1958 Alabama Crimson Tide football team The 1958 Alabama Crimson Tide football team ( variously " Alabama " , " UA " or " Bama " ) represented the University of Alabama in the 1958 college football season . It was the Crimson Tide ' s 64th overall and 25th season as a member of the Southeastern Conference ( SEC ) . The team was led by head coach Bear Bryant , in his first year , and played their home games at Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa , Legion Field in Birmingham and at Ladd Stadium in Mobile , Alabama . They finished with a record of five wins , four losses and one tie ( 5 – 4 – 1 overall , 3 – 4 – 1 in the SEC ) . As they finished the season above . 500 , Alabama secured its first winning season since 1953 , and their five victories gave Bryant more wins games in one season than former head coach Jennings B . Whitworth did in previous three . On December 3 , 1957 , the University formally introduced then Texas A & M head coach and former Crimson Tide player Bear Bryant as the new head coach of the Crimson Tide . In the season opener , Bama led future national champion LSU 3 – 0 at the half before they lost 13 – 3 , and the next week played a ranked team to a scoreless tie . In their third game , the Crimson Tide defeated for the first victory of the Bryant era . After a loss at Tennessee , Alabama then defeated then No . 19 for their first victory over a ranked team since 1953 and followed that with a win over Georgia on homecoming . The Crimson Tide were then upset at Tulane on a Friday evening , but bounced back with wins over and that secured Alabama ' s first winning season since 1953 . After they closed the season with a loss against Auburn , Alabama declined an invitation to compete in the Bluegrass Bowl to end Bryant ' s first season and became the only Bryant coached team at Alabama to not have participated in a bowl game . Game notes . LSU . To open the Bear Bryant era , Alabama led 3 – 0 at halftime but lost 13 – 3 to the eventual national champion LSU Tigers Ladd Stadium in Mobile . After a scoreless first quarter , the Crimson Tide took a 3 – 0 halftime lead after Fred Sington , Jr . connected on an eight - yard field goal . Midway through the half , a section of bleachers in the north end zone collapsed and resulted in 60 spectators being injured . The collapse resulted in a stoppage of play while emergency responders worked to assist those injured by the collapse . LSU took a 7 – 3 lead in the third quarter when Warren Rabb threw a nine - yard touchdown pass to Johnny Robinson that capped a 67 - yard drive . Billy Cannon then scored on a 12 - yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter that made the final score 13 – 3 . For the game , the Tigers were led by head coach Paul Dietzel who previously served as an assistant coach for Bryant during his tenure at Kentucky . The loss brought Alabama ' s all - time record against LSU to 15 – 8 – 4 . Vanderbilt . In their first Legion Field game of the 1958 season , the Crimson Tide played the Vanderbilt Commodores to a 0 – 0 tie in Birmingham . The tie brought Alabama ' s all - time record against Vanderbilt to 18 – 16 – 3 . Furman . In their first Denny Stadium game of the 1958 season , the Crimson Tide notched the first victory of the Bryant era with this 29 – 6 win over the Furman Paladins in Tuscaloosa . The Crimson Tide took an early 20 – 0 lead after they scored three touchdowns in the final four minutes of the first quarter . Bobby Jackson scored first on a two - yard run , the second was scored on a 16 - yard Jackson pass to Laurien Stapp and the third on a 56 - yard Gary O ' Steen punt return . A 24 - yard Pete Reaves field goal in the second quarter extended the Alabama lead to 23 – 0 at halftime . In the third quarter , Furman scored their only points of the game on a nine - yard Roy Nickles touchdown run . The Crimson Tide responded with a 61 - yard Bobby Smith touchdown pass to O ' Steen that made the final score 29 – 6 . The victory improved Alabama ' s all - time record against Furman to 4 – 0 . Tennessee . In their annual rivalry game against Tennessee , a pair of Billy Majors touchdowns for the Volunteers provided for the final margin in their 14 – 7 victory in Knoxville . After a scoreless first quarter , the Vols took a 7 – 0 halftime lead when Majors scored on a one - yard run on the first play of the second quarter . He then extended the Tennessee lead to 14 – 0 in the third on a seven - yard run , before Alabama made the final score 14 – 7 on a one - yard Bobby Jackson touchdown run . In the game , Alabama fumble d the ball five times and Tennessee recovered three of them . The loss brought Alabama ' s all - time record against Tennessee to 18 – 18 – 5 . Mississippi State . On what was homecoming in Starkville , the Crimson Tide upset the Mississippi State Maroons 9 – 7 and secured Bryant ' s first SEC victory . Alabama took a 3 – 0 first quarter lead after Fred Sington , Jr . connected on a 22 - yard field goal . Still up by three in the third quarter , the Crimson Tide scored their only touchdown of the game on a 21 - yard Bobby Jackson pass to Norbie Ronsonet and extended their lead to 9 – 0 . The Maroons managed their only points late in the fourth on a six - yard Billy Stacy touchdown run that made the final score 9 – 7 . The victory was Alabama ' s first over a ranked opponent since their win over Auburn in 1953 and improved Alabama ' s all - time record against Mississippi State to 30 – 10 – 3 . Georgia . On homecoming in Tuscaloosa , Alabama shutout the Georgia Bulldogs 12 – 0 for their second consecutive conference victory . The