1942 Alabama Crimson Tide football team The 1942 Alabama Crimson Tide football team ( variously " Alabama " , " UA " or " Bama " ) represented the University of Alabama in the 1942 college football season . It was the Crimson Tide ' s 49th overall and 10th season as a member of the Southeastern Conference ( SEC ) . The team was led by head coach Frank Thomas , in his 12th 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 eight wins and three losses ( 8 – 3 overall , 4 – 2 in the SEC ) and with a victory in the Orange Bowl over . The Crimson Tide opened the 1942 season with five consecutive victories , four of which were shutout s , and rose to the No . 3 spot in the AP Poll . They outscored their opponents 124 to 6 and defeated , , a team of former college all - stars playing for the Pensacola NAS , Tennessee and . Against No . 2 ranked Georgia , Alabama surrendered a 10 – 0 fourth quarter lead and lost 21 – 10 to a Bulldogs squad that went on to capture a share of the 1942 national championship . The Crimson Tide went on to alternate wins and losses over their final four regular season games with victories over both and and losses to and Georgia Pre - Flight . They then closed the season with a victory over in the Orange Bowl . Game notes . Southwestern Louisiana . To open the 1941 season , Alabama defeated the Southwestern Louisiana Institute Bulldogs ( now known as the Louisiana – Lafayette Ragin ' Cajuns ) 54 – 0 at the Cramton Bowl on a Friday night . After Don Salls recovered a Bobby Voitier fumble on the Bulldogs ' opening possession , Salls scored Alabama ' s first touchdown of the night on a 30 - yard run on the possession that ensued . The Crimson Tide then extended their lead to 14 – 0 at the end of the first quarter after Russ Mosley threw a 47 - yard touchdown pass to George Weeks . In the second quarter , Alabama scored a trio of touchdowns on Kenny Reese runs of 7 and 24 - yards and on a 45 - yard Norman Mosley run to make the halftime score 35 – 0 . The second half saw many of Alabama ' s reserves play and three more touchdowns . In the third quarter touchdowns were scored by Joe Domnanovich on a 25 - yard interception return and on an Al Sabo reception . The Crimson Tide got their final points in the fourth quarter on a 2 - yard Lou Scales touchdown run . The victory improved Alabama ' s all - time record against the Bulldogs to 2 – 0 . Mississippi State . In the first conference game of the season , Alabama defeated Mississippi State 21 – 6 in what was the first conference loss for the Maroons since the . After a scoreless first half , Russ Craft scored all three of the Crimson Tide ' s touchdowns in the third quarter on runs of 3 , 38 and 4 - yards . Mississippi State responded in the fourth quarter with their only points of the afternoon on a 43 - yard Billy Murphy touchdown pass to Kermit Davis to make the final score 21 – 6 . The victory improved Alabama ' s all - time record against Mississippi State to 20 – 7 – 2 . Pensacola NAS . With the outbreak of World War II , many leaders in the military viewed football as a means to help develop leadership abilities and greater discipline in preparation for combat . As such , during this time colleges scheduled military schools and organizations for regular season football games . For their third game of the season , Alabama met the team that represented the Naval Air Station Pensacola at Mobile , and defeated the Goslings 27 – 0 . The game also marked the first for Alabama against a service team since the 1917 season . In the game , Alabama scored a touchdown in all four quarters and outgained Pensacola in rushing yards 295 to minus 2 . Touchdowns were scored by Russ Craft on a 3 - yard run in the first , on a 5 - yard Johnny August pass to Al Sabo in the second , Craft on a 6 - yard reverse in the third and on a 39 - yard Kenny Reese run in the fourth . Tennessee . After each team opened the season undefeated through the fourth week , Alabama entered the first AP Poll of the season as No . 4 team and Tennessee entered as the No . 15 team . Due to each team being ranked and the heated rivalry between each other , NBC broadcast the game nationally over 218 radio affiliates and Bill Stern served as commentator . In the game , Alabama defeated the Volunteers 8 – 0 before 25 , 000 fans at Legion Field . After a scoreless first half , the Crimson Tide scored their first points of the game on the opening kickoff of the second half . Alabama took a 2 – 0 lead after Bob Cifers was tackled in the endzone for a safety . The only touchdown of the contest was scored in the fourth quarter on a 38 - yard Tom Jenkins run . The victory improved Alabama ' s all - time record against Tennessee to 15 – 8 – 2 . Kentucky . After their victory over Tennessee , Alabama moved up one position to the No . 