1937 Alabama Crimson Tide football team The 1937 Alabama Crimson Tide football team ( variously " Alabama " , " UA " or " Bama " ) represented the University of Alabama in the 1937 college football season . It was the Crimson Tide ' s 44th overall and 5th season as a member of the Southeastern Conference ( SEC ) . The team was led by head coach Frank Thomas , in his seventh year , and played their home games at Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa and Legion Field in Birmingham , Alabama . They finished the season with a record of nine wins and one loss ( 9 – 1 overall , 6 – 0 in the SEC ) , as SEC champions and with a loss against California in the 1938 Rose Bowl . The Crimson Tide opened the season with three consecutive shutout s against , and . In their fourth game , Alabama surrendered their first points of the season on defense in their 14 – 7 victory over Tennessee . They then shutout their next two opponents , and prior to their game at Tulane . Against the Green Wave , the Crimson Tide won 9 – 6 on a game - winning fourth quarter field goal by Hayward Sanford . After their sixth shutout of the season against , Alabama won their second game of the season on a fourth quarter Sanford field goal against Vanderbilt , and clinched the SEC championship with the win . With their undefeated regular season , Alabama accepted an invitation to play in the 1938 Rose Bowl where they lost 13 – 0 to California . Before the season . After the 1936 season , the first expansion of Denny Stadium was undertaken . The stadium originally opened for the 1929 season , and the concrete stands had a seating capacity of 12 , 000 . The 1937 expansion included the construction of a 6 , 000 seat eastern addition that was utilized primarily by students . Its construction was financed with a combination of funding from both the university ( $ 140 , 000 ) and a grant from the Public Works Administration ( $ 90 , 000 ) . Designed after the Yale Bowl , at the time of this expansion the school envisioned a build - out of Denny Stadium at a capacity of 66 , 000 . Game notes . Howard . To open the 1937 season , Alabama outgained Howard ( now Samford University ) in total yards 198 to 6 , and defeated the Bulldogs 41 – 0 at Denny Stadium . The Crimson Tide scored a pair of touchdowns in each of the first two quarters to take a 28 – 0 halftime lead . First quarter touchdowns were scored on a 21 - yard Joe Kilgrow touchdown pass to George Zivich and on a Perron Shoemaker blocked punt returned 15 - yards for the score . In the second , touchdowns were scored by Herschel Mosley on a 91 - yard punt return and on a 10 - yard Mosley to Bud Waites touchdown pass . The Crimson Tide then closed the game with a pair of second half touchdowns for the 41 – 0 victory . Charlie Holm scored on a four - yard run in the third and Alvin Davis scored on a 19 - yard run in the fourth . The victory improved Alabama ' s all - time record against Howard to 15 – 0 – 1 . Sewanee . In the conference opener , Alabama defeated the Tigers 65 – 0 at Legion Field in rainy conditions . In the game , Alabama outgained the Tigers 600 to 27 yards in total offense with both Charlie Holm and Joe Kilgrow each having gained over 100 yards rushing . The Crimson Tide also scored ten total touchdowns with Silas Beard , Kilgrow , Herschel Mosley and Billy Slemons each scoring two and both Holm and George Zivich each scoring one in the victory . The victory improved Alabama ' s all - time record against Sewanee to 16 – 10 – 3 . South Carolina . Against the South Carolina Gamecocks of the Southern Conference Alabama won 20 – 0 at Denny Stadium in what was the first all - time meeting between the schools . Touchdowns were scored by Joe Kilgrow on a short run in the first , on a 33 - yard Kilgrow pass to Silas Beard in the second and on an one - yard Hal Hughes run in the third . Tennessee . In Knoxville , Alabama defeated rival Tennessee 14 – 7 at Shields - Watkins Field one year after their scoreless tie at Legion Field . The overflow crowd of 25 , 000 included Tennessee Governor Gordon Browning and Alabama Governor Frank M . Dixon . After a scoreless first quarter , the Crimson Tide took a 7 – 0 lead in the second quarter after a Carey Cox interception set up the scoring drive . The touchdown was scored by Vic Bradford on a two - yard quarterback sneak to complete a 60 - yard drive . In the third , Alabama extended their lead to 14 – 0 after Hal Hughes scored on an one - yard quarterback sneak . The Volunteers responded in the fourth with their only points , a three - yard George Cafego touchdown pass to Edwin Duncan to complete an 85 - yard drive . The Tennessee touchdown was the first points allowed by the Crimson Tide defense of the season . The victory improved Alabama ' s all - time record against Tennessee to 13 – 5 – 2 . George Washington . As the entered their game against George Washington , Alabama was ranked No . 2 in the first AP Poll of the 1937 season . In the contest , the Crimson Tide defeated the Colonials 19 – 0 at Griffith Stadium . For the second week in a row , Alabama was held scoreless in the first quarter , however a pair of second quarter touchdowns gave the Crimson Tide a 13 – 0 halftime lead . In the second , touchdowns were scored by Joe Kilgrow on a 35 - yard pass to Perron Shoemaker and Kilgrow on a six - yard run . The final points of the game were scored by Charlie Holm in the third after he returned an interception 30 - yards for a touchdown . The win improved Alabama ' s all - time record against George Washington to 3 – 0 . Kentucky . As Alabama entered their homecoming contest against Kentucky , they dropped one place to No . 3 in the weekly poll . In the game , the Crimson Tide defeated the Wildcats 41 – 0 before 13 , 000 at Denny Stadium . After Charlie Holm scored on a 27 - yard touchdown run in the first , the Crimson Tide scored three second quarter touchdowns for a 27 – 0 halftime lead . The second quarter touchdowns were scored by Gene Blackwell on a six - yard run , Joe Kilgrow on a 20 - yard run and on a ten - yard Herschel Mosley pass to Johnny Roberts . Alabama then closed the game with a pair one - yard touchdown runs in the second half for the 41 – 0 win . The first was scored by Billy Slemons in the third and the second by W . L . Waites in the fourth . The victory improved Alabama ' s all - time record against Kentucky 16 – 1 . Tulane . After their victory over Kentucky , the Crimson Tide moved up one position and regained the No . 2 spot in the weekly poll . Tulane was ranked No . 19 in the poll after their victory over . In the contest , the Crimson Tide defeated the Green Wave 9 – 6 after they converted a game - winning field goal late in the fourth quarter . Tulane took a 6 – 0 lead in the first when John Andrews scored on a one - yard run three plays after William Kirchem blocked an Alabama punt to give the Greenies possession at the Tide ' s 18 - yard line . Alabama did not score until early in the third when Vic Bradford completed an 87 - yard drive with his one - yard touchdown run , and after a missed extra point the game was tied at six . With less than two minutes remaining in the fourth , Hayward Sanford kicked a 23 - yard field goal to win the game . The victory improved Alabama ' s all - time record against Tulane to 11 – 3 – 1 . Georgia Tech . After their close victory over Tulane , the Crimson Tide dropped one position to the No . 3 spot in the weekly poll in spite of having more first - place voted than No . 2 California . In their game against Georgia Tech , the game remained scoreless before a fourth quarter touchdown gave Alabama the 7 – 0 victory over the Yellow Jackets at Legion Field . In the fourth , Joe Kilgrow threw the game - winning two - yard touchdown pass to Erin Warren with only four minutes remaining in the game for the 7 – 0 win . The victory improved Alabama ' s all - time record against Georgia Tech to 11 – 10 – 2 . Vanderbilt . After their victory over Georgia Tech , Alabama had a bye week prior to their annual Thanksgiving Day game against Vanderbilt . Prior to their game , Alabama dropped to No . 4 and Vanderbilt moved up to No . 12 in the weekly AP Poll . In the game against the Commodores , Alabama won their second game of the season with a fourth quarter field goal in their 9 – 7 win at Dudley Field . After a scoreless first , the Crimson Tide took a 6 – 0 lead in the second quarter on a Joe Kilgrow touchdown pass to Erin Warren . The Commodores took a 7 – 6 lead in the third when Hardy Housman scored on a one - yard run and Joe Agee kicked the extra point . However , late in the fourth Hayward Sanford kicked the 27 - yard game - winning field goal to give the Crimson Tide the 9 – 7 win . The victory clinched the SEC championship for the Crimson Tide and improved Alabama ' s all - time record against Vanderbilt to 10 – 9 . California . On November 30 , Alabama accepted an invitation to play in the 1938 Rose Bowl against the California Golden Bears . In the game , the Crimson Tide were defeated in their only game of the season after their 13 – 0 shutout loss before 87 , 000 fans at Pasadena . Vic Bottari scored both touchdowns for the Golden Bears on runs of four - yards in the second and five - yards in the third . In the loss , the Crimson Tide turned the ball over eight times , on four fumble s and four interception s . Alabama had two scoring opportunities end inside the California ten - yard line , one on a fumble at the one - yard line and another at the six - yard line . The loss was also Alabama ' s first in the Rose Bowl Game . After the season . Awards . After the season , Leroy Monsky was a consensus selection and both Joe Kilgrow and James Ryba were selected to various 1937 College Football All - America Team s . NFL Draft . Several players that were varsity lettermen from the 1937 squad were drafted into the National Football League ( NFL ) between the 1938 and 1940 drafts . These players included the following : References . General Specific