Crimson Tide took a 6 – 0 first quarter lead after Gary O ' Steen scored on a 14 - yard run and then made the final score 12 – 0 late in the fourth quarter on a short Bobby Jackson touchdown run . The victory gave Alabama their first two - game winning streak since the 1954 season and improved Alabama ' s all - time record against Georgia to 23 – 17 – 4 . Tulane . On a Friday evening at New Orleans , the Crimson Tide were defeated 13 – 7 by the Tulane Green Wave after they turned the ball over on downs late in the fourth quarter . Richie Petitbon gave Tulane an early 6 – 0 lead with his two - yard touchdown run in the first quarter . Petitbon then extended the Green Wave lead to 13 – 0 late in the third on a one - yard run before Alabama scored their lone touchdown of the game . The only Crimson Tide points came on a one - yard Bobby Jackson touchdown run that capped a 73 - yard drive in the fourth quarter . The loss brought Alabama ' s all - time record against Tulane to 17 – 10 – 2 . Georgia Tech . Behind a 17 - point first quarter , the Crimson Tide upset the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 17 – 8 on homecoming at Grant Field . All 17 first quarter points were scored on drives that immediately followed a turnover . Bobby Jackson first scored on a one - yard touchdown run to cap a drive that started after a fumble was recovered by Baxter Booth . Duff Morrison ' s interception then set up the next Alabama scoring drive that ended when Pete Reaves connected on a 19 - yard field goal for a 10 – 0 lead . The lead was then extended to 17 – 0 on a five - yard Jackson run that completed a drive started at the Tech 20 - yard line when Milton Frank recovered a fumble . The only Yellow Jacket points came in the third quarter when a Calvin James fumble was recovered by Billy Shaw for a touchdown that made the final score 17 – 8 after a successful two - point conversion . The victory improved Alabama ' s all - time record against Georgia Tech to 19 – 18 – 3 . Memphis State . In what was the first all - time meeting against Memphis State , the Crimson Tide shutout the Tigers 14 – 0 in the final Denny Stadium game of the season . Alabama took a 6 – 0 first quarter lead after Bobby Jackson threw a 62 - yard touchdown pass to Marlin Dyess on the first offensive play of the game . Jackson then scored what proved to be the final points of the game with his 18 - yard touchdown run in the second quarter . He then successfully converted the two - point conversion that made the final score 14 – 0 . Auburn . Against rival Auburn , the Crimson Tide nearly upset the No . 2 ranked Tigers but lost 14 – 8 at Legion Field in what was the closest game between the schools since the 1953 season . The Tigers ' took an early 7 – 0 lead after Dick Wood threw a three - yard touchdown pass to Jim Pettus in the first quarter . Neither team would score again until late in the fourth quarter when Auburn went up 14 – 0 on a one - yard Jim Reynolds touchdown run . Alabama responded with a nine - yard Marlin Dyess touchdown run that cut tge Tigers ' lead to 14 – 8 after they converted a two - point conversion . The loss brought Alabama ' s all - time record against Auburn to 9 – 13 – 1 . Bluegrass Bowl . After their victory over , Alabama players voted to accept any potential bowl bid if one was extended to the team . As they entered their final game of the season against Auburn , officials from the Bluegrass Bowl announced that the Crimson Tide was their top choice to participate in the inaugural event regardless of the outcome against the Tigers . Although the Crimson Tide were their top choice , on December 1 , bowl officials announced that Florida State and would participate in the game . It was reported that prior to the announcement , the game was to have seen a rematch of Alabama against , but that no deal was reached . After the Crimson Tide declined the invitation , Florida State accepted it . Years later , Bryant stated he regretted he did not accept the bid as it would have allowed for additional practice time at the conclusion of the season . The 1958 season also marked the only one where a Bryant - led team at Alabama failed to participate in a bowl game . Freshmen squad . Prior to the 1972 college football season , NCAA rules prohibited freshmen from participating on the varsity team , and as such many schools fielded freshmen teams . For the 1958 season , the Alabama freshmen squad was coached by Sam Bailey and finished their season with a record of two wins , zero losses and one tie ( 2 – 0 – 1 ) . In their first game against the Mississippi State Baby Maroons , a 27 - yard Jimmy Spencer field goal fell short with under a minute left , and the game ended in a scoreless tie at Starkville . In their second game , the Crimson Tide defeated Tulane 25 – 6 before 3 , 000 fans at Denny Stadium . After the game was tied 6 – 6 at halftime , Alabama scored 19 unanswered points in the second half to win . Touchdowns were scored by Mal Moore on a one - yard run , a 37 - yard Moore pass to Tommy Brooker and on a 22 - yard Ronnie Davis pass to Steve Anderson . The Baby Tide then closed the season with a 14 – 6 win over Auburn in a game that saw touchdowns scored of runs of 10 - yards by Jerry Rich and one - yard by Pat Trammell . NFL Draft . At the conclusion of the season several members of the 1958 squad were drafted into the National Football League . These players included : Bobby Jackson in the seventh round to the Green Bay Packers , Ernie Moore in the 29th round to the Los Angeles Rams and Dave Sington in the 30th round to the New York Giants . References . General Specific