1951 Alabama Crimson Tide football team The 1951 Alabama Crimson Tide football team ( variously " Alabama " , " UA " or " Bama " ) represented the University of Alabama in the 1951 college football season . It was the Crimson Tide ' s 57th overall and 18th season as a member of the Southeastern Conference ( SEC ) . The team was led by head coach Harold Drew , in his fifth year , and played their home games at Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa , Legion Field in Birmingham , Ladd Stadium in Mobile and at the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery , Alabama . They finished with a record of five wins and six losses ( 5 – 6 overall , 3 – 5 in the SEC ) . The Crimson Tide opened the season with a 89 – 0 victory over , and the 89 points were the most scored by an Alabama team since the 1922 squad defeated Marion Military Institute 110 – 0 . However , the Tide followed the victory up with a four - game losing streak that included losses against , Vanderbilt , and Tennessee . Alabama then evened its record at 4 – 4 with victories over , Georgia and , but then lost to and Florida to secure their first losing season since 1903 . The Crimson Tide then closed the season with a 25 – 7 victory over Auburn . The game against Delta State at Cramton Bowl in Montgomery marked the first year of a four - year period in which Alabama , which was already regularly playing games in Mobile and Birmingham as well as Tuscaloosa , began playing " home " games in four different cities . Game notes . Delta State . To open the 1951 season , Alabama shutout the Delta State Statesmen 89 – 0 at the Cramton Bowl in the only all - time meeting between the schools . The Crimson Tide scored multiple touchdowns in all four quarters in what was the largest margin of victory for Alabama since a 110 – 0 win over the Marion Military Institute to open the 1922 season . In the first quarter , touchdowns were scored on a 30 - yard Bobby Marlow run , a 27 - yard James Melton run and a 11 - yard Clell Hobson pass to Joe Curtis for a 21 – 0 lead . In the second quarter , touchdowns were scored on a 36 - yard Larry Chiodetti run and a three - yard Joe Compton run for a 35 – 0 halftime lead . In the third quarter , touchdowns were scored on a 51 - yard Marlow run , a 15 - yard George McCain pass to Chiodetti , a one - yard Bobby Luna run and a 46 - yard Luna pass to Thomas Tharp for a 63 – 0 lead . In the fourth quarter , touchdowns were scored on a 63 - yard Tommy Lewis run , a 44 - yard Luna run , an 11 - yard Tharp run and a 19 - yard Hobson run to make the final score 89 – 0 . In total , the Crimson Tide outgained the Statesmen in total offense 553 to 163 yards . LSU . To open conference play for the 1951 season , Alabama was defeated by LSU 13 – 7 at Ladd Stadium in Mobile . After a scoreless first quarter , LSU took a 6 – 0 halftime lead when James Barton threw a 20 - yard touchdown pass to Warren Virgets . The Crimson Tide responded to take a 7 – 6 lead in the third after Bobby Marlow scored on a one - yard touchdown run . However their lead was short lived as Leroy Labat scored the game - winning touchdown for the Tigers on an 18 - yard run for the 13 – 7 victory . The loss brought Alabama ' s all - time record against LSU to 13 – 6 – 3 . Vanderbilt . In what was their first road game of the season , the Crimson Tide lost to the Vanderbilt Commodores by a final score of 22 – 20 in Nashville . After Alabama took a 7 – 0 lead in the first quarter on a one - yard James Melton run , Vanderbilt took a 12 – 7 lead in the second quarter on a Richard Foster run and a four - yard Charles Wade pass to Ted Kirkland . The Crimson Tide responded with a one - yard Bobby Marlow touchdown run late in the second to take a 13 – 12 halftime lead . The Commodores rebounded in the third to retake the lead 22 – 13 after Foster scored on a 10 - yard run and later kick a 46 - yard field goal . A four - yard Marlow touchdown in the fourth made the final score 22 – 20 in favor of the Commodores . The loss brought Alabama ' s all - time record against Vanderbilt to 16 – 14 – 1 . Villanova . On a Friday night in the first Tuscaloosa game of the season , Alabama was defeated by the Villanova Wildcats 41 – 18 at Denny Stadium in the only all - time meeting between the schools . After a scoreless first quarter , Villanova took a 21 – 0 lead into halftime with touchdowns scored on touchdown runs of eight - yards by Robert Haner , two - yards by Dick Bedesem and 38 - yards by Benjamin Addiego . Alabama opened the third with their first points of the game on a two - yard Bobby Marlow touchdown run . However the Wildcats responded with a four - yard William Brannau touchdown pass to Joseph Rilo to make the score 28 – 6 as the teams entered the fourth quarter . In the fourth , each team scored a pair of touchdowns and made the final score 41 – 18 in favor of the Wildcats . Alabama scored on a pair of long touchdown passes from Clell Hobson to George MacAfee from 75 and 67 yards and Villanova scored on touchdowns runs of one - yard by Bedesem and five - yards by Addiego . The loss marked the first time the Crimson Tide lost three consecutive games since the 1927 season , ended a 20 game winning streak at Denny Stadium and the 41 - points allowed to the Wildcats were the most scored by an Alabama opponent since a 54 – 4 loss to Sewanee in 1907 . Tennessee . Alabama lost 27 – 13 to the rival Tennessee Volunteers and it marked both their first loss to Tennessee at Legion Field since the 1940 season and the first four - game losing streak for the Crimson Tide since the 1910 season . Alabama took a 7 – 0 first quarter lead on a one - yard Bobby Marlow run only to see Tennessee tie the game 7 – 7 at halftime after Bert Rechichar scored on a 20 - yard Hank Lauricella touchdown pass in the second quarter . The Volunteers then took a 14 – 7 lead in the third on a three - yard Dick Ernsberger run before they closed the game with a pair of touchdowns in the fourth . In the final period Tennessee touchdowns were scored by Lauricella on a 35 - yard run and on a 20 - yard Harold Payne pass to Vince Kaseta ; the lone Alabama touchdown was scored on a second , one - yard Marlow run to make the final score 27 – 13 . Although the first Alabama game to be televised occurred in their matchup at Fordham in 1939 , this game was broadcast on ABC and was the first Alabama game to be broadcast over network television . The loss brought Alabama ' s all - time record against Tennessee to 17 – 12 – 4 . Mississippi State . At Starkville , the Crimson Tide shutout the Mississippi State Maroons 7 – 0 to end their four game losing streak at Scott Field . The only points of the game came in the second quarter when Clell Hobson threw a 39 - yard touchdown pass to Larry Chiodetti for Alabama . The victory improved Alabama ' s all - time record against Mississippi State to 27 – 7 – 2 . Georgia . In their final road game of the season , Alabama defeated the Georgia Bulldogs 16 – 14 Sanford Stadium in Athens . After a scoreless first quarter , the Bulldogs took a 7 – 0 halftime lead after Conrad Manisera returned a punt 72 - yards for a second quarter touchdown . The Crimson Tide responded over the final two quarters with a pair of Clell Hobson touchdown passes to George McCain from 14 and 21 - yards and a 21 - yard Harold Lutz field goal for a 16 – 7 lead . Georgia then scored the final touchdown of the game late in the fourth on a two - yard Manisera run to make the final score 16 – 14 . The victory improved Alabama ' s all - time record against Georgia to 19 – 15 – 3 . Mississippi Southern . After the Mississippi Southern Golden Eagles took a 7 – 0 lead , the Crimson Tide responded with 40 unanswered points for the 40 – 7 victory at Denny Stadium . The lone Southern touchdown came early in the first quarter on a two - yard Granville Hart run for their brief 7 – 0 lead . Alabama responded with touchdowns on 58 - yard Virgil Willis interception return and runs of 53 and five yards by George McCain for a 19 – 7 Crimson Tide lead at the end of the first quarter . They then closed the game with touchdowns on a four - yard Bobby Marlow run in the third and two - yard Thomas Tharp run and 21 - yard Clell Hobson pass to Bobby Luna in the fourth quarter . The victory improved Alabama ' s all - time record against Mississippi Southern to 5 – 0 . Georgia Tech . After Alabama held Georgia Tech to only six first half points , the Yellow Jackets scored three second half touchdowns en route to a 27 – 7 victory at Legion Field . The only first half points were scored on a 17 - yard Elbert Crawford touchdown pass to Lambert Knox in the second quarter for a 6 – 0 halftime lead for Tech . The Yellow Jackets continued their scoring into the fourth quarter with touchdowns on a two - yard Windle Hardeman run and 21 - yard Crawford pass to Jake Martin in the third and a 31 - yard Crawford pass to Knox in the fourth for a 27 – 0 lead . The only Alabama points were scored late in the fourth on a one - yard Larry Chiodetti run to end the Tech shutout bid . The loss brought Alabama ' s all - time record against Georgia Tech to 17 – 13 – 3 . Florida . On homecoming in Tuscaloosa , 17 unanswered points by Florida in the second half gave the Gators 30 – 21 win at Denny Stadium . The teams traded touchdowns in the first half to give Alabama a 21 – 13 halftime lead . Crimson Tide touchdowns were scored on a 10 - yard Clell Hobson run , a 73 - yard George McCain pass to Al Lary and a six - yard James Melton run ; Gators touchdowns were scored on Buford Long touchdown runs of 10 and eight - yards . Florida then closed with game with a 45 - yard Haywood Sullivan touchdown pass to James French and a 14 - yard Richard Casares field goal in the third and a one - yard Sullivan touchdown run in the fourth for the 30 – 21 Gators victory . The loss brought Alabama ' s all - time record against Florida to 8 – 4 . Auburn . For the third time in four years since the revival of the Auburn series , Alabama defeated the Tigers 25 – 7 at Legion Field . The Crimson Tide took a 13 – 0 halftime lead on touchdown runs of seven - yards by Bobby Marlow in the first and of three - yards by James Melton in the second . Third quarter Marlow touchdown runs of 39 and 22 - yards gave Alabama a 25 – 0 lead before Auburn scored their only points on an eight - yard Homer Williams run in the fourth to make the final score 25 – 7 . The victory improved Alabama ' s all - time record against Auburn to 7 – 8 – 1 . References . General Specific