Remember the Rose Bowl: Tracing Alabama’s storied football history in Pasadena

Published Dec. 10, 2023, 6:00 a.m.
By Creg Stephenson |
When Alabama suits up for the Jan. 1 Rose Bowl vs. Michigan, it will mark the first time the Crimson Tide has played in Pasadena since 2010 and the first time it has played in the actual Rose Bowl game in California in nearly 80 years.
Alabama has a somewhat brief history in the Rose Bowl, but an illustrious one nonetheless. One could argue that the Crimson Tide became a national power based on its exploits in the Rose Bowl, and it also kickstarted a dynasty that still survives in that venerable stadium in suburban Los Angeles.
Here’s a quick recap of Alabama’s eight previous visits to the Rose Bowl (the stadium, not necessarily the game).
(NOTE: This list does not include the 2021 Rose Bowl game, in which Alabama beat Notre Dame 31-14 in a College Football Playoff semifinal. That game was played in Arlington, Texas, due to the COVID pandemic).
1. Alabama 20, Washington 19 (Jan. 1, 1926)
Southern college football in general, and the Crimson Tide in particular, became a national brand largely based on this game. Alabama was 9-0 coming into the 1926 Rose Bowl, having allowed only seven points all season. Washington, led by All-America halfback George “Wildcat” Wilson, was 10-0-1, having won games by scores such as 108-0, 80-7, 64-2 and 59-0. Wilson and the Huskies led 12-0 at halftime, but the Crimson Tide scored 20 points in the third quarter — two of them on long touchdown catches by future cowboy movie star Johnny Mack Brown — to take the lead for good. Though the national media polls didn’t start up until nearly a decade later, Alabama would retroactively claim its first national championship for this season. (We covered this game and its legacy in great detail some years ago. You can read that story HERE.)
2. Alabama 7, Stanford 7 (Jan. 1, 1927)
Though not quite as dominant as in the previous year, coach Wallace Wade and Alabama again went unbeaten in 1926 and again received an invitation to the Rose Bowl. Its opponent was Stanford, 10-0 and in the Rose Bowl for the second time in three years. United Press referred to the 1927 Rose Bowl as the “football championship game of America,” though again that was an unofficial designation at the time. The game itself was something of a slog, as Stanford scored a touchdown in the first quarter to go up 7-0. That lead held until the fourth, when Alabama blocked a field goal and took over at the Stanford 14. Shortly thereafter, Jimmy Johnson crashed into the end zone from a yard away and Herschel Caldwell kicked the extra point to tie the game. The two-point conversion would not be added until 1958, so the game ended in a rather unsatisfying deadlock. Alabama also later claimed a national championship for this season.
3. Alabama 24, Washington State 0 (Jan. 1, 1931)
The next three Alabama teams were nothing special, combining to go just 15-10-1 and sit home for the postseason. But Wade had another juggernaut in 1930, a team that rolled through its schedule unbeaten and having allowed just 13 points. Led by two-time All-America lineman Fred Sington and a loaded backfield that included fullback Johnny “Hurry” Cain and halfback John Suther, the Crimson Tide made short work of the unbeaten Cougars, who were playing in the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1916. Alabama scored three touchdowns in the second quarter to make this one a laugher. Alabama also picked up a national championship for this game, which was the last with Wade as head coach. He left Tuscaloosa in a power struggle with school president George “Mike” Denny, and wound up at Duke. Wade coached the Blue Devils to the Rose Bowl after the 1939 and 1942 seasons, and the school later named its stadium after him.
4. Alabama 29, Stanford 13 (Jan. 1, 1935)
Former Notre Dame quarterback and Georgia assistant Frank Thomas replaced Wade at Alabama in 1931, but wouldn’t get the Crimson Tide back to Pasadena until his fourth season. Perhaps the finest Alabama team in history up to that point rolled into the Rose Bowl at 9-0, led by All-Americans Dixie Howell at halfback, Bill Lee at tackle and Don Hutson at end. (As many know, the “other” end on that team was one Paul “Bear” Bryant). Stanford had another fine team at 9-0-1, and took a 7-0 lead after one quarter. It was in the second quarter that Alabama took over, as Howell ran for two touchdowns and Hutson caught a 54-yard score. After Stanford cut the lead to 22-13 in the third, Howell connected with Hutson on a 59-yard touchdown that put the game away. Alabama claimed a fourth national championship based on this victory, one of seven Bryant would win as a player or coach. (You can read more about Don Hutson, arguably the greatest player of the pre-World War II era, HERE).
