The 1927 Rose Bowl: Alabama vs Stanford

The 1927 Rose Bowl set an attendance record of 57,417.

While the 1926 Rose Bowl and subsequent National Championship brought unprecedented nationwide attention to Alabama football program, the season that followed was the opportunity to cement the program’s success.

To achieve that Coach Wallace Wade faced a difficult challenge. Gone were Alabama’s marquee names of "Pooley" Hubert and Johnny Mack Brown as well as a host of key playmakers. Yet Wade was convinced  the team still had enough of talent and determination to make it back to Pasadena. With disciplined play Alabama continued to be an immovable object on defense. The Crimson Tide outscored opponents 242-20 during the 1926 regular season, allowing just three touchdowns.

The closest game was an Oct. 23 matchup against the Tigers of Sewanee that was decided by a safety in the waning minutes of the contest. The victory ensured Alabama would retain the Southern Conference crown and an invitation to the Rose Bowl to face the Pacific Coast Conference champion, Stanford. As he had the year before, Wade insisted his players were to stay focused on the game and he made sure to provide plenty of practices to ensure they would.

Alabama's 1926 team

The team completed the 2,000-mile train journey to California on Christmas morning and Wade had them on the practice field that afternoon. The Crimson Tide had arrived in Pasadena the defending national champions riding a 20-game win streak and they were ready to play. Their opponent wasn't cowed in the least.

In the 1920s, Stanford was coached by Glenn Scobey Warner, better known by his nickname "Pop." Warner was a legendary figure due to his success at Georgia, Cornell, Pittsburgh and Carlisle Indian Industrial School where he coached Jim Thorpe. Warner had revolutionized football with his innovative strategies. One of which, the single wing, had become a standard of Wade’s dynamic offensive attack. Hired by the Cardinal in 1924, Warner quickly built the team into a West Coast football power.

He led Stanford to a 6-1 season and the Pacific Coast Conference championship. A Rose Bowl invitation followed matching the Cardinal against Knute Rockne and the famed Four Horsemen of Notre Dame. While Warner's team dominated the Fighting Irish for most of the contest, Notre Dame capitalized on three Stanford turnovers to win it 27-10. Two seasons later Stanford amassed a 9-0 record, another conference crown and an invitation to spend New Year’s Day in Pasadena.

On Jan. 1, 1927, a record Rose Bowl crowd of 57,417 showed up on a sunny and hot afternoon to see the showdown of the last undefeated and untied teams in the country. The United Press called it "the football championship of America" and demand for tickets was so great organizers had added extra stands to boost the stadium’s capacity by 4,000 seats. The game also boasted a national audience as NBC made it the first coast-to-coast radio broadcast with famed sports broadcaster Graham McNamee calling the play-by-play.

Stanford wasted no time trying to get the upper hand. On the Card’s first play from scrimmage the teams fullback and primary passer, Clifford Hoffman, threw a 40-yard pass to end Ted Shipkey. First down on the Alabama 27-yard line. The Crimson Tide defense stepped up and forced Stanford’s George Bogue to try an 18-yard field goal. The kick went wide and Alabama took over on downs. Yet, three unsuccessful running plays later the Crimson Tide was forced to punt.

Then things got a little crazy. Stanford’s William Hyland caught the ball but before he could return it he was hit Alabama’s Fred Pickhard. Hyland fumbled the ball and Alabama’s Herschel Caldwell scooped it up… only to fumble it himself. Shipkey finally fell on it giving the Card’s possession and starting their drive again. It wasn't until late in the quarter that Stanford completed a 63-yard drive with a five-yard-pass from Bogue to Ed Walker who scrambled the remaining yard into the end zone. A successful extra point kick by Bogue made it 7-0 Stanford.

The second and third quarters produced a scoreless defensive struggle. It wasn't until well into the final period that either team had a real chance to score. Late in the fourth quarter Stanford was forced to punt from their own 42-yard-line and Alabama’s Baba Pearce blocked the kick. The Crimson Tide recovered the ball at the Card’s 14.

Knowing he'd need fresh legs to run the ball, Wade sent in running back Jimmy Johnson who had not played all afternoon due to a dislocated shoulder. On the first play of the drive, Hoyt "Wu" Winslett carried the ball three yards. Johnson then got the ball and ground out four more. Two more carries by Winslett got the ball to the Stanford one-yard-line and Johnson made the final carry into the end zone for the score.

Wade was taking no chances on getting the extra point and relied on a bit of deception to make sure the kick went good. As Alabama got set for the play, running back and signal caller Emile Barnes stood up and yelled "Signals off!" Stanford’s players took this to mean Alabama was going to reset for the play and relaxed for a moment. Instead, Crimson Tide center Gordon "Sherlock" Holmes snapped the ball, Winslett placed it on the ground and kicker Herschel Caldwell put it through the uprights to tie the game at 7-7.

On the following possession, Stanford started at their own 22-yard-line but only had time to get off two plays. With no overtime the final score stood 7-7. The game would be the final Rose Bowl to conclude with a tie and the outcome resulted in Alabama and Stanford sharing the National Champion title.

