Alabama vs Georgia 1922

Alabama's Charles Bartlett turns the corner
for a 7-yard gain against Georgia in the 1922 game.

When Montgomery's Cramton Bowl opened in 1922, Alabama's "Thin Red Line" was intended to be the inaugural game for the stadium. Instead, the university's freshman squad was granted the honor as UA president George H. Denny succeeded in having the planned showdown with Georgia relocated to the venue.

It seemed a sharp business move as the Bulldogs under Herman J. Stegeman had become a southern power rolling up a 15-2-2 record the prior two years. As the Alabama game approached, Georgia's record wasn't as stellar as expected since the Bulldogs  had not won a game in November, starting with a tight 7-3 loss to Auburn the first Saturday of the month.

The Tide, meanwhile, were riding high after defeating John Heisman's University of Pennsylvania squad just three weeks prior. The full page ad in the Montgomery Advertiser for the Cramton Bowl contest explicitly noted this feat.

In the first quarter Alabama was driving to the end zone with Charles Bartlett completing key passes to Pooley Hubert and Alan MacCartee to reach the Georgia eight-yard-line. Then disaster struck as MacCartee fumbled and the Bulldogs' Fletcher recovered and galloped ninety-five yards for a touchdown. It would be the Bulldogs only score of the game.

Bama's Bartlett scored on a four-yard run late in the first half and then booted a field goal in the third to put his team up 10-6, which would prove to be the final score.

The game would be the last for Georgia's Stegeman who was replaced by George C. "Kid" Woodruff the following season. Alabama would go on crush Mississippi A&M the following week to conclude the 6-3-1 season and bring the tenure of head coach Xen Scott to an end. The Tide would be led by Wallace Wade in 1923.

Dorsett Vandeventer Graves

A cartoon depicting D.V. Graves'
career before coaching at Alabama.

Dorsett Vandeventer Graves, better known as "D.V." or "Tubby," was the University of Alabama's football coach from 1911 through 1915. A native of Alabama, Graves attended the University of Missouri from 1906 to 1908 where he played football and baseball.

He was hired as Alabama's 12th football coach in 1911 and became the school's baseball and basketball coach the following year. Highlights of his tenure included a 1912 victory over regional powerhouse Sewanee and a 13-0 shut out of John Heisman's Georgia Tech team in 1914.

In 1912 George Hutchenson Denny became the president of the University of Alabama. Denny saw football as a way to increase the the profile of the school and became very hands on in the athletics department. And to do that he knew he needed a winner.

Alabama's 1912 team.

While Graves' Alabama squads never suffered a losing season, by 1914 it was clear he wasn't the coach to take the Alabama program to the next level. Denny replaced him with Thomas Kelly in 1915. Graves finished at Alabama with a respectable 21-12-3 record (.625).

Graves next popped up at Texas A&M as an assistant under Dana X. Bible. He assumed the head coaching responsibilities for the Aggies in 1918 when Bible served in the military for World War I. The team performed quite well under his leadership losing just one game, a 0-7 contest against the Longhorns in Austin on Nov. 28, 1918.

When Bible returned in 1919, Graves went back to his role as an assistant coach and was on hand as A&M rolled to an undefeated (and unscored upon) season that culminated in a national championship. In 1920, Graves had moved on to the head coaching position at Montana State, where he amassed a 5-5-1 over two seasons.

Graves then headed to the Pacific Northwest where he signed on at the University of Washington. Between 1923 and 1946 Graves served as an assistant coach on the football team and baseball head coach. He later became the assistant director of athletics.

Graves passed away in 1960. He is now enshrined in the Husky Hall of Fame and the school's former baseball field as well as its current intercollegiate athletics building were named in his honor.

A version of this entry first appeared on Burnt Orange Nation.

John Heisman's Bulletin Board Material

In 1922, Alabama head coach Xen Scott took his team on a trip north to Philadelphia to play the University of Pennsylvania on historic Franklin Field.

Heisman at Penn

The coach of the Quakers that season was none other than John Heisman who had landed at Penn after a divorce settlement forced him to leave Georgia Tech (the couple agreed to not live in the same city and his former wife chose to stay in Atlanta).

Penn was viewed as a power that season after trouncing Navy and the Quakers were undefeated heading into the Nov. 4 contest with the Crimson Tide. Heisman went so far as to tell a local newspaper that he didn't want to embarrass Alabama so he planned to pull his starters after "a 25 or 30 point lead."

That quip, according to Bernie Perry, the Crimson Tide's manager that year,  prompted a mad scramble by the Alabama staff.

"[Athletic Director Charles] Bernier and I bought up all the available papers and he saw that every boy had a copy," he told the Birmingham Post-Herald in a 1959 story about the game.

The Crimson Tide beat the Quakers 9-7.