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.

Riley Smith and The First NFL Draft

Alabama player Riley Smith holds the distinction of being the first National Football League player taken in the league's annual college draft. Yet, Smith was not the first man selected in the NFL's inaugural 1936 selection ceremony.

The NFL draft of college players emerged from a plan devised by Philadelphia Eagles co-founder Bert Bell and subsequently approved by the league owners in May 1935. Bell's Eagles were given the first pick in the first draft held at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Philadelphia on Feb. 8, 1936.

They chose Jay Berwanger from the University of Chicago the recipient of the first-ever Heisman Trophy. The Eagles subsequently transfered their signing rights for Berwanger to the Chicago Bears.

When the multi-talented halfback asked for $25,000 over two years, Chicago coach George Halas balked. With that, Berwanger brought his football career to a close and took a job as a foam rubber salesman.

The second player selected in that draft was Alabama quarterback Riley Smith who was taken by the Boston Redskins (who moved to Washington D.C. the following year).

At Alabama Smith played quarterback but also blocked, punted, kicked extra points and booted field goals. The Greenwood, Miss. native was named to several All-American squads and won the Jacobs Blocking Trophy as the best blocker in the Southeastern Conference.

Smith's play was pivotal in the 1935 Rose Bowl win over Stanford as he kicked the final points in the 29-13 contest to give the Crimson Tide the victory.

After the draft, Smith signed with the Redskins and became the first active NFL player chosen in the now-annual event. Between 1936-37 he missed only three minutes in 26 Redskin games but he only appeared in seven contests in 1938 before his career was brought to an early end by injury.

The Scrub Team

A cartoon from the Dec. 1934 edition of the University of Alabama humor magazine Rammer Jammer. The issue was denoted as "Rose Bowl Number" and almost completely devoted to Alabama's upcoming trip to Pasadena to face Stanford.

The 1916 Rose Bowl

Silent film of the 1916 Rose Bowl between Brown University Bears and the Washington State Warriors.

The 1916 game was actually the second in the series. The Rose Bowl was shelved following the inaugural 1902 game due to Michigan's dominant 49-0 victory over Stanford. Washington State won the 1916 contest 14-0 despite Brown being a heavy favorite.

The 1915 Brown squad featured guard Wallace Wade whose blocking was credited for aiding the productivity of the team's legendary running back Fritz Pollard. Pollard would become one of the first two African American players in the NFL in 1920 (alongside Bobby Marshall). Wade would go on to become the coach of Alabama and lead the Crimson Tide to three Rose Bowls.

Wade credited his coach at Brown, Edward "Robbie" Robertson, as a key influence on his approach to the profession. He also cited the experience in the 1916 game as shaping his philosophy in how to prepare for the New Year's Day contest when he returned to Pasadena with the Crimson Tide a decade later.

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."

"Yea Alabama"

Let the Sewanee Tiger scratch, 
Let the Yellow Jacket sting,
Let the Georgia Bulldog bite,
Alabama still is right!
And whether win or lose we smile,
For that's Bama's fighting style:
You're Dixie's football pride, Crimson Tide!
A-L-A-B-A-M-A

Yea, Alabama! Drown 'em Tide!
Every 'Bama man's behind you,
Hit your stride.
Go teach the Bulldogs to behave,
Send the Yellow Jackets to a watery grave.
And if a man starts to weaken,
That's a shame!
For Bama's pluck and grit have
Writ her name in Crimson flame.
Fight on, fight on, fight on men!
Remember the Rose Bowl, we'll win then.
Go! Roll to victory,
Hit your stride,
You're Dixie's football pride,
Crimson Tide, Roll Tide, Roll Tide!!

The 1946 Rose Bowl: Alabama vs USC

Alabama coach Frank Thomas confers with his team
in Rose Bowl Stadium prior to the 1946 game.

Alabama's final Rose Bowl game in was on New Year's Day, 1946 - a full 20 years since the Crimson Tide's inaugural appearance in the Tournament of Roses invitational football game. Crimson Tide Head Coach Frank Thomas had led Alabama to a second national championship in 1941 - the fifth in the program's history - but building on that success proved impossible due to World War II. The university dropped the football program in 1943 due to the war.

The next season Thomas struggled to restart the program with a group of returning vets, 4-F students and teenagers too young to draft that he dubbed his "War Babies." The first year produced an unsatisfying 5-2-2 record but Thomas knew he had something special with this group of players.

One reason for his optimism was an undersized tailback named Harry Gilmer. With a one-of-a-kind leaping throwing style as accurate as it was unorthodox, Gilmer became the force driving the Crimson Tide offense. He captivated the Alabama faithful from the start when he opened the 1944 season by returning a LSU kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown. No less than Grantland Rice declared him "the greatest college passer I ever saw."