Stanford returned to Pasadena the next year to face the University of Pittsburgh. The Cardinal edged the Panthers 7-6 to give Warner his only Rose Bowl victory. Although Alabama would not return to the Rose Bowl for another four years, the two successive New Year’s Day contests had cemented the program’s future. The Crimson Tide was now a household name across the country and that brought greater attention to both the football team and the university itself.

In addition, the proceeds from the two Rose Bowl games helped pay the $150,000 cost to construct Alabama’s own football stadium. On Sept. 28, 1929 the school opened the 12,000-seat Denny Stadium – named for the University’s president George Hutchenson Denny.

Perhaps the most important impact of the 1927 Rose Bowl for Alabama’s football program went completely unnoticed at the time. In rural Arkansas, a 13-year-old boy listened to the historic broadcast of the game on the radio and heard the siren call of his destiny.

"I never imagined anything could be that exciting," recalled Paul W. Bryant years later. "I still didn’t have much of an idea what football was, but after listening to that game, I had it in my mind I wanted to go Alabama and play in the Rose Bowl."

A version of this article first appeared on Roll Bama Roll.

The Alabama Rose Bowl That Wasn't

Bama's standout tailback Joe Kilgrow and head coach Frank Thomas.

Between 1926 and 1946 the Crimson Tide played in six Rose Bowl games – a total exceeded only by the University of Southern California. Then there was the one that got away. In 1936, despite earning one of the best records in the nation, Alabama found itself locked out of Pasadena's New Year's Day classic.

After winning the 1935 Rose Bowl and claiming the national championship, Alabama's football fortunes fell back to earth. The Crimson Tide lost no less than nine of the starters that led the Crimson Tide to an undefeated 1934 season and the team limped to a disappointing 6-2-1 record.

Going into the 1936 campaign, Crimson Tide head coach Frank Thomas was far more optimistic than the season prior.

"We'll do better this year," he said. "Our fellows learned a lot last season. They learned it the hard way."

The talent was certainly there in 1936. Alabama had added a quality tailback in Joe Kilgrow, ace kicker Riley Smith was back in the lineup and guard Arthur "Tarzan" White would go on to earn All-American honors for his play that season. In addition, Thomas had added of two former players as coaches to his staff; Tilden Campbell and Paul W. Bryant.

The Crimson Tide came out of the gate red hot. Over the first three games – Howard, Clemson and Mississippi State – Alabama didn't allow a single point while scoring a total of 73. Then came The Third Saturday in October.

In 1935 Alabama drubbed the Volunteers 25-0 in Knoxville but Tennessee's legendary coach, Major Robert Neyland, had been absent due to being been called away for service in the Panama Canal Zone. In 1936 he was back and his Volunteers battled a favored Tide squad to a 0-0 tie at Birmingham's Legion Field.

It would be the sole blemish on Alabama's record and it proved a costly one.

Alabama dominated the remainder of the 1936 slate including a season finale against a highly-regarded Vanderbilt squad. Many observers, including Thomas himself, thought the 14-6 victory against the Commodores would be enough to garner post-season bowl bid. Of the country's five bowl games (and Cuba's Rhumba Bowl), the Sugar and the Rose were strongly considering extending an invitation to the Crimson Tide.

Yet it wasn't to be.

The first problem was Bernie Moore's powerful LSU squad. Although the Bayou Bengals' record was marred by a tie with Texas, they they had been victorious against all their conference foes that season. Thus, they claimed the SEC crown.

LSU's Mike the Tiger debuted
in 1936. Shown here with
trainer Mike Chambers.

Yet with matching unbeaten records both the Tigers and the Crimson Tide held out hope to be matched against Pacific Coast Conference champion Washington (7-1-1) in the 1937 Rose Bowl game. As November dragged into December the Huskies dithered on making a decision.

Many observers thought Alabama's chances were quite good since the Huskies' coach Jimmie Phelan had been teammates with the Tide's Thomas at Notre Dame. On the other hand, the Tide had stunned Washington 20-19 in their first meeting, the 1926 Rose Bowl.

Finally, after putting off the decision for weeks, Washington balked at playing the powerful SEC teams and tapped Pittsburgh as their opponent in Pasadena's inter-sectional showcase.

The choice sparked a firestorm of criticism. Sportswriters from coast to cost immediately blasted the decision citing Pittsburgh's record – the Panthers had been tied by Fordham 0-0 and beaten by Duquesne 7-0 – as well as three previous losses in the Rose Bowl game itself.

Maxwell Stiles of the Los Angeles Examiner went as far as to dismiss Pitt as "the greatest 'el foldo' of all the teams to ever play in Pasadena." Sid Ziff of the Los Angeles Evening Herald & Express dismissed the match up as "just blah" and said "Washington can have the game, we don't want it."

John Lardner of the American Newspaper Alliance regaled his readers with jokes he had heard about the contest:

"For instance, there is the one about the two football teams named Pat and Mike. ‘Have you been asked to the Rose Bowl?' says Mike. ‘Hell, no,' says Pat. ‘I'm undefeated."

Meanwhile, Alabama and LSU fans responded by dispatching a deluge of angry telegrams to Washington's athletic director Ray Eckmann. A sampling:

"I really don't blame you. You probably have to look out for your dear boys, even to tucking them to bed at night. The way Alabama has licked the West's pets in past games, it must be embarrassing."