3 spot in the AP Poll prior to their game at Kentucky . On what was homecoming in Lexington , the Crimson Tide shutout the Wildcats 14 – 0 . After a scoreless first half , touchdowns were scored by Russ Mosley on a 2 - yard run in the third and by Lou Scales on a 1 - yard run in the fourth . The victory improved Alabama ' s all - time record against Kentucky 20 – 1 – 1 . Georgia . As both Alabama and Georgia were undefeated as they entered their game , both received top five rankings in the weekly AP Poll . Although the Crimson Tide led 10 – 0 at the start of the fourth quarter , three late touchdowns gave the Bulldogs the 21 – 10 victory at Grant Field in Atlanta . Russ Craft scored first for Alabama with his 47 - yard touchdown run in the first quarter . Alabama then extended their lead to 10 – 0 early in the third quarter when George Hecht kicked a 20 - yard field goal . In the fourth quarter , the Bulldogs staged their comeback to win the game 21 – 10 . Fourth quarter touchdowns were scored on Frank Sinkwich passes of 5 and 13 - yards to George Poschner and by Andrew Dudish on a 25 - yard fumble return . The loss brought Alabama ' s all - time record against Georgia to 14 – 12 – 3 . South Carolina . After their loss to Georgia , the Crimson Tide dropped five places to the No . 8 position in the weekly AP Poll prior to their game against South Carolina . On homecoming at Denny Stadium , Alabama defeated the Gamecocks 29 – 0 . Alabama took a 13 – 0 first quarter lead after Johnny August connected on touchdown passes of 24 - yards to Kenny Reese and 38 - yards to James Roberts . They then scored their final 16 points of the game in the second quarter on a 44 - yard Russ Craft touchdown run , and 84 - yard Dave Brown touchdown run and when the Gamecocks ' Ken Roskie was tackled for a safety . The victory improved Alabama ' s all - time record against South Carolina to 2 – 0 . Georgia Tech . Prior to their second trip to Atlanta of the season , this time to face Georgia Tech , Alabama moved up from the No . 8 position to the No . 5 position in the AP Poll . Against the Yellow Jackets , the Crimson Tide was shutout 7 – 0 at Grant Field in a game that saw two dominant defenses . The only points of the game came in the first quarter when Ralph Plaster scored for Georgia Tech on a short run . The loss brought Alabama ' s all - time record against Georgia Tech to 13 – 12 – 3 . Vanderbilt . After their loss against Georgia Tech , Alabama dropped down spots to the No . 9 position in the AP Poll prior to their game against Vanderbilt . Against the Commodores , Alabama rebounded from their loss to the Yellow Jackets with a 27 – 7 victory at Legion Field . First half touchdowns were scored by Johnny August on an 11 - yard run in the first quarter and on a 1 - yard Tom Jenkins run in the second quarter . The Crimson Tide extended their lead to 27 – 0 in the third quarter with touchdowns scored on a 5 - yard Dave Brown run and on a 45 - yard Bill Baughman interception return . The Commodores ended the shutout for the Alabama defense in the fourth quarter when Jack Jenkins scored on a 5 - yard touchdown run . The victory improved Alabama ' s all - time record against Vanderbilt to 14 – 10 . Georgia Pre - Flight . After their victory over Vanderbilt , Alabama moved up two spots to the No . 7 position in the AP Poll prior to their game against Georgia Pre - Flight . Against the Skycrackers , Alabama lost 35 – 19 at Legion Field to a team that featured several former college stars in addition to former Crimson Tide coach Bear Bryant . The Skycrackers took a 7 – 0 lead in the first quarter after Thomas White blocked a Russ Mosley quick kick that was returned 40 - yards by Darrell Tully for a Georgia touchdown . Tully then scored the second touchdown on a 9 - yard run in the second quarter to cap a 70 - yard drive and give the Skycrackers a 14 – 0 halftime lead . Georgia extended their lead further to 28 – 0 at the end of the third quarter with touchdowns on a 25 - yard Frank Filchock pass to Bob Foxx and on a Jim Poole reception . In the fourth quarter , Alabama scored first on a 3 - yard Don Salls touchdown run to cut the Georgia lead to 28 – 6 . The Skycrackers responded with a 9 - yard Filchock to Poole touchdown pass to extend their lead to 35 – 6 . Alabama did score the final pair of touchdowns in the game on a 19 - yard Tom Jenkins run and on a 21 - yard Norman Mosley pass to Jim McWhorter to make the final score 35 – 19 . Boston College . After their loss to Georgia Pre - Flight in their regular season finale , on November 30 Alabama accepted an invitation to play in the Orange Bowl against the Boston College Eagles . At that time , the final AP Poll was also released with Alabama in the No . 10 position and Boston College in the No . 8 position . In the Orange Bowl , the Crimson Tide overcame a 14 – 0 first quarter deficit to defeat the Eagles 37 – 21 . Boston College took a 14 – 0 lead with first quarter touchdowns scored on a 65 - yard Mike Holovak pass to Ed Doherty and on a 33 - yard Holovak run . Alabama responded with three consecutive touchdowns in the second quarter to take a 19 – 14 lead on a 14 - yard Russ Mosley pass to Wheeler Leeth , a 17 - yard Johnny August pass to Ted Cook and on a 40 - yard Tom Jenkins run . The Eagles then scored their final points of the game on a 1 - yard Holovak touchdown run before the Crimson Tide took a 22 – 21 halftime lead on a 15 - yard George Hecht field goal . Alabama went on to shutout the Eagles in the second half and score on a 15 - yard August run in the third and on a 1 - yard Jenkins run in the fourth . Joe Domnanovich then tackled Harry Connolly for a safety to make the final score 37 – 21 . After the season . NFL Draft . Several players that were varsity lettermen from the 1942 squad were drafted into the National Football League ( NFL ) between the 1943 and 1945 drafts . These players included the following : References . General Specific