Bear Bryant at Vanderbilt

Vanderbilt's 1940 coaching staff (l to r): Assistant Paul Bryant,
Head Coach Red Sanders, assistants H.E. Alley and Jim Scoggins.

Following the 1935 season, Alabama end Paul W. Bryant had finished his career as a collegiate athlete. That spring his coach, Frank Thomas, sent him to Union College in Jackson, Tennessee, in order to teach that staff the Notre Dame offense run by the Crimson Tide. It was the first coaching experience for Bryant and it was followed by an offer to join Thomas’ staff as an assistant.

After four years, Bryant had earned his bachelors degree at Alabama and began looking for other coaching opportunities. He applied for a place on Frank Howard’s staff at Clemson but before he got a reply, Red Sanders of Vanderbilt stopped by in Tuscaloosa and offered him a job on the Commodore’s staff as an offensive line coach.

Sanders had planned to offer the job to Mississippi State assistant Murray Warmath but a chance conversation with Nashville sportswriter Fred Russell convinced him to take a chance on the protegee of Alabama's Thomas.

Sanders was in his first year with the Commodores. His predecessor, J. Ray Morrison, had been unable to keep the Vanderbilt program at the lofty heights it enjoyed under Dan McGugin. The first season under Sanders wasn't expected to be a dramatic change but it started off auspiciously enough with a 19-0 pasting of Washington & Lee.

The second contest was a hard fought 6-7 loss to Princeton in New Jersey and by the end of it the Commodore squad had been severely diminished by injuries. Set to play a mediocre Kentucky team at home in Nashville the following week, bettors were favoring the Wildcats. The odds got longer when Sanders took ill with appendicitis the Thursday before the game. With the head coach in the hospital, the top assistant took over his coaching duties.

So on Oct. 12, 1940 Paul “Bear” Bryant walked the sideline as a head coach for the very first time in his long and illustrious career. The 27-year-old was so nervous he later claimed to have driven out into the country and “puked my guts out” the night before the contest. Sanders gave the team a pep talk from his hospital bed by telephone prior the game but it was Bryant who led them onto the field.

The Commodores managed to battle the Wildcats to a 7-7 tie that was marked by an incident between the young coach and official, Bill McMasters. Late in the game McMasters ejected Vandy’s Art Reborovich for slugging Kentucky halfback Noah Mullins. The call that infuriated Bryant and, urged on by Vandy manager Preacher Franklin, he began moving toward the referee. Kentucky Athletic Director Bernie Schiveley stepped in and physically restrained Bryant. The neophyte coach calmed down but the call still rankled.

“Naturally I thought the officials cheated us somehow, else we’d have won,” he said later. “No young coach is going to believe he lost on his own merit.”

Sanders returned for the next game and the Commodores would limp to a disappointing 3-6-1 record for the season but almost upset Alabama on the road. The next year Vanderbilt powered to an 8-2 record that included a 7-0 victory over Bryant’s former team.

Although the 1941 team was one of the strongest the Commodores had seen in years and Bryant had already developed a formidable reputation as a recruiter, the young assistant’s contract was not renewed. Bryant then threw his hat in the ring for the newly vacant head coaching position at Arkansas.

After three meetings with the governor, Bryant was convinced he would return to his home state as the coach of the flagship university’s football team. Everything changed on Dec. 7 when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. The next morning Bryant drove to Washington D.C. and enlisted in the Navy ending his head coaching hopes for the duration of the war.

The First Third Saturday in October

UT's Gene McEver ran the opening kickoff back 98 yards for a touchdown.

The rivalry between Alabama and Tennessee emerged in the late 1920s when Robert Neyland took over the Volunteer program and created a serious rival to the great Crimson Tide squads of that era.

Neyland had been hired, not to topple Alabama, but to defeat in-state rival Vanderbilt who had an 18-2-1 record against the Vols at the time. UT's Dean of Engineering Nathan Dougherty told him, "Even the score with Vanderbilt. Do something about the terrible series standing."

The first season at Knoxville Neyland fell short of the goal winning every contest except the one with the Commodores. Along the way, the Volunteers earned no less than six shutouts and outscored their opponents 151-34. In 1927, they went undefeated and were Southern Conference co-champions.

