1907 Alabama Crimson Tide football team

1907 Alabama Crimson Tide football
Conference	Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association
Record	5–1–2 (3–1–2 SIAA)
Head coach	J. W. H. Pollard (2nd season)
Captain	Emile Hannon
Home stadium	The Quad Birmingham Fairgrounds Highland Park Monroe Park
Seasons ←  1906 1908  →

1907 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Vanderbilt $	3	–	0	–	0			5	–	1	–	1
Sewanee	6	–	1	–	0			8	–	1	–	0
LSU	3	–	1	–	0			7	–	3	–	0
Alabama	3	–	1	–	2			5	–	1	–	2
Tennessee	3	–	2	–	0			7	–	2	–	1
Auburn	3	–	2	–	1			6	–	2	–	1
Georgia	3	–	3	–	1			4	–	3	–	1
Mississippi A&M	3	–	3	–	0			6	–	3	–	0
Georgia Tech	2	–	4	–	0			4	–	4	–	0
Clemson	1	–	3	–	0			4	–	4	–	0
Mercer	0	–	3	–	0			3	–	3	–	0
Howard (AL)	0	–	5	–	0			2	–	5	–	0
Ole Miss	0	–	5	–	0			0	–	6	–	0
Nashville			–							–
$ – Conference champion

The 1907 Alabama Crimson Tide football team (variously "Alabama", "UA" or "Bama") represented the University of Alabama in the 1907 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football season. It was the Crimson Tide's 15th overall and 12th season as a member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA). The team was led by head coach J. W. H. Pollard, in his second year, and played their home games at the University of Alabama Quad in Tuscaloosa, the Birmingham Fairgrounds in Birmingham, Highland Park in Montgomery and at Monroe Park in Mobile, Alabama. They finished the season with a record of five wins, one loss and two ties (5–1–2 overall, 3–1–2 in the SIAA).

Alabama played several games of note during the season. Their 54–4 loss to Sewanee is the last time Alabama allowed an opponent to score 50 points in a regulation game ^[1] until a 52–49 loss to Tennessee on October 15, 2022. ^[2] (In 2003 Tennessee beat Alabama 51–43 in a game that went five overtimes after being tied 20–20 at the end of regulation.) ^[3] The victory over LSU at Monroe Park marked the first ever Alabama home game played in Mobile. ^{[1] [4]}

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Source
October 5	Maryville (TN) *	The Quad Tuscaloosa, AL	W 17–0	[5]
October 12	vs. Ole Miss	Columbus Fairgrounds Columbus, MS (rivalry)	W 20–0	[6]
October 21	Sewanee	The Quad Tuscaloosa, AL	L 4–54	[7]
October 26	Georgia	Highland Park Montgomery, AL (rivalry)	T 0–0	[8]
November 2	Centre *	Birmingham Fairgrounds Birmingham, AL	W 12–0	[9]
November 16	Auburn	Birmingham Fairgrounds Birmingham, AL (rivalry)	T 6–6	[10]
November 23	LSU	Monroe Park Mobile, AL (rivalry)	W 6–4	[11]
November 28	Tennessee	Birmingham Fairgrounds Birmingham, AL (rivalry)	W 5–0	[12]
*Non-conference game

• Scoring note: ^{[A 1]}

1907 Iron Bowl

Alabama's 6–6 tie with Auburn was both the only tie in the history of the Iron Bowl and the last meeting between the two teams for forty years. ^{[1] [14]} Auburn was a 3 to 1 favorite going into the game, due to their earlier victory over Georgia and the fact that they had lost to Sewanee by only 6 points while Alabama lost to Sewanee by 50. ^[15] Alabama missed a chance to win when a 15-yard field goal attempt failed. ^[15]

Speculation as to why the Alabama–Auburn series was discontinued was originally thought to have been done as a safety precaution due violence both on the field and amongst the fans in the 1907 game. ^[16] Instead, the game was canceled due to a disagreement between the schools on how much per diem to allow players for the trip to Birmingham, how many players each school should bring and where to find officials, and by the time all these matters were resolved, it was too late to play in 1908. ^[16] For forty years the two teams failed to play each other, even though they were in the same state and members of the same conferences. Finally, pressure from the state legislature resulted in the renewal of the rivalry in 1948. ^[14]

This game is also believed to be where the University of Alabama got their team name, the Crimson Tide, where a sports editor by the name of Hugh Roberts said The Team played like a "Crimson Tide" noting the fact that the rain had caused the red soil to turn to mud and stain the white jerseys of the Alabama team. ^[17]

Notes

1. For the 1907 season, point values were different from those used in contemporary games. In 1907 a touchdown was worth five points, a field goal was worth four points and a conversion (PAT) was worth one point. ^[13]

References

General

• "1907 Season Recap" (PDF). RollTide.com. University of Alabama Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 2, 2012. Retrieved February 22, 2012.

Specific

1. 2011 Alabama Crimson Tide Football Record Book. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Athletics Media Relations Office. 2011. pp. 179–195. Archived from the original on July 10, 2011. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
2. ESPN Box Score, Tennessee 52, Alabama 49
3. ESPN Recap, Tennessee 51, Alabama 43 ^{[ dead link ]}
4. "Whirlwind finish beats Louisiana: Alabama wins on 75-yard run in last 20 seconds". The New Orleans Item. NewsBank: America's Historical Newspapers. November 24, 1907. p. 8.
5. "Alabama 17; Maryville 0". The Tuscaloosa News. October 6, 1907. Retrieved February 16, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
6. "University squad defeats Mississippi". The Birmingham News. October 14, 1907. Retrieved February 16, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
7. "Sewanee ran over Alabama". Nashville Banner. October 22, 1907. Retrieved February 16, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
8. "Georgia ties Alabama, neither team scored point in slow game". The Atlanta Constitution. October 27, 1907. Retrieved February 16, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
9. "Alabamians do the Kentuckians". The Birmingham News. November 4, 1907. Retrieved February 16, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
10. "Auburn–Alabama game ends in a tie". The Montgomery Advertiser. November 17, 1907. Retrieved February 16, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
11. "Alabama team wins". The Times-Democrat. November 24, 1907. Retrieved February 16, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
12. "Forty yard run for touchdown". Knoxville Sentinel. November 29, 1907. Retrieved February 16, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
13. "Scoring values". RollTide.com. University of Alabama Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. Archived from the original on November 25, 2011. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
14. "Rusty on early Iron Bowls?". The Tuscaloosa News. Google News. November 10, 2000. p. 14I. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
15. 1907 Season Recap
16. Norman, Geoffrey (1986). Alabama Showdown. Kensington Publishing Company. pp. 48–50. ISBN   0-8217-2157-7.
17. "The University of Alabama". www.ua.edu. Retrieved November 13, 2022.