With the conclusion of WW II in the spring of 1945, Thomas' war babies were joined by a number of returning veterans on campus in the fall. It proved to be one of the strongest squads Thomas ever put on the field. The Crimson Tide barreled to an undefeated 9-0 season; their closest call being a 28-14 victory over Georgia in Birmingham. Alabama carried the Southeast Conference and earned their sixth invitation to play in the Rose Bowl.

Alabama's 1945 team

In California, the Trojans of USC were riding high under head coach Newell J. "Jeff" Cravath. A center for powerful "Thundering Herd" squads under the legendary Howard Jones in the 1920s, Cravath was called back to Westwood after a dismal 2-6-1 outing in 1941 under Justin M. "Sam" Barry. Cravath fielded several strong Trojan squads relying on experienced players from Navy and Marine training programs set up at USC. He also overhauled the USC offense, instituting the "T" formation featuring with four backs, not one, handling the ball.

The Trojans crushed Tennessee 25-0 in the 1945 Rose Bowl, making the eight consecutive win for USC in the New Year's Day classic. The Trojans carried the Pacific Conference crown with a lackluster 7-3 record outscoring their opposition by just 75 points. Alabama, on the other hand, had amassed a 396-66 point differential during their undefeated season. Going into the game the Crimson Tide was a two-score favorite but that did little to impress the mavens of the West Coast media.

"You've won in the Rose Bowl before," bleated a columnist in the Los Angeles Times. "But you haven’t played Southern Cal yet."

The Rose Bowl boasted a record crowd of 94,000 on a New Year’s Day described as "June in January" weather. Hopes were high for the Trojan's ninth victory by the heavily partisan crowd. USC’s fortunes started foul as a fumble the second play of the game was recovered at the Trojan 15-yard line by Alabama’s Jack Green. Four plays later, with the ball on the two foot line, Alabama’s Henry Self kept the ball on a quarterback sneak and plunged into the end zone. A successful point after kick put Alabama ahead 7-0.

Thomas had kept to the ground game in the first period but as the second quarter opened up he let Gilmer take to the air. The result was an 11-play, 68-yard drive which ended with Gilmer plunging over the pile for the final three yards to score. Another kick and the score was 14-0.

As the second quarter began to wind down, Alabama launched another furious drive covering 64 yards in just four plays. Lowell Tew – who started despite a broken jaw – ran it in from the two-yard-line for the touchdown but kicker Hugh Morrow missed the extra point. The score going into the locker room at halftime was Alabama 20, USC 0.

After the intermission Alabama got the ball at the Trojan’s 39 off of a fumble by Verl Lillywhite and needed all of seven plays to find the end zone again. Norwood Hodges took it in from the one to score and with the kick, the Crimson Tide lead stretched to 27-0. As the fourth quarter started Gilmer completed a 15-yard pass to Self who scooted the final ten yards into the end zone. Alabama now led 34-0 and the Trojan-heavy crowd began heading for the exits. Thomas then took his starters out of the game and let the second and third string squads take over.

Midway through the fourth period, Alabama’s Gordon Pettus fumbled and USC's Jay Perrin, a 320 lb guard, fell on the ball at the Crimson Tide 25-yard line. A pass from Lillywhite to Harry Adelman put the Trojans on the scoreboard at last. With the extra point, the score was 34-7. The Trojans got another break moments later when Myron Dornbos broke through the Crimson Tide line and blocked a punt attempt. USC end Chuck Clark picked it up and ran it back for the touchdown. With Lillywhite's successful kick the score was 34-14 which proved to be the final.

When the dust settled, Alabama didn't simply break USC’s eight Rose Bowl game streak – they racked up more points on the Trojans than all eight opponents that faced USC in the previous New Year’s Day games combined. It wasn't so much a victory as a complete shellacking. Alabama outgained USC 351 yards to 41 and held the men of Troy’s running offense to an anemic six yards. Alabama collected 18 first downs to the Trojans three. Gilmer garnered the game’s MVP honors with a 16 carry, 113 yard performance.

The next day saw the venerable Los Angeles Times  singing quite a different tune declaring the Alabama squad "a faster, smarter, more eager, better trained and conditioned" team than the hometown Trojans.

The recognized national champion for the 1945 season is Army’s undefeated Black Knights squad but the military service academies eschewed bowl appearances during the war years. Still, the National Championship Foundation elected both Alabama and Army as co-national champions for the season.

The game proved to be an end of an era for Alabama. Thomas’ health had declined precipitously as the 1945 season progressed due to heart and lung disease. He continued to coach the team in 1946 but was confined to bed when not on the practice field. He stepped down as head coach at the end of the season (although staying on as the school’s athletic director) with 115-24-7 record and two national championships.

The 1946 Rose Bowl proved to be the final contest featuring any team outside of the Pacific Coast and Big Ten conferences. The Tournament of Roses struck an exclusive deal to pair the champions of the two conferences in the New Year's Day classic beginning with the 1947 game.

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