Although Tennessee hadn't faced Alabama since 1914, Neyland scheduled the Tide for the 1928 season. At the time, the Crimson Tide were at the height of the Wallace Wade era. Between 1924 and 1926 the Crimson Tide had earned three Southern Conference titles and a pair of national championships. The 1927 squad had taken a step back and finished 5-4 but hopes were high in Tuscaloosa.

Neyland and his staff in 1926.

On Oct. 20, 1928 - the third Saturday of the month - the Volunteers travelled to Tuscaloosa to face the Crimson Tide. More than 15,000 were on hand at Denny Field for the Homecoming contest.

Before the game, Neyland approached Wade and asked if, in the case of a rout, the third and fourth quarters could be shortened. Wade agreed "in the unlikely even we have a halftime lead that requires such action."

It may have been a psychological ploy but it was a well-grounded one. The week prior, Tennessee eked out a 13-12 win over an Ole Miss squad Alabama had demolished 27-0 to start the season.

Any expectation of a Tennessee blowout was disabused when fullback Gene McEver ran the opening kickoff back 98 yards for a touchdown. From there the contest turned into a battle with the Crimson Tide scraping back within a point of the Vols but being undone by turnovers and an untimely safety.

Tennessee won 15-13 and gave Alabama its first home field loss in seven years. It had been such a tightly fought affair that Neyland, surrounded by reporters after the final whistle, was almost overcome.

"I know we won the game," he said. "But what was the score?"

Alabama Cheerleaders at Legion Field in 1940

Photo via Tuscaloosa Area Virtual Museum

University of Alabama cheerleaders at a Crimson Tide game in 1940 at Legion Field in Birmingham. Alabama played Tennessee, Tulane and Vanderbilt in the venue that season falling to the Vols 12-27 but beating both the Green Wave (13-6) and the Commodores (25-21).

The 1938 Rose Bowl: Alabama vs California

Alabama's 1937 coaching staff: Tilden Campbell, Henry Crisp, Head
Coach Frank Thomas, Harold Drew, Paul Burnham, Paul W. Bryant.

The 1938 Rose Bowl marked the fifth time Alabama had been invited to take part in the New Year’s Day classic and the second time they were led there by head Coach Frank Thomas.

Alabama's 1936 football season ended on an unsatisfying note. A scoreless tie against Tennessee was the only blemish on an undefeated campaign but proved enough to cost  the Crimson Tide the Southeastern Conference Championship as well as an invitation to a bowl game. Alabama ended fourth in AP polling at the end of the season.

Entering the 1937 campaign the Crimson Tide boasted a couple dynamic players. Senior Leroy G. Monsky was a consensus All-American at guard while fullback Joe Kilgrow earned national honors as well. But the Alabama roster lacked the depth of years past and Thomas knew it.

Throughout the 1937 season, Thomas used the bowl snub to motivate his players. The goal seemed that much closer each week as the Crimson Tide crushed another opponent. A come from behind win against Vanderbilt in Nashville on Thanksgiving Day sealed the undefeated season. Alabama claimed the SEC title and garnered the invitation to play in Pasadena 1938.

Alabama's 1937 team

Meanwhile, out on the West Coast, the University of California was fielding one of its strongest squads ever. The Golden Bears were led by Leonard B. "Stub" Allison who had taken over as head coach in 1935. His first season in Berkeley produced a 9-1 record and tie with Stanford for the Pacific Coast Conference title. The 1936 campaign had resulted in a disappointing 6-5 effort but things shaped up quite differently the season that followed.

The 1937 squad was a powerhouse and soon came to be known as the "Thunder Team" due to their physical style of play. No less than five players on the squad ended up earning All-American honors at the end of the season including center Bob Herwig and halfback Sam Chapman. The Golden Bears plowed through the Pacific Conference during the 1937 season slowed only by a scoreless tie with Washington. During the 10-game campaign Cal amassed a 201 to 33 point differential and racked up no less than six shutouts. The conference title was followed with an invitation to the Rose Bowl.

The Cal team had hoped for a matchup with the defending Rose Bowl champions, the University of Pittsburgh who had completed an undefeated regular season. But the Panthers opted to decline the invitation and the Tournament of Roses committee extended the offer to Alabama.

A record crowd of more than 90,000 was on hand in Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena on Jan. 1, 1938 to see the Pacific and Southeastern conference champions go at it. With clear sunny skies and temperatures at 75 degree, Southern California was at its mid-winter best the 23rd Annual Tournament of Roses football game.