"You're afraid to invite LSU, so let me wish you success with your game against Vassar."

"Our boys play football. What do the Pacific Coast Lord Fauntleroys play? Touch football?"

"There is no question in my mind but that Pittsburgh was selected because you wanted to satisfy the motion picture industry."

Pittsburgh would end up having the last laugh. The Panthers walloped the Huskies 21-0 on New Years Day 1937 and claimed the national championship.

LSU's consolation prize would be an invitation to play the Santa Clara Broncos in the third annual Sugar Bowl. The favored Bayou Bengals were subsequently bested in New Orleans' Tulane Stadium by the California squad, 21-14.

And Alabama's 1936 team stayed home and remained the only major college squad without a loss on its record. In the Associated Press poll, the first ever tabulated, the Tide finished fourth in the nation.

"Can you imagine going through an unbeaten season with only one tie and not getting a bowl bid?" Thomas remarked a decade later. "Things are different today. You can lose several times and still get into a bowl."

The Horseshoe-shaped Rose Bowl

When Rose Bowl Stadium was built in 1922, only three sides of the structure were erected. The $272,000 effort to build the structure left it open on the southern end. Alabama's first two appearances in the New Year's Day classic – in 1926 against Washington and 1927 versus Stanford – were played in the period the stadium was still in this configuration.

The venue didn't become a true "bowl" until the southern stands were completed in 1928. The $115,000 price tag for the expansion was funded through the proceeds from the highly attended 1926 and 1927 games. Johnny Mack Brown, the star of the 1926 Rose Bowl for Alabama, explained it to Sports Illustrated in 1962.

"The Rose Bowl wasn't really a bowl. It was more of a horseshoe" he said. "One end wasn't  closed. Alabama closed it for them."

The 1931 Rose Bowl: Alabama vs Washington State

The 1930 Alabama team prepares for the Rose Bowl in California.

As the 1930 football season began, Alabama was a program in transition. Between 1927 and 1930, The Crimson Tide had produced no better than a 6-3 record and hopes that Alabama football could rebound for a Southern Conference title - much less a Rose Bowl berth and a chance at a National Championship were - were small.

They got even smaller in April 1930 when head coach Wallace Wade announced he would resign at the end of the season to take the head coach position at Duke the following year. Wade handpicked Georgia assistant Frank Thomas as his successor and brought him on board his staff to ease the transition after the season. At the onset, the peculiar situation left little reason to expect better than the mediocre seasons that had gone before. But Wade believed he had a special group of players on his hands for the 1930 campaign and he made it clear to them what his goal was in preseason practices.

"Gentlemen," he told them. "I’m gonna win this damn championship this season and if you want to be part of it, let's get going. If there is anyone here who is not 100 percent committed, leave now."

As the season started, it became apparent his players had taken heed. Alabama began destroying opposing teams. "The thin red line is a think of the past, existing no more," opined sportswriter Everett Stupper in the Atlanta Journal Constitution after the game against Ole Miss. "The red elephants have replaced it at the Capstone."

Wade’s squad was so strong defensively that he began starting the second team for the first quarter and putting the starters in after the second period had begun. The practice tended to demoralize opponents that had struggled against the "scrub" players for 15 minutes and saw the fresh starters enter the game. He used it in no less than eight games during the season. Alabama rolled up seven shutouts on their path to an undefeated regular season and the Southern Conference Championship.

The Crimson Tide had outscored their opponents 247 to 13 - just two teams, Tennessee and Vanderbilt, proved able to manage a single touchdown against Wade’s stingy defense. An invitation to play in the 1931 Rose Bowl followed.

Alabama's 1930 team

The opponent would be undefeated Washington State (then State College of Washington). The Cougars were led by Coach Orin E. "Babe" Hollingbery – who had amassed a 26-9-2 record between 1926 and 1929. Like Alabama, the 1930 Washington State squad had become the Pacific Coast Conference champions with a dominating defense. The line was anchored by All-American Mel Hein and Glenn "Turk" Edwards, considered two of the greatest players to emerge from the school’s long gridiron history.

Leading up to the New Year's Day game, Wade kept to his habit of rigorous practices – even on Christmas Day – and keeping his players under his watchful eye. Sightseeing was almost completely eliminated; Alabama players weren't even allowed to go see the famous Tournament of Roses parade.

"We did go on one little trip," recalled the team’s All-American tackle Fred Sington. "Out to an orange grove. We picked two oranges and came back. That was his big outing."

Jan. 1, 1931 proved to be a dour affair in Pasadena with the famed Southern California sunshine giving way to a drizzling rain. Still, interest in the game ran high. Tournament of Roses officials estimated 81,000 spectators were on hand at Rose Bowl stadium for the game. The increased number of spectators was due to the recent competition of the South end of the stadium - making the venue a true bowl (instead of its original horseshoe shape). And, just like in 1927, organizers brought in additional seats to accommodate the crowd.

Wade stuck to his tried-and-true practice of starting the game with the second string squad. He used the opportunity to study the Washington State defense all the while wearing down their starting players. The first period ended with neither team on the scoreboard. As the second period began, Wade put in his starters but limited their ability to execute by calling for 13 straight running plays. This offensive attack was complimented by John Cain’s punting efforts. With an average distance of 46 yards, his kicks put the Cougars deep in their territory every possession.

Then, with the ball on the Alabama 39 yard line, the Crimson Tide took to the air. When the ball was snapped left end Jimmy Moore dashed into the backfield and took a handoff from Cain. Moore then stopped, turned and launched the ball to John "Flash" Suther who heading down the left side of the field. Suther caught it at the Cougar’s 22-yard line and galloped into the end-zone for the score.

Washington State’s next possession came to a quick and unhappy conclusion when Crimson Tide center Jess Eberdt intercepted a pass at the Cougar 47. Alabama’s Moore threw another pass this time connecting with Ben Smith who made it all the away to the one yard line. On the next play, Monk Campbell powered in for the touchdown. Alabama’s second-quarter onslaught wasn't finished. On the next possession, Campbell faked to Moore and carried the ball through the line and then rolled 43 yards for the score – the last one of the half.

In the span of less than seven minutes, the Crimson Tide had scored a total of 21 points – an accomplishment that echoed the third quarter heroics of the Alabama team during 1926 Rose Bowl. After halftime, Wade put the second team back in the game and scoring ebbed dramatically. Still, Alabama managed a 30-yard field goal to make the score 24-0. While the Cougars defense kept Alabama out of the end zone during the third and fourth quarters, Washington State remained unable to produce points themselves.

Alabama won 24-0 and gained their third National Championship under Coach Wade. It gave coach  a 61-13-3 record over his eight year stay at the Capstone, including a whopping 47 shutouts - a full 61% of the games his Alabama teams played.

Wade then went onto become the head coach at Duke where he would amass a record of record of 110 wins, 36 losses, and 7 ties in 16 seasons. He took the Blue Devils to two Rose Bowl games (one which he hosted in Durham, N.C. due to the bombing of Pearl Harbor the month before) but was unable to gain another victory playing in "the grandaddy of them all." His protege, Frank Thomas, took the reins of the Alabama football program beginning with the 1931 season and began a 14-year career that would rival his predecessor's in terms of achievement.

A version of this article first appeared on Roll Bama Roll.

Alabama Rose Bowl Ticket Stubs

1926 Rose Bowl, Alabama vs Washington

1931 Rose Bowl, Alabama vs Wash. State

1935 Rose Bowl, Alabama vs Stanford

1938 Rose Bowl, Alabama vs California

1946 Rose Bowl, Alabama vs USC

The 1926 Rose Bowl: Alabama vs Washington

Coach Wallace Wade gives last minute instructions
to the Alabama team before the game starts.

Alabama’s first appearance in the Rose Bowl in 1926 was not just a landmark event for Crimson Tide football, it was "the Game that changed the South." Until that time the recognized powers of the gridiron dwelt on either coast and in the hoary Midwest. It was up to this upstart team from Tuscaloosa to change that perception but it wasn't going to be easy.

By the 1920s, the Tournament of Roses inter-sectional matchup of the best football team from both sides of the country had become the de facto national championship game. The popularity of Pasadena, California’s premier event had prompted the organizers to construct the largest stadium in the country in 1922 – the Rose Bowl.

As Alabama wrapped up a dominant 1925 season there was little consideration the Crimson Tide would be playing one more game on New Year’s Day. Southern teams simply weren't invited to the Tournament of Roses invitational - even teams as dominant as Alabama. Under head coach Wallace Wade, the Crimson Tide had become a gridiron juggernaut. In his first two seasons in Tuscaloosa the Crimson Tide had outscored opponents 516 to 74 and rang up a dozen shutouts.

The 1925 season was no different, with the Crimson Tide running up a 9-0 record and only allowing a single touchdown the whole season. It helped that his squad boasted two of the greatest talents in southern football at the time; All-American Allison "Pooley" Hubert and Johnny Mack Brown, also known as "the Dothan Antelope."

Alabama's 1925 team.

Up in the Pacific Northwest, the University of Washington football team was on a roll as well. In five years under head coach Enoch Bagshaw the Huskies had amassed a 37-6-5 record. The success was partially due to the presence of All-American George "Wildcat" Wilson. On offense Wilson played halfback and was a master of the stiff-arm tactic to gain more yardage. Able to to run, pass and kick with equal skill it was impossible to predict what he might do with the ball in his hands. As a linebacker he anchored the Husky's stout defense.

The Husky’s 10-0-1 record in 1925 earned them the Pacific Coast Conference crown and an invitation to play in the 1926 Rose Bowl. But just who would be their opponent wasn’t clear at first. Dartmouth had finished the 1925 season 8-0 and was considered the eastern champion but turned down the invite to play. Offers to Princeton and then Colgate were also extended and rejected. Finally, the Tournament of Roses committee turned to the recognized southern champion and offered an invitation to Alabama. Wade and his players accepted.

The general consensus was that Alabama was going to get whupped.

No less than coaching legend Glen "Pop" Warner said Washington was just too big for the smaller Crimson Tide squad to handle. Entertainer Will Rogers summed up the general sentiment when he called the Alabama the "Tusca-losers." Washington’s players took a lot of such talk to heart, treating their game preparation as light workouts. Wade, on the other hand, promised his team three weeks of "tough hard practice" and kept his word.

The stops on the 2,000-mile train ride were punctuated with wind sprints and practices. Moreover, when the team arrived in Southern California Wade kept the player’s sightseeing jaunts to an absolute minimum.

So on Jan. 1, 1926 an estimated 45,000 spectators were on hand for the 12th Rose Bowl game in the distinctive horseshoe shaped stadium located in the Arroyo Seco section of Pasadena. In Alabama, theaters were set up with a special news wire so audiences could follow the play-by-play.

Washington’s Wilson didn't waste much time before making his presence felt. In the first quarter he singlehandedly stopped an Alabama drive that reached the Washington 15-yard line with a tackle for a loss, a sack and an interception back to midfield.The powerful halfback picked up most of the remaining yardage in the drive until the last play, when Harold Patton took it in from the one for the score. George Guttormsen's drop-kick for the extra point was no good. The Huskies were on the scoreboard 6-0.

Alabama's offense found itself stymied by the Wilson-led Husky defense on every possession. Hubert got so upset with his teammate's performance he called them over during a timeout and yelled, "All right, what the hell’s going on here?"

In the second quarter Wilson struck again ripping off a 36-yard-run to the Alabama 20. Then, on the very next play, he tossed a touchdown strike to Johnny Cole. Guttormsen missed the extra point once again. Washington was up 12-0. Right before halftime, Wilson was hit hard by three Alabama players and fell to the ground unconscious. He was carried off the field and the second quarter finally expired.

The Alabama players were expecting a halftime speech from their coach that would sear the paint off the walls. Instead Wade walked into the locker room and, in a low voice, simply said: "They told me boys from the south would fight."

As Alabama returned to the field for the third quarter, Wade made a few key adjustments; moving heavier players to the end and allowing Hubert to run more. In addition, Washington's star player was still out of the game allowing Hubert and Brown a unique opportunity to go to work. On the Crimson Tide's first possession in the second half Hubert immediately ripped off 26-yard dash to the Alabama 12-yard-line. Hubert carried the ball on the next four plays, the last a one-yard plunge into the end zone. Bill Buckler made the extra point and the score was 12-7.

Alabama’s defense forced Washington to punt on the next possession and the Crimson Tide offense went to work again. Crimson Tide back Red Barns ripped off a pair of runs to the Alabama 39-yard line. Washington got set for the run, bringing seven men to the line, and Grant Gillis took the ball and threw a long pass to Brown at the Washington 25. Brown sidestepped the only Husky defender between him and the goal line and scored. Buckler made the extra point and Alabama grabbed the lead, 14-12.

Pooley Hubert scores for Alabama.

The Crimson Tide got another break on the next possession when Washington fumbled the ball over at their own 30-yard-line. Hubert immediately threw a pass to Brown who caught it at the three-yard-line and powered it in.

"I took it in stride," he said. "I used my stiff arm on one man and went over carrying somebody."

Buckler missed the kick after and the score was 20-12 in favor of the Crimson Tide. In the span of less than seven minutes, Alabama had managed to score three times and held Washington to less than 17 yards of offense. Alabama was on another drive in the fourth quarter when Wilson came back in the game and the Huskies mustered the will to stop the Crimson Tide on fourth and one at the 12-yard-line.

Wilson then led his team the other direction. A 27-yard pass from the All-American to John Cole shaved Alabama's lead to a single point. The Washington kicker completed the point after but the Crimson Tide was still ahead 20-19. The Crimson Tide secondary then stepped up to seal the game. On Washington’s next possession, Gillis intercepted a Wilson pass and Herschel Caldwell ended the Husky’s last possession in the same manner. Alabama prevailed 20-19.

Washington's Wilson finished the game with 134 yards in 15 carries, five completions for 77 yards and three touchdowns. He accounted for 211 of Washington’s 317 total yards and Alabama was unable to reach the end zone while he was on the field. Yet, for the 22 minutes he was on the sideline the Huskies could only manage 17 yards and the Crimson Tide scored three unanswered touchdowns. The difference in the contest was Alabama kicker Buckler whose two of three extra point conversions provided the margin of victory.

The victory gave Alabama its first National Championship and raised the estimation of Southern football immensely. The Crimson Tide had "won the Rose Bowl for the whole South," Brown declared and the whole south turned out to celebrate.

The newspaper reports of the game had electrified the country and they showed up to celebrate their heroes. At every stop on the way back to Tuscaloosa the Alabama train was met with jubilant crowds, marching bands and the inevitable speeches by local panjandrums.

The Tuscaloosa train depot was inundated with well wishers as the train pulled in with eager fans climbing on the building’s roof for a better look at the players. It took an hour for the team caravan to progress from the depot to downtown – a distance of less than a mile.

Alabama football had finally arrived.

A version of this story first appeared on Roll Bama Roll.

Washington's "Wildcat" Wilson

Wilson carries the ball against Alabama in the 1926 Rose Bowl.

George "Wildcat" Wilson was the University of Washington's all-everything player in the early 1920s. His stellar play lifted the Huskies to prominence in the Pacific Coast Conference.

During his three years with Washington the Huskies won 28 games, lost three, were tied thrice, and went to the Rose Bowl in 1925 and 1926. He also set the school's record for career touchdowns at 37 which still stands (it was tied by Joe Steele in the late 1970s).

