front office?

He started all four years and helped the Tide to a 42–6 record before a Hall of Fame career with the Cleveland Browns.

In which round of the 1956 NFL draft did Green Bay pick Alabama quarterback Bart Starr?

He went on to win the first two Super Bowls and remains the only QB to lead a team to three straight league titles.

Which Alabama linebacker was a three-time All-American (1984–86) and later twice AFC Defensive Player of the Year?

Nicknamed 'Biscuit' because he always had room for one more, the Birmingham native starred for the Buffalo Bills.

Alabama halfback Harry Gilmer helped popularise which passing technique in the 1940s?

He leapt to throw because he'd grown up playing pickup games against much taller, older boys in Birmingham.

What nickname did Alabama quarterback Kenny Stabler carry from college into his Raiders career?

A first-team All-American in 1967, he was NFL MVP in 1974 and won Super Bowl XI with Oakland.