The contest started as a defensive battle as both teams were unable to reach the opposing end zone during the first quarter. For Alabama it proved to be the calm before the storm. Early in the second quarter Alabama was driving for a touchdown when Hershel "Herky" Mosley completed a pass to Charlie Holm at the Golden Bear’s seven-yard line. But the receiver bobbled the ball and Cal’s Herwig took it from him and killed the Crimson Tide drive.

A bit later in the quarter it was Mosley’s turn to be the goat, fumbling the ball at the Cal 49-yard-line. The Golden Bears then began a relentless drive down the field that the Crimson Tide defense was unable to stop. Twelve running plays put Cal on the Alabama 3-yard-line and a smartly executed end run by tailback Vic Bottari provided the touchdown. A successful extra point kick gave Cal the lead 7-0.

The scenario was much the same in the third quarter when the Golden Bears used the powerful running game to drive the ball 48 yards in nine plays. Bottari scampered the final five yards into the end zone on the exact same end run that had worked in the second quarter. The extra point kick failed this time and Cal was up 13-0 which proved to be the final margin of victory. Bottari finished the day with 34 carries for 137 yards and two touchdowns earning him player of the game honors.

Whatever success Alabama was able to achieve on offense were hamstrung by turnovers – four fumbles and four interceptions. One fumble killed a Crimson Tide drive at the California one-yard-line and another Alabama scoring drive ended the same way at the Golden Bear’s six. Cal caught more of Alabama's passes  than Crimson Tide receivers did (4 interceptions vs 3 completions).

For Cal, the win gave the Golden Bears their first undefeated season since the "Wonder Teams" of the 1920s and claim to their last national championship. Two of the polling services ranked Cal’s undefeated season national championship worthy (although Pitt is the widely recognized title holder for 1937).

Alabama was forced to return to Tuscaloosa from California empty handed for the first time in five trips out west. While thousands of well-wishers had met the team at the train station each time before, this time it was different. The depot was deserted except for the family members of the players and coaches.

"It appears," Thomas told his wife as they drove home. "Nobody loves a loser."

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."

Huey Long's Courtship of Alabama's Frank Thomas

Huey Long chats with officials prior to the
LSU vs Arkansas game in the late 1920s.

In 1934, Alabama rolled to an undefeated regular season and garnered an invite to the Rose Bowl to face Stanford. It marked an apogee for Crimson Tide head coach Frank Thomas who had lead Alabama to a 33-4-1 record in four seasons. He had seen Alabama play in the Pasadena classic the year prior to his arrival in Tuscaloosa and now he was taking the Tide there himself.

On the way to the game Louisiana's powerful Senator, Huey P. Long, allegedly made him an offer he couldn't refuse.

LSU was coached by Biff Jones who had lead the Tigers to a 20-5-6 record over three years and had claimed the Southern Conference Championship his inaugural season. A confrontation between Long - who took a major interest in the team - and the coach outside the locker room at halftime of the final game of the season against Oregon had resulted in his resignation. Long promised he would make a big-time hire and he set his sights on Thomas.

The Alabama coach had been given a five-year contract by UA president George Denny extension following the 1934 season that included "a nice increase" over his previous salary. The move came after Thomas name surfaced as a replacement for Tennessee's Robert Neyland who had been called away by the military for active service in Panama.

The first candidate Long considered was Clark Shaughnessy who had lead Tulane for more than a decade but had just finished his first season at the University of Chicago. When that offer was rebuffed the Kingfish turned his attention to Alabama's Thomas who, as chance would have it was in New Orleans.

When the Crimson Tide train stopped in the Crescent City on the way to California for the bowl game, a secret meeting was arranged between Thomas and Long, according to LSU's Athletic Director at the time, T.P. Heard. Long offered Thomas a $15,000 salary and salaries of $7,500 for two assistants of his choosing. Thomas accepted the offer on a handshake but demanded secrecy given the situation.

"If any hint of this talk gets into the papers," he reportedly told Long. "The deal is off."

Heard accompanied Thomas to Pasadena to keep Long appraised of the situation. Before the train arrived in Los Angeles, the Kingfish had changed his mind. Bernie Moore, an assistant at LSU since the late 20s, was given the job after a recommendation by Vanderbilt's Dan McGugin.

Alabama won the 1935 Rose Bowl and Thomas returned to Tuscaloosa where he coached for another nine seasons before retiring from the profession due to ill health. His final record at The Capstone was 115-24-7. Moore took the Tigers to two SEC Championships in his first two seasons then remained in Baton Rouge until 1947, finishing with a 83-39-6 record.

Sandy Sanford's Field Goal That Saved the 1937 Season

Sanford in the early 1940s.

Alabama earned a berth in the 1938 Rose Bowl with the foot of Haywood "Sandy" Sanford.

The Crimson Tide's unbeaten record was in danger in the waning minutes of the final contest of the regular season against Vanderbilt. With three minutes left in the game, Alabama trailed the Commodores 6-7.

The Crimson Tide then drove 75-yards down the field but the offense stalled near the goal line as the clock ticked down. Vandy punted to the Bama 33-yard-line. A pair of passes put the ball on the Alabama 17-yard-line where the Commodores defense stiffened. Alabama earned a few yards but nothing more.

On fourth down with the ball on the far hashmark, Alabama called a time out and Sanford replaced Joe Kilgrow as the kicker. The the 200 lb. native of Adona, Arkansas had saved the day two weeks prior coming off the bench to kick a last minute field goal against Tulane to give the Tide a 9-6 vicotry in New Orleans.

With the crowd of 22,000 in Nashville's Dudley Stadium began screaming at the top of their lungs Alabama's center, Jack Machtoff snapped the ball without a signal. With Herky Mosley holding the ball, Sanford booted the 22-yard field goal to ensure the Tide's 9-7 victory over the Commodores.

The victory earned Alabama a perfect regular season record, the SEC crown and, later, an invitation to the 1938 Rose Bowl to face Pacific Coast Champions, California. The Golden Bears would go on to beat The Crimson Tide 13-0 in Alabama's only loss in the New Year's Day classic.

The Cramton Bowl

Montgomery's Cramton Bowl shortly after completion in 1922.

On Sept. 20, 1922, Alabama's freshmen football squad traveled to Montgomery where they defeated Sidney-Lanier High School 21-0. The game was the first gridiron contest ever played in the Alabama state capital's new multi-sport venue, The Cramton Bowl.

The stadium under construction.

The stadium was built on the site of a former sanitary landfill owned by local lumberman, F.J. Cramton. The businessman spearheaded the $33,000 fundraising effort to get the facility built after the City of Montgomery balked on the project saying it was too large an undertaking.

The completed Cramton Bowl was designed to host both baseball and football games. The first sporting event at the new stadium was baseball game played May 1922 between Auburn University and Vanderbilt University.

Montgomery attorney James Edson contacted University of Alabama President George H. Denny about arranging to have the Crimson Tide play open its football season in the new stadium. Denny agreed to a game but suggested instead the scheduled contest with Georgia slated for Nov. 25.

Thus the Alabama varsity team opened the season against Marion Military Institute at Denny Field in Tuscaloosa and the freshmen squad traveled to the Alabama capitol. (The Crimson Tide beat Marion 110-0 -- a score which remains the largest margin of victory in the program's history.)

The first major college football contest in the venue was Tulane vs Auburn on Nov. 11, 1922. The local paper implored residents to show up for the game "to show the world MONTGOMERY IS A GOOD FOOTBALL TOWN."

The Tigers, led by their legendary coach Mike Donahue in his final year, trounced the Green Wave, headed by their legendary coach Clark Shaughnessy, 19-0.

Two weeks later, the Tide varsity made the trip to Montgomery themselves and downed the Bulldogs 10-6 in the Cramton Bowl. The finished stadium could accommodate about 7,000 with its permanent seating but reports put the size of the crowd at almost 10,000.

The stadium also was the site of the first football game played under artificial lights in the South when Cloverdale taking on Pike Road High School on the night of September 23, 1927. More than 7,000 spectators were on hand to see the contest under lights that were shipped in from California.

Between 1922 and 1932, Alabama played at least one game every season and then returned to Montgomery intermittently until 1954. Alabama's all-time record at Cramton Bowl stands at 17 wins and 3 losses. The stadium was more renowned as the home of the annual inter-sectional all-star contest -- the Blue-Gray Football Classic, an annual college football all-star game which was held there each December from 1938 until 2001.

Demoralizing the Opposition with the Second Team

Wallace Wade

During his last season in Tuscaloosa before heading off to take over the head coach position at Duke University, Wallace Wade employed an unusual tactic with his Alabama squad - he refused to start the starters. For every game of the 1930 season, the first quarter was played with the second team.