George "Wildcat" Wilson

Wilson was a 60-minute player and handled the ball almost every play when on offense. With it in hand the 5' 11", 185 lb. speedster was a triple threat as he was able to rush, pass or kick with equal skill. Moreover he used the stiff-arm with disturbing effectiveness when he chose to run. He was also considered a formidable linebacker.

In 1925 he was named to Grantland Rice's All-American squad alongside Red Grange and his team earned an invitation to the Rose Bowl game to face Alabama. Wilson was having a day against the Crimson Tide but was knocked out of the game late in the second quarter and didn't return to play until the final period.

With Wilson in the game, Washington gained 317 yards and scored 19 points. With him on the sideline, the Huskies could only garner 17 yards and went scoreless. In that interim, Alabama scored 20 points. That proved to be the difference as the final whistle sounded. Alabama 20 - Washington 19.

Wilson was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951, named to the All-Time Pacific Coast Team in 1969 and inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame in 1991.

The 1926 Rose Bowl

A panoramic view of the 1926 Rose Bowl game between Alabama and Washington. The Crimson Tide bested the Huskies 20-19 in Pasadena's Rose Bowl Stadium before a crowd of more than 43,000.

Champ Pickens and the 1926 Rose Bowl Invitation

Alabama's first Rose Bowl appearance may have been partly due to a sleight of hand by one of the Crimson Tide's greatest promoters, Champ Pickens.

Champ Pickens

Pickens, who had been a manager for the University of Alabama's1896 squad, remained close to the program after leaving school. He worked tirelessly to promote the Alabama team as well as football across the south.

When Wallace Wade arrived in Tuscaloosa and the Crimson Tide began to dominate its regional competition and Pickens believed Alabama should set its sights even higher.

By the middle of November 1925, Alabama had blasted through the regular season with such dominance that the only points scored against them had been a touchdown by Birmingham Southern College. The second-to-last game of the regular season was a tilt against Florida in Montgomery for the Southern Conference crown. 

The champion's trophy was a 22-inch high sterling silver cup lined with gold known as The Pickens Trophy as it was donated by none other than Champ himself since 1923. (The trophy was retired in 1926 after Alabama won it for the third time, retaining it.)

In his autobiography, Pickens claimed to have then set in motion the events that lead to the Tide playing in Pasadena. Visiting with Wade in the coach's hotel room the day before the game, Pickens suggested taking the team to play in the Rose Bowl.

Wade responded, "Let's do."

Pickens said he then put a call into the Governor, William Brandon, who he knew personally and asked if he could send a telegram with the state official's name on it. Brandon agreed. So Pickens sent off the following telegram to the chairman of the Tournament of Roses Committee, Les Henry.

Speaking unofficially and without knowledge of the University of Alabama authorities, I want to call your attention to the Crimson Tide's great football record this year. Alabama plays Florida tomorrow for the championship. Please watch for the score. If you are interested in a real opponent for your West Coast team, then give Alabama serious consideration. 

- W.W. Brandon, Governor of Alabama

The next day, Alabama beat Florida 32-0 and claimed the Southern Championship. After the game, Pickens  received a return telegram (under the governor's name) from Henry. The Tournament of Roses official thanked Brandon for the earlier telegram and noted "Alabama will be given the utmost consideration" for the upcoming bowl game.

Alabama wrapped up the season with a 27-0 drubbing of Georgia. Shortly afterward, the Crimson Tide was invited to play in the New Years Day classic in Pasadena. According to Pickens, Henry later admitted the committee had never heard of Alabama until receiving the "governor's" telegram.

Grant Gillis & The 1926 Rose Bowl

Alabama's Grant Gillis was Alabama's secret weapon in the 1926 Rose Bowl. For three quarters, while Washington's workhorse running back George "Wildcat" Wilson was in the game, Gillis' punts kept the Crimson Tide competitive.

By keeping the Washington offense at bay he bought time for the big-play theatrics of Johnny Mack Brown in the second quarter and ensured Alabama's 20-19 victory.

Gillis punted five times during the New Year's Day contest for an average of 40.8 yards per punt - the longest for 54 yards.No less than legendary sportswriter Damon Runyon declared him "one of the greatest kickers that ever dropped a football on his toe" after witnessing the contest.

1926 Rose Bowl Drive Chart

Drive chart and stats from Alabama's 20-19 victory over Washington in the 1926 Rose Bowl. The information was compiled and drawn by Ward Nash, a pioneering sports statistician from Los Angeles.

Epp Sykes And The Composition of "Yea Alabama"

"Epp" Sykes

The phrase, "Remember the Rose Bowl" is derived from Alabama's fight song, "Yea Alabama." The song was composed as part of a contest held by the campus humor magazine the Rammer-Jammer following the Crimson Tide victory in the 1926 Rose Bowl game. Until that time the football team's fight song had been "Swing" which had been appropriated from Washington & Lee University.

A panel composed of members of the university's music department selected the composition submitted by Ethelred Lundy "Epp" Sykes  from more than a dozen songs that were submitted.

