Alabama Crimson Tide football , 1900 – 09 1900 . Tulane beat the Tide 6 – 0 when time expired as Alabama ' s last drive reached Tulane ' s 10 - yard line . The ugly 53 – 5 loss to Auburn marked the renewal of that series after a five - year hiatus . A 35 – 0 loss at the hands of Clemson in Birmingham marked the only football game Alabama ever played at North Birmingham Park . 1901 . The game against Tennessee ended early , in a 6 – 6 tie , when fans rushed onto the field after a controversial offsides call and the umpires were unable to clear out the crowd . It was the very first game in what later became the Third Saturday in October rivalry . The 1901 Iron Bowl was the second meeting in Tuscaloosa between Alabama and Auburn , the first having been in 1895 . The next meeting between the schools in Tuscaloosa was 99 years later . 1902 . Eli Abbott returned as head coach after coaching the Tide from 1893 to 1895 ; he is the only Alabama head coach to serve two separate stints in Tuscaloosa . In 1902 he shared the duty with James Heyworth . Auburn continued its early domination of the Iron Bowl , scoring another decisive victory . Alabama lost to Georgia when time expired as the Tide drove down to the Georgia 12 . 1903 . Alabama turned the tables on Auburn in 1903 , springing an 18 – 6 upset over a Tiger team that had been a 5 to 1 favorite . However , the renewal of the rivalry with Sewanee after a seven - year layoff ended in Alabama ' s third loss in four meetings . Sewanee , a Southern football power since winning its first SIAA championship in 1898 , dominated Alabama in matchups in this decade and the next . 1904 . Alabama ' s 6 – 0 victory over Mississippi State on October 15 was awarded by forfeit . Alabama was leading 10 – 5 in the second half when the Mississippi State captain claimed Bama had turned the ball over on downs at the MSU four - yard line . The referee disagreed , stating that Alabama had run only three plays on that set of downs , whereupon MSU walked off the field . 1905 . In 1905 the Tide moved its Birmingham games to the Birmingham Fairgrounds . The move paid off as the largest crowd ever to see a football game in Birmingham , 4 , 000 people , watched the Tide crush Auburn 30 – 0 in the Iron Bowl . 1906 . The 78 – 0 loss to Vanderbilt set records for most points allowed by Alabama in a game and most lopsided Alabama loss , both of which still stand . Vanderbilt led 57 – 0 at the half . The first and second halves were , respectively , only 17 minutes and only 12 minutes long . Alabama attempted to cancel this game after seven of their regular players were sidelined by injury but Vanderbilt refused . 1907 . The 54 – 4 loss to Sewanee remains the last time Alabama ever allowed an opponent to score 50 points in a regulation game ( the 2003 team lost 51 – 43 to Tennessee in a game that went five overtimes ) . Alabama ' s victory over LSU marked the first ever Tide home game played in Mobile . The exact location of the game is unknown . Alabama ' s 6 – 6 tie with Auburn in 1907 was both the only tie in the history of the Iron Bowl and the last meeting between the two teams for forty years . Auburn was a 3 to 1 favorite going into the game , due to their earlier victory over Georgia and the fact that they had lost to Sewanee by only 6 points while Alabama lost to Sewanee by 50 . Alabama missed a chance to win when a 15 - yard field goal attempt failed . 1908 . Later mythmaking held that the Iron Bowl was discontinued as a safety precaution after the 1907 game involved brutal violence both on the field and amongst the fans . In fact , it was trivial disputes over organizing the game that led to the 1908 contest being cancelled . Alabama and Auburn disagreed on how much per diem to allow players for the trip to Birmingham , how many players each school should bring , and where to find officials . By the time all these matters were resolved , it was too late to play in 1908 , and the series ended . For forty years the two teams failed to play each other , even though they were in the same state and members of the same conferences . Finally , pressure from the state legislature resulted in the renewal of the rivalry in 1948 . Haskell Institute dominated play against the Crimson Tide ( then called the " Thin Red Line " ) , but Bama scored a touchdown on a 65 - yard interception return , Haskell missed a field goal , and another Haskell drive was killed by an interception deep in Alabama territory . Haskell was driving again when time expired . In the season finale against Tennessee , Alabama back Derrill Pratt attempted eight field goals and made only one , but that was good enough for a 4 – 0 Alabama victory . 1909 . 1909 marked the end of J . W . H . " Doc " Pollard ' s four - year tenure as head coach at Alabama . Pollard ' s teams suffered embarrassing losses to Sewanee and Vanderbilt , but his overall record at Alabama was 21 – 4 – 5 , good for a . 783 percentage that ranks him fifth all - time amongst Alabama coaches , behind Wallace Wade , Frank Thomas , Paul " Bear " Bryant , and current coach Nick Saban ( not counting Allen McCants , who coached and won exactly one game ) . Mississippi dominated play against the Tide but had to settle for a scoreless tie after missing three field goals . Alabama stumbled at the end of their season , tying Tulane and losing to LSU , after team captain Derrill Pratt was ruled ineligible due to " faculty trouble " .