"You see, that second team was able to hold everybody scoreless the whole year," he explained years later. "We knew it would help us for an opponent to play the second team and not score and then know we were sending in the first team."

And it worked. Alabama's first team stayed on the bench for the first quarter then came in and crushed the opposing team. At the end of the season the Crimson Tide had outscored its opponents 271 to 13. They held held eight teams scoreless and only Vanderbilt and Tennessee were able to reach the end zone and both of them accomplished the feat only once.

The Crimson Tide even used it in the 1931 Rose Bowl against Washington State to successfully down the Cougars 24-0 and claim the national championship.

It wasn't exactly an original idea. Knute Rockne had previously employed the tactic with spectacular success at Notre Dame calling his second squad the "shock troops." Tulane's Clark Shaughnessy tried the gambit against LSU in 1926 but the Green Wave second team allowed the Tigers to score what proved to be the winning touchdown of the contest.

You can read more about it over at Roll Bama Roll.

Bernard Patrick "Tony" Holm

Tony Holm was a standout running back for Wallace Wade's powerful teams in the late 1920s, who would go onto a journeyman career in the pro ranks that included a spot on the first Pittsburgh Steelers roster.

A native of Birmingham, Holm played at Fairfield High School before heading to Tuscaloosa in 1926. At jsut more than six feet and 214 pounds, Holm was considered physically imposing for a back in that era. His size allied with a "high knee action" running style made him difficult to tackle. His running prowess earned him sobriquets such as "The Battering Buckaroo" from sports writers.

While he was a productive player in the Tide's varsity backfield in 1927 and 1928, it was the 1929 season that made him a star. Alabama began that year's campaign bulldozing its first three opponents but then traveled to Knoxville to face Tennessee. The revived Volunteer squad under Major Robert Neyland had surprised the Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa the season before earning a 15-13 victory. Alabama was looking for payback and as shot at the conference title.

The game proved to be a match of almost complete equals with the two teams battling to a stalemate. The outcome hinged on a punt of Holm's that was blocked and then recovered by Tennessee. The Vols drove to the Tide two-yard-line and then Tennessee's Gene McEver pulled off a play-action fake and ran in for the score. Tennessee won 6-0.

With injuries to backfield stars Billy Hicks, "Flash" Suther and "Monk" Campbell, Alabama's hopes of a championship season dimmed. When Holm went down with a broken rib in a 13-0 loss to Vanderbilt all seemed lost. The Crimson Tide's odds against an undefeated Kentucky team in Montgomery's Cramton Bowl seemed remote.

Holm entered the game "bandaged from his belt up, taped fro his waste down and reeking of liniments and lotion" but it didn't seem to hinder him at all. He grabbed the opening kickoff and ran it back 86 yards to the Wildcat's 15-yard-line. Over the next 60 minutes he would score three of the Tide's touchdowns while stymieing Kentucky's offense with his kicks and blocking. Alabama won 24-13.

The next week Holm repeated his performance in a 14-0 drubbing of Georgia Tech in Atlanta. He scored the Tide's two touchdowns, snagged a key interception and ran for 128 yards while slashing the Golden Tornado with his passing and punting prowess. Despite another stellar performance against Georgia in Birmingham to close the season, the Tide fell to the Bulldogs 12-0.

Holm's 1,387 yards on the season -- almost half of the team's total gained on the ground -- earned him All-Conference and All-American honors.

After unsuccessfully trying to enter West Point to play for Army (he was three months too old), Holm started his professional career with the Providence, RI Steamrollers in 1930 but moved on to   the Portsmouth VA Spartans the following season. In 1932 he was on the Chicago Cardinals roster but at the start of the 1933 season Holm was part of the very first Pittsburgh Pirates squad -- the franchise that would later become famous as the Steelers.

The 1933 Pittsburgh Pirates.

In the Pirates' inaugural game against the New York Giants on Sept. 20, a powerful 65 yard punt by Holm led to his team's only points. When the His kick pinned the Giants on their own one-yard-line and when they were forced to punt, the Pirate's Johnny Oehler blocked it and earned the safety. The visiting Giants would claim a 23-2 victory.

Holm played nine games for the Pirates but a leg injury cut his season short. He finished the season with 406 yards passing and 160 yards rushing, his best marks as a pro. He joined the American Professional Football League's Charlotte NC Bantams as a player coach in 1934 but resigned after three games, ending his playing career.

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.