The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-11-29
By One Touchdown VcIOIs Give Manufacturers First
 Orubbing of SeaS'O PRATT STARREB THROUGH TWO THIRTY MINUTE HALVES Field Heavy With Mod-cold Rain DrizzIed-on Fair Day Alabama
 Would Have Won.
 18 to 0.
BY HUGH w. ROBERTS.

l Oli Ifuuuy HeiQs and WiIlIf cold
 rain continually drizzled Alabama de- | feated Tennessee yesterday afternoon , | to O.
 | Had the course been fast and had the ] thermometer shown the weather some b
 degrees colder, Alabama would have won I by three touchdowne
 1 As 1t was, the Crinson- White warriors | played rings around Tennessee, and sev- 1 erai times during the scrimmage, threat ened the mountaineer goal At no time was Alabamas s home line ill danger. Alabama's single touchdown came near 1 the conclusion of the first halfs The timekeeper had just announced that but three minutes more of play remained. Quarterback Loueks signaled for an ou- side kick
 Instantly Alabama punctures Tennes- sees line in half a dozen places and the kicking of the ball Is imperfect It caroms into the outstretched arms of Derrell Pratt, Alabama s splendid end, and he dashes forward. Fulback Vert makes an attempt to down the runner put Is shaken off, and to the ground Then, nothing but a clear field con fronts the dashing sprinter, and he crosses the goal
 Barring the Tennessee Georgia Tech game, the decision of which is still mat ter Of dispute, Alabama's s touchdown yes t~day afternoon was the first placed across the mountaineer goal.
 The Miserable Field.
 The field was three inches in mud. and around the shoes of the players, clay "caking" itself rendered speed and fine bunting impossible. Furthermore through both long halves, the rain drizzled, d cold. sleety drzzle that chilled and stiff ened. The condition of the field rem dered fast work an mpossiblity. It pre- vented Tennessee from demonstrating its reputed speed, and forced a practical abandonment of tricks, and forward passes. In addition, Alabama could not FISK the varsity two step.' which play surprised Auburn, and kept the players ol that team continually in the air
 The drizzling rain, beginning in the morning, and continually falling through out the afternoon, precented the usual Birmingham holiday crowd from attend ing the game. There was a small bunch of spectators, about 15O0, but had no rain failen, fully 5000 people would have been seated about the arena. The small num- Der, however, was forgotten when the throng burst into cheers or when the weird college yell rang out upon the still ness. The spectators were very atten- tive and no play of consequence oc- cured but that there was the reward- ing cneer, and the encouraging bravo.
 Alabama outpIayed Tennessee.
 Alabama outplayed Tennessee. Ala pama covered more ground kept the pail In Tennessee territory the greater part of the game, and in addition to the touchdown. threatened twice the Tennessee home line by way of at tempted field goals. Alabamas line held Tennessee safe throughout the struggle, and the few gains made by
 
 bama's ends. Alabama on the con trary was able to penetrate Tennes- sees line on many occa sions, and the bucking of the backs, under the pro- lection of the military" formati tion, generally resulted in long gains. Ala bama linked" its men for gains. Ala bama was more in the game" Ala bama showed the better spirit. and the steadier nerve. Alabama deserved it's victory, and had the field been fast and the weather ideal for the pigskin affray, 1t is probable that the Crimson White. flying triumphantly, would nave told victory of IS to 0.
 Alabama used the forward pass on no occa sion. Tennessee tried the play once, and received a penalty. Both teams used the quarterback kick. Ala bama losing the ball. and Tennessee losing the game, on it's attempts. Ala
 
 formation. Tennessee depended solely on straight forward football. The visi tors showed nothing exceptionally clever.
 DcrrelI Pratt Starred.
 The individual star of the game, be- yond all question, was Derrell Pratt Alabamas left end It was Pratt's sensational run that gave Alabama vic- tory. It was Pratt's splendid bunting that kept the ball in Tennessee's ter ritory throughout the game. It was Pratts terrific tackling that checked the ambitious Tennesseans on many oc- casions. and played tricks with their nerve. He was in the game from be- gininng to end and that he starred, Is indisputable.
 Pratt's puntin. was a feature of the game. h the second half, while there was no scoring, the ball was in Ten nessee's territory throughout and sev- eral times, Alabama threatened the mountaineer goal line. Considering the weather. and the mud, Pratts bunting was nothing more or less than phe- nomenal. One punt of 75 yards, taking the Tennesseans completely by surprise, caromed beyond Quarterback Loucks, and was stopped only on the noun taineers' two-yard line. Again. Ten nessee recovered the ball from a punt on us nNe-yard line, ana once more, on its Is. These features filled the Ala bama enthusiast with admiration and new life, and cries of touchdown! touchdown" pierced the air. Field Goals Fail. In the second half the ball became so wet that to hold it was exceedingly difficult. This caused several fumbles by both teams and several recoveries after punts by both
 Toward the end of the second half Tennessee forced to punt on dangerous ground, was probably saved bigger de- feat by the condition of the ball. and the difficulty experienced in holding it. Once Tennessee, from its fve-yard line. kicked gently, and was able to recover. | This gave the mountaineers another chance, and they punted out of immed- ate danger. A little later. Alabama was l clipping merrily towards the Tennessee l goal when tumble occurred and caused I the loss of the ball.
 l In the second half Alabama. in pos | session of the ball on the S5-yard line. | attempted field goal, but scored bad | failure. Later, on the 1S-yard line, a | second attempt was made, and while this I failed. too. Pratts toe sent the pigskin l caroming so near the proper spot that it grazed the cross bar. and fell back into 1! the arena. On account of the heavy field.