How Alabama Became a Power

One of the most important days in the history of college football is one that no one remembers. On one afternoon, the nightmare of Reconstruction and the shame of the Depression were wiped away, if only for a little while. November 4, 1922 was the day that Southern football established itself as a powerful entity. In a milestone touted by some newspapers as revenge for the Civil War battle at Gettysburg, the Alabama Crimson Tide defeated the Quakers from the University of Pennsylvannia 9-7.

This was before Wallace Wade would gain national attention with his teams at 'Bama and Duke. The future face of Southern football, Bear Bryant, was only eight years old. The man leading the Tide that day was Xen Scott, who was dying of cancer. Scott, who coached at Alabama for 3 seasons took his team outside of Dixie at a time when almost all football was played intersectionally. This journey may not be as well remembered as Robert E. Lee's foray into the Keystone State, but its results were far more positive for the Southland. While most will cite Alabama's Rose Bowl win over the Washington Huskies following the 1925 season as the landmark for Southern football, the Tide's victory over the John Heisman (yes, that John Heisman) coached Penn team paved the way for national recognition.

No one gave Alabama a chance that day; the Quakers were favored by as much as 21 points. In the early days of college football, the powerful press ignored everyone not located in the Northeast. Ivy League schools, the service academies, they held all the sway over the college football world. The lone exception in the 1920's was Notre Dame, but the Irish were certainly not a southern team. Football in the South was virtually ignored by the national press, and no one had ever heard of Xen Scott or any of his players. Were Quakers looking past Alabama? Was the game passing Heisman by? These questions that are asked currently and constantly after upsets have no meaning and hold no water over time. The Crimson Tide, and the South itself, won a huge victory that day, although it would be 3 years before it paid any long term dividends.

Scott's successor as Alabama's Head Coach, Wallace Wade, would take his team to the Rose Bowl and face off against the unbeaten Washington Huskies. Traditional northeastern powers Princeton and Dartmouth received invitations, but were hesitant to travel across the continent. Based on their own unbeaten season, and the history made by the 1922 team, Alabama received and accepted an invitation to Pasadena. The Huskies lost a 12-0 lead and the Tide, led by tailback Johnny Mack Brown, shocked the world with a 20-19 win. Prior to the trip to California, Coach Wade would summarize his feelings........"There is more sentiment in Southern football.....The Southern coach holds a higher position in the hearts of his players and the entire student body than does the coach of the North."

The story of the 1925 Alabama team is well known to anyone who follows football, Crimson Tide supporter or not. Also well remembered are the Southern football heroes that followed, Hank Crisp, Shug Jordan, Dana Bible, Vince Dooley, Shug Jordan, Darrell Royal, Joe Namath, Don Hutson, Paul Dietzel, Bobby Bowden, Frank Broyles, Frank Howard, Herschel Walker, and of course, Paul "Bear" Bryant. We should take time to reflect on the accomplishment of Coach Xen Scott and his 1922 team, the team that showed the country that football in the South was for real.