1944 Alabama Crimson Tide football team The 1944 Alabama Crimson Tide football team ( variously " Alabama " , " UA " or " Bama " ) represented the University of Alabama in the 1944 college football season . It was the Crimson Tide ' s 50th overall and 11th season as a member of the Southeastern Conference ( SEC ) . The team was led by head coach Frank Thomas , in his 13th year , and played their home games at Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa , Legion Field in Birmingham and at the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery . They finished the season with a record of five wins , two losses and two ties ( 5 – 2 – 2 overall , 3 – 1 – 2 in the SEC ) and with a loss in the Sugar Bowl against . After a tie against to open the season , Alabama then defeated both and before they dueled Tennessee to a scoreless tie in the fourth week . The Crimson Tide then defeated before they suffered their only regular season loss against Georgia . Alabama then closed the season with wins over both and and secured a position in the Sugar Bowl where they lost to . The 1944 squad marked the return of football at Alabama after a one - year hiatus for the 1943 season due to the effects of World War II . However as the war effort was ongoing at that time , the 1944 team was composed of players who were either too young and / or physically unable to enlist in the military . As the squad was generally smaller than both previous Alabama squads and than many they competed against , coach Thomas called this and the 1945 team the " War Babies . " Game notes . LSU . In what marked the return of Alabama football for the first time since the 1942 season , the Crimson Tide met LSU for the first time since 1930 and left Baton Rouge with a 27 – 27 tie to open the season . LSU scored first on a 76 - yard , Elwyn Rowan touchdown run in the first minute of play for a 7 – 0 Tigers ' lead . Alabama tied the game at 7 – 7 by the end of the quarter when Lowell Tew scored on a two - yard run to cap a drive that started from the LSU ten - yard line after a Ray Coates fumble was recovered by James Pearl . The Tigers retook a 14 – 7 lead early in the second quarter when Y . A . Tittle threw a 34 - yard touchdown pass to Dan Sandifer . However , the Crimson Tide responded with touchdown runs of 16 - yards by Tew and 24 - yards by Harry Gilmer for a 21 – 14 halftime lead . The Tigers again tied the game in the third when Felix Trapani blocked a John Wade punt and returned it 26 - yards for a touchdown . On the kickoff that ensued , Gilmer returned it 95 - yards for a touchdown , for a 27 – 21 lead after a missed extra point by Hugh Morrow . Clyde Lindsey tied the game at 27 for LSU in the fourth after he both blocked and returned an Alabama kick , but Andrew Lay missed the extra point to make the final score 27 – 27 . The tie brought Alabama ' s all - time record against LSU to 11 – 3 – 3 . Howard . In the first Legion Field game of the season , Alabama defeated Howard ( now Samford University ) 63 – 7 in a game that featured 49 , second half points . After a scoreless first quarter , Lowell Tew scored both of the Alabama touchdowns in the second quarter on a 35 - yard interception return and on a 21 - yard touchdown run for a 14 – 0 halftime lead . The Crimson Tide then closed the game with four touchdowns in the third and three touchdowns in the fourth quarter . Third quarter touchdowns were scored by Norwood Hodges and John Hite twice on runs and by Jim Rupich on a blocked punt recovery . Fourth quarter touchdowns were scored on touchdown passes from George Albright to Lacey West ( 34 and 55 - yards ) and to Carlos Izaguirre ( 49 - yards ) . The victory improved Alabama ' s all - time record against Howard to 20 – 0 – 1 , and also marked the final game ever played between the respective schools on the football field . Millsaps . In the first Denny Stadium game of the season , Alabama shutout the Millsaps Majors 55 – 0 in a game that featured 42 , second half points . The Crimson Tide took a 13 – 0 halftime lead after touchdown runs of one - yard by Norwood Hodges in the first and four - yards by Jimmy Robertson in the second . They extended their lead to 34 – 0 at the end of the third with touchdowns scored on a one - yard Hal Self run , a six - yard Harry Gilmer run and on an 11 - yard Hodges run . Alabama then concluded with three fourth quarter touchdowns on a 12 - yard Ed Podbielniak run , a short Self run and on a 19 - yard John Hite run . The victory improved Alabama ' s all - time record against Millsaps to 3 – 0 , and also marked the final game ever played between the respective schools on the football field . Tennessee . Against the Volunteers , Alabama settled for a 0 – 0 tie before 32 , 000 fans at Shields - Watkins Field . In a game dominated by both defenses , Tennessee stopped Alabama drives three times from within their own 30 - yard line in the fourth quarter to preserve the tie score . The tie brought Alabama ' s all - time record against Tennessee to 15 – 8 – 3 . Kentucky . At the Cramton Bowl , the Crimson Tide shutout the Wildcats 41 – 0 for their first conference victory of the season . Harry Gilmer scored the first touchdown for Alabama on a 41 - yard run for a 7 – 0 lead after the first . In the second , Gilmer scored again on a short run and threw touchdown passes to George Albright and Hugh Morrow for a 27 – 0 halftime lead . John Hite was then responsible for the final two touchdowns of the game with his six - yard pass to Ralph Jones and his 41 - yard interception return . The victory improved Alabama ' s all - time record against Kentucky 21 – 1 – 1 . Georgia . After their victory over Kentucky , Alabama entered the weekly AP Poll for the first time during the season at the No . 19 position . Although the Crimson Tide led 7 – 0 at halftime , a pair of second half touchdowns gave the Bulldogs the 17 – 7 victory at Legion Field . Fred Grant scored the only Alabama points of the game with his five - yard touchdown run in the second quarter . Down by a touchdown , Charles Smith tied the game with his three - yard run in the third and Stan Nestorak scored the game - winning touchdown in the fourth with his three - yard run . The loss brought Alabama ' s all - time record against Georgia to 14 – 13 – 3 . Ole Miss . In what was the first game played against Ole Miss since the 1933 season , Alabama defeated the Rebels 34 – 6 tie in Mobile . The Crimson Tide took control early with a three touchdown first quarter on a Fred Grant run , 48 - yard Lowell Tew run and a short George Albright run . The Rebels ' responded with their only points of the game in the second on a 29 - yard Johnnie Bruce touchdown pass to Clyde Hooker to make the halftime score 21 – 6 . After a scoreless third , a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns were scored on runs by John Hite and Grant to make the final score 34 – 6 . The victory improved Alabama ' s all - time record against Ole Miss 16 – 3 – 2 . Mississippi State . On what was homecoming before the largest crowd to date at Denny Stadium , Alabama upset an undefeated Mississippi State Maroons squad 19 – 0 in Tuscaloosa . After Harry Gilmer fumbled the opening kickoff to give the Maroons excellent field position , Fred Grant returned an interception 87 - yards for a 7 – 0 lead . The other two Alabama touchdowns were scored on runs by Lowell Tew and Grant . The victory improved Alabama ' s all - time record against Mississippi State to 21 – 7 – 2 . Duke . On November 25 , University officials announced that Alabama had accepted a bid to play in the 1945 Sugar Bowl against the Duke Blue Devils . In the game , the Crimson Tide were defeated 29 – 26 before 66 , 822 fans at Tulane Stadium after Duke score a late , game - winning touchdown . The Blue Devils took an early 7 – 0 on a 14 - yard George Clark run before a pair of one - yard , Norwood Hodges touchdown runs gave the Crimson Tide a 12 – 7 lead at the end of the first . Alabama extended their lead further to 19 – 7 after Harry Gilmer threw a 12 - yard touchdown pass to Ralph Jones . Duke responded with a pair of short , Tom Davis touchdown runs to take a 10 – 19 lead into the fourth quarter . In the fourth , Hugh Morrow had a touchdown on a 78 - yard interception return ; however , the Crimson Tide lost the game after Gilmer took a safety and George Clark scored the game - winning points on a 20 - yard run . NFL Draft . On April 8 , 1945 , the National Football League held its ninth draft . In the draft , Johnny August was selected as the fifth pick in the eighth round ( 70th overall ) by the Cleveland Rams , Jack Aland was selected as the fifth pick in the 13th round ( 125th overall ) by the Cleveland Rams , Hal Self was selected as the second pick in the 14th round ( 133rd overall ) by the Brooklyn Tigers , Bobby Tom Jenkins was selected as the sixth pick in the 17th round ( 170th overall ) by the Washington Redskins , Jim McWhorter was selected as the sixth pick in the 18th round ( 181st overall ) by the Detroit Lions , Norm Mosley was selected as the ninth pick in the 23rd round ( 239th overall ) by the Philadelphia Eagles , Jack Green was selected as the sixth pick in the 25th round ( 258th overall ) by the Chicago Bears , Charley Compton was selected as the fifth pick in the 30th round ( 312th overall ) by the Cleveland Rams , Ken Reese was selected as the fourth pick in the 31st round ( 322nd overall ) by the Philadelphia Eagles and John Staples was selected as the fifth pick in the 32nd round ( 329th overall ) by the New York Giants . References . General Specific