Sykes - an engineering student who was also the editor of The Crimson White -
was awarded the $50 prize provided the magazine and "Messrs. Carmer, Friedman and Pickens." The song was unveiled in the May 1926 edition of the Rammer Jammer with the admonition:

"RAMMER-JAMMER has no power to make the student body accept the song. We do ask that the song be played on every occasion in which a battle march is needed, and, if it is liked, for the students to accept it."

Sykes attended Alabama on a four year engineering scholarship from the Alabama Power Company after coming in second for a scholarship offered by the Birmingham News. After graduating in 1926, Sykes studied law for a year at UA then became an account executive with Sparrow Advertising Agency in Birmingham.

In 1940 Sykes was called into active duty by the U.S. Air Force. He served in both World War II and the Korea conflict, eventually rising to the rank of  Brigadier General. In 1947 he donated the copyright and future royalties of "Yea Alabama" to the University of Alabama. He died on July 1, 1967.

Dr. George Hutcheson Denny

Dr. George H. Denny at the 1926 Rose Bowl. On his left is
 Dr. S.V. Sanford, the Southern Conference commissioner.

In 1912, Dr. George Hutcheson Denny was named president of the University of Alabama. The 42-year-old former head of Washington & Lee arrived in Tuscaloosa with a specific plan to use the sport of  football to help the school grow.

From the very start of his administration, Denny, who was commonly referred to as "Mike," took a direct hand in developing the football program, recognizing its potential as a way to increase enrollment as well as gain political and popular support for his policies.

Dr. Denny at Washington & Lee.

He placed the football program under the direct budgetary and administrative control of the university’s athletic department. He oversaw the hiring of coaches and supervising practices from the sidelines. In the latter capacity Denny was regularly knocked over by players and the team develops a superstition develops on the team that "bowling over" the UA president is good luck for bowl games.

During his tenure, the Crimson Tide appeared in four Rose Bowl games and he was an attendance at the first three of them. In 1935 Denny was unable to travel to Pasadena due to an illness that led him to retire two years later. He became president once again in 1941 after the death of his successor Richard C. Foster. He stepped down a final time in1942 when Raymon Ross Paty was named president.

Known for his wire rimmed glasses and pipe, Denny was reported to possess a prodigious memory and it was said he never forgot the name of any person he met. Denny died on April 2, 1955 at his home in Lexington, Virginia where he is buried.

The first permanent home for Alabama football was University Field which opened in 1915. It was renamed Denny Field in honor of the university president. When the first section of the team's stadium was built in 1929 it also was named in honor of Denny and it retains the designation to this day.

1926 Rose Bowl Player of the Game Johnny Mack Brown

The Dothan Antelope put his speed and elusiveness on display at the 1925 Rose Bowl against Washington. Down by five to the Huskies in the third quarter, Alabama's Grant Gillis dropped back to his own 41 and launched a bomb to Brown who snagged it at the 25-yard-line at a dead run and galloped in the go-ahead touchdown.

Two plays later, Washington fumbled near their own 40 and the Alabama offense went to work again. On the first play of the drive Brown dashed down the field while Pooley Hubert dropped back and launched it. The Antelope looked over his shoulder and reeled in the pass at the three-yard-line and scored on the next stride.

In addition to his two touchdown receptions, Brown carried the ball eight times for 78 yards, averaging 6.3 yards a carry. He was later named Alabama's player of the game for his performance. Washington's MVP, George "Wildcat" Wilson, said of his foe in crimson, "That Mack Brown was all they said of him and more. He was about the fastest man in a football suit I have ever bumped up against."

Graham McNamee & the Inaugural Rose Bowl Radio Broadcast

Graham McNamee broadcasting
the 1924 World Series.

McNamee rose to national prominence with the spread of sports radio broadcasts in the 1920s. He is credited as the first "color commentator" and his dramatic depictions of the action electrified his broadcasts.
 
The Radio Corporation of America experienced a boom in sales during the 1920s fueled mostly by the availability of free over-the-air sales. By 1924, more than 2.5 million units had been sold to customers across the United States and as many as twice that were in use by 1927.

Initially, live radio accounts of sporting events were simple descriptions of the action by newspaper writers. For listeners further afield, they were forced to make do with local radio announcers reading telegraph and phone reports of the action.

When McNamee was hired by WEAF in New York in 1923, that changed completely. Despite his relative ignorance of the games he called, his vivid accounts of the action fueled by his apparent enthusiasm revolutionized sports broadcasts.

In November of 1926, RCA formed the National Broadcasting Corporation and began presenting music and comedy shows on a network of 25 stations across the United States. The fledgling network - already known by the moniker NBC - immediately snapped up exclusive broadcast rights from the Tournament of Roses.

So when Alabama headed to Pasadena to face the Stanford Indians in the Crimson Tide's second Rose Bowl, the network  chose to make the game the first coast-to-coast network broadcast. McNamee was tapped to call the game and launched a new era in popularity for the inter-sectional contest. NBC was so pleased with the response they agreed to purchase broadcast rights to the game for another seven years.

In 1984, McNamee was part of the inaugural class inducted into the American Sportscasters Association's Hall of Fame.

Emile Deering Barnes

From the 1927 Rose Bowl Program.

Emile Deering Barnes, known as "Red" and "Lovely" to his teammates, was a halfback on the Alabama squad in 1925 and 1926 as well as serving as captain of Alabama's 1927 Rose Bowl team. He went on to short career in professional baseball with stints with the Washington Senators and Chicago White Sox.

Alabama's 1926 Bowl Bid: Mixing A Lemon and A Rose

In November 1925, after Alabama's undefeated season captured the Southern Conference crown, the likelihood of participating in the sport's one postseason contest was slim. While the Washington Huskies' 9-1 record earned their way to play in the The Tournament of Roses New Year's Day contest the opponent was far from decided.

Dartmouth, who had also gone undefeated that season, was the intial choice of the Rose Bowl committee but that option was squelched when the players objected to the long trip to the West coast it would require. Pittsburgh, Colegate and Wisconsin were all subsequently considered.

Tulane's Clark Shaughnessy

In early December, a University of Oregon graduate manager, Jack Benefield, was sent by the Pacific Coast Conference to Chicago to meet with Tulane Coach Clark Shaughnessy to see if the Green Wave would play in the New Year's Day Game. Shaughnessy declined on instructions from the school's administration but then recommended Alabama.

"I've never heard of Alabama as a football team," Benefield replied. "And I can't take a chance on mixing a lemon and a rose."

Shaughnessy persisted and went so far as phoning Alabama Coach Wallace Wade from the hotel the men were meeting at. Asked if the Crimson Tide would be interested in playing in Pasadena, Wade replied, "Definitely."

Benefield then traveled to Alabama to make the arrangements but before they could be finalized Wade insisted on getting the approval of his players.

"Going to the Coast was a big thing," Wade later said. "It would take us five days on a train from Tuscaloosa. I told them it would deprive them of their Christmas vacation and that they would have to stay in training another three weeks."

"It took them about two minutes to make up their minds."

Jefferson Jackson Coleman

Jeff Coleman, Frank Thomas and Wallace Wade

For more than half a century, Jeff Coleman served as an administrator for the University of Alabama athletics department overseeing an era of massive growth made possible partially due to the success of the Crimson Tide football program.

A native of Livingston, Alabama, Coleman enrolled at the University of Alabama in 1924. The following year the 19-year-old signed on as the student secretary to head football coach Wallace Wade. He also served as student manager to the squad and regularly penned stories about the team for various newspapers including The New York Times.

Two years later Coleman, although still a student, was named the business manager for the athletic department, a position he held for the next 27 years. In 1954 he was named the director of alumni affairs which he remained until his retirement in 1974.

During his time as an administrator he served as UA's Director of Athletics, the secretary of the university's faculty committee on Athletics and the school's purchasing agent. He also founded the University Supply Store and the University Club.

In the late 1960s, Coleman chaired the committee that oversaw the planning and construction of Memorial Coliseum which opened in January 1968. The facility was re-named in his honor in 1988. He also handled several expansions to Denny Stadium during his time as an administrator, seeing it grow from an 11,000-person venue when it opened in 1929 to seating more than 60,000 by the time he retired.

A stalwart fan of the football team, Coleman saw his first game in 1924. Between that contest and 1970, Coleman only missed just two contests. At the time of his death in 1995 he was the only person to have attended every single one of the Crimson Tide's bowl games, starting with the 1926 Rose Bowl where he sat by famed sportswriter Grantland Rice.

Champ Pickens' 1925 Book "Alabama"

In 1925, the ever entrepreneurial Champ Pickens struck upon a brilliant idea to promote Alabama football and, in the process, inadvertently created a publishing phenomena. Following the conclusion of the 1924 season, Pickens created an eight-page photo pamphlet titled "Alabama" believed to be the first publication devoted to Crimson Tide football ever produced.

Pickens' book, which appeared sometime after the 1925 spring practices, proclaimed 1924 "the greatest in the history of athletics at the University of Alabama" and boasted of the golf squad's conference championship as well as the baseball and basketball team's second-place finishes. Yet the heart of the book was the series of photographs of the various football games played by the Alabama gridders.

Under second-year head coach Wallace Wade, Alabama had rolled to an 8-1 record earned the Pickens' cup -- the trophy awarded to the champion of the Southern Conference donated by none other than Pickens himself. The Tide had completely dominated the schedule earning seven shutouts and outscoring opponents 290 to 24.

The only defeat Alabama suffered during the 1924 season was a 17-0 drubbing at the hands of the Prayin' Colonels of Centre College -- an unlikely powerhouse that had humbled the vaunted Harvard squad in Cambridge, Massachusetts just three years prior.

Pickens wrote that the varsity prospects for the 1925 season were "very bright" and "it is hoped the 'Crimson Tide' will roll to another championship." His words proved prescient. Not only did Alabama follow up with another Southern Conference Championship, the Tide claimed its first National Championship as well after defeating Washington in the 1926 Rose Bowl.

To commemorate the achievements of the 1925 team, Pickens promptly produced a follow-up book "The Will To Win."

Bebe Daniels Meets the 1925 Alabama Crimson Tide

On their first visit to California for the 1926 Rose Bowl, the Alabama Crimson Tide team made a stop in Hollywood for a few publicity shots. Here silent film star Bebe Daniels exhorts Coach Wallace Wade (with hat in hand) and the Alabama team on the fine points of strategy for the upcoming contest against Washington in Pasadena.