5. California 13, Alabama 0 (Jan. 1, 1938)
Alabama has lost only one Rose Bowl, and only twice has been shut out in a bowl game — this one and the 1959 Liberty Bowl. Thomas’ 1937 team — led by All-America guard Leroy Monsky — was undefeated at 9-0 and had secured its third SEC championship in five years. Stub Allison’s California team was a true West Coast powerhouse, having allowed just 33 points all season and with a scoreless tie vs. Washington the only blemish on its record. All-America halfback Vic Bottari scored both touchdowns for the Golden Bears, who had finished second to Pittsburgh in the final national rankings, which were released prior to the bowl games that year. (The Panthers players turned down the Rose Bowl invitation, thus becoming the first team to do so.) Other bowls such as the Sugar, Cotton and Orange had come onto the scene by this time, and World War II soon after disrupted college football as it did many other facets of life. Thus, Alabama wouldn’t return to Pasadena for another eight years.
6. Alabama 34, USC 14 (Jan. 1, 1946)
After the 1943 season was canceled due to the war, Alabama had fielded a team mostly of freshmen and sophomores the following year. Known as the “War Babies,” the Crimson Tide put it all together in 1945. With superstar Harry Gilmer at the controls and halfback Lowell Tew and center Vaughn Mancha also on-hand, Alabama averaged 44 points per game during the 1945 regular season, an astounding total for the time. USC was champion of the Pacific Coast Conference, but had just a 7-3 overall record. As you might expect, the game was a mismatch. Hal Self scored two touchdowns and Gilmer, Tew and Norwood Hodges scored one each as the Crimson Tide built a 34-0 lead by early in the fourth quarter. The Trojans managed just 41 yards of offense before tacking on two late touchdowns — one on a blocked punt. Alabama was once again undefeated, but was denied a national championship in favor of unbeaten Army. Thomas coached one more season at Alabama before health issues caused him to step down. The 1946 Rose Bowl would be the last for Alabama in Pasadena until this season and the last for any southern team until 2002, as the Big Ten and PCC (the progenitor of the Pac-8/Pac-10/Pac-12) entered into an exclusive agreement to match their champions in the Rose Bowl beginning with the 1947 game. That arrangement would last until 1998, when the Bowl Championship Series began rotating the national championship between different bowl games and did away with exclusive tie-ins for conferences.
7. UCLA 35, Alabama 24 (Sept. 2, 2000)
Alabama couldn’t play in the Rose Bowl game anymore, but it did play once in the Rose Bowl stadium during the regular season as part of a home-and-home arrangement with UCLA. It was a highly anticipated game to say the least, not only because the Crimson Tide hadn’t played in Pasadena in more than 50 years, but also because Alabama was the defending SEC champion and was ranked No. 3 nationally heading into the 2000 season. The game started out great for the Crimson Tide, as Freddie Milons returned a punt for a touchdown just 75 seconds into the first quarter. It was all downhill from there, however, as UCLA’s Deshaun Foster rushed for 187 yards and three touchdowns on 42 carries and the Bruins ground out the victory (Alabama did take a brief 24-21 lead in the third quarter following an interception return for a touchdown by Reggie Myles, but UCLA dominated the rest of the way). The lackluster effort was a sign of things to come for Alabama, which went on to finish 3-8 that season, resulting in the firing of coach Mike DuBose. UCLA was not that much better at 6-6. The teams played in Tuscaloosa to begin the 2001 season, with the Bruins again emerging victorious, 20-17.
8. Alabama 37, Texas 21 (Jan. 7, 2010)
It wasn’t technically the Rose Bowl game (Oregon and Ohio State had played in that six days prior), but it was the Rose Bowl stadium, and everything was on the line this time. The BCS national championship rotated between various bowl sites in those days, meaning cities would host both their regular bowl game on or around New Year’s Day and then the title game several days later. Alabama came in undefeated and ranked No. 1 in its third season under Nