1901 Alabama Crimson White football team

The 1901 Alabama Crimson White football team[A 1] (variously "Alabama", "UA" or "Bama") represented the University of Alabama in the 1901 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football season. The team was led by head coach M. S. Harvey, in his first season, and played their home games at The Quad in Tuscaloosa and one game each at Highland Park in Montgomery and at West End Park in Birmingham, Alabama. In what was the ninth season of Alabama football, the team finished with a record of two wins, one loss and two ties (2–1–2, 2–1–2 SIAA).

1901 Alabama Crimson White football
Conference	Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association
1901 record	2–1–2 (2–1–2 SIAA)
Head coach	M. S. Harvey (1st season)
Captain	Earl Drennen
Home stadium	The Quad Highland Park West End Park

1901 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Vanderbilt $	4	–	0	–	0			6	–	1	–	1
Clemson	2	–	0	–	1			3	–	1	–	1
LSU	2	–	1	–	0			5	–	1	–	0
North Carolina	2	–	1	–	0			7	–	2	–	0
Tulane	2	–	1	–	0			4	–	2	–	0
Alabama	2	–	1	–	2			2	–	1	–	2
Auburn	2	–	2	–	1			2	–	3	–	1
Tennessee	1	–	1	–	2			3	–	3	–	2
Mississippi A&M	1	–	2	–	0			2	–	2	–	1
Cumberland (TN)	0	–	1	–	0			0	–	1	–	0
Kentucky State	0	–	2	–	0			2	–	6	–	1
Georgia	0	–	3	–	2			1	–	5	–	2
Ole Miss	0	–	4	–	0			2	–	4	–	0
$ – Conference champion

Schedule

To open the season, Alabama was originally scheduled to play the University of Nashville at Birmingham on October 19.[3] Nashville subsequently canceled the game just prior to its scheduled kickoff.[3]

Date	Opponent	Site	Result
October 26	Ole Miss	The Quad Tuscaloosa, AL (rivalry)	W 41–0
November 9	Georgia	Highland Park Montgomery, AL (rivalry)	T 0–0
November 15	Auburn	The Quad Tuscaloosa, AL (Iron Bowl)	L 0–17
November 16	Mississippi A&M	The Quad Tuscaloosa, AL (rivalry)	W 45–0
November 28	Tennessee	West End Park Birmingham, AL (Third Saturday in October)	T 6–6

• Source: Rolltide.com: 1901 Alabama football schedule[4][A 2]

Game summaries

Mississippi

Alabama opened the 1901 season with a 41–0 victory over the University of Mississippi in Tuscaloosa.[4] Alabama scored touchdowns in the first half on a short A. M. Donahoo run, a 60-yard W. A. Weaver run, a short Frank Houston Powe run, a short A. W. Stewart run and on a 90-yard Donahoo kickoff return.[6] In the second half, Alabama scored touchdowns on a 33-yard Weaver and a 20-yard Powe runs for the 41–0 win.[6] The victory brought Alabama's all-time record against Mississippi to 3–1.[7]

Georgia

In the second all-time meeting against the University of Georgia, the game ended in a scoreless tie at Montgomery's Highland Park.[6] In a game dominated by punts, the only score of the game was made by Earl Drennen only to be called back on a subsequent penalty.[6] The tie brought Alabama's all-time record against Georgia to 0–1–1.[8]

Auburn

Against the Alabama Polytechnic Institute (now known as Auburn University) Alabama was upset 17–0 at Tuscaloosa, in a game not officially scheduled until November 11, only four days prior to the contest.[9] Auburn took an 11–0 lead in the first half on a pair of Matt Sloan touchdown runs.[9] Auburn then scored their final points of the game on a W. H. Guinn touchdown run in the second half for the 17–0 victory.[9] This was the second meeting in Tuscaloosa between Alabama and Auburn, and the next Iron Bowl in Tuscaloosa was not played until the 2000 season, 99 years later.[10] The loss brought Alabama's all-time record against Auburn to 1–5.[11]

Mississippi A&M

The day after their loss against Auburn, Alabama defeated the Aggies of Mississippi A&M (now known as Mississippi State University) 45–0 on The Quad.[4] Alabama scored touchdowns in the first half on runs of 35-yards by A. W. Stewart, 15-yards by James Forman, 65-yards by W. A. Weaver and 60-yards from Daniels.[6] In the second half, touchdowns were scored on runs of 30-yards from Daniels, a short Weaver run and a short and 33-yard Weaver run.[6] The victory brought Alabama's all-time record against Mississippi A&M (Mississippi State) to 2–0.[12]

Tennessee

In what was the first game against the rival University of Tennessee, it ended early in a 6–6 tie, when fans rushed onto the field after a controversial offside call and the umpires were unable to clear out the crowd in the second half.[6] In the game, J. L. Broug scored for Tennessee and A. W. Stewart scored for Alabama.[6]

Players

Alabama Crimson White 1901 roster[6]
	Guards R. R. Banks J. C. Granade Harmon Burns Tackles R. L. Daniel A. M. Donahoo James Forman James C. Gwin H. H. Jones		Center Frank Montague Lett Ends E. J. Parsons Frank Houston Powe Frederick Grist Stickney		Backs Earl Drennen W. McMahon C. M. Plowman E. J. Parsons A. W. Stewart W. A. Weaver

Notes

1. Alabama football teams were not referred to as the "Crimson Tide" until the 1907 season. Prior to 1907, the team was called the "Crimson White" from 1893 to 1906 and the "Cadets" in 1892.[1][2]
2. For the 1901 season, point values were different from those used in contemporary games. In 1901 a touchdown was worth five points, a field goal was worth five points and a conversion (PAT) was worth one point.[5]

References

1. "How the Crimson Tide got its name". bryantmuseum.ua.edu. Paul W. Bryant Museum. Archived from the original on June 30, 2013. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
2. Kennedy, Scott (April 8, 1992). "Tide football tradition began with 1892 team". The Tuscaloosa News. p. 2F. Retrieved June 30, 2013 – via Google News Archives.
3. "Nashville declines to play University of Alabama". The Montgomery Advertiser. NewsBank: America's Historical Newspapers. October 22, 1901. p. 3.
4. "1901 Alabama football schedule". RollTide.com. University of Alabama Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. Archived from the original on December 2, 2011. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
5. "Scoring values". RollTide.com. University of Alabama Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. Archived from the original on December 2, 2011. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
6. "1901 Season Recap" (PDF). RollTide.com. University of Alabama Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-02. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
7. "Alabama vs Mississippi". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on October 23, 2011. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
8. "Alabama vs Georgia". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on December 16, 2013. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
9. Griffin, John Chandler (2001). "1901: Tigers upset Alabama". Alabama vs. Auburn: Gridiron Grudge Since 1893. Athens, Georgia: Hill Street Press. pp. 22–23. ISBN 1-58818-044-1.
10. Hurt, Cecil (March 6, 1999). "Vols due in fall, AU in 2000". The Tuscaloosa News. p. 1A. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
11. "Alabama vs Auburn". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on June 22, 2013. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
12. "Alabama vs Mississippi State". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on October 23, 2011. Retrieved November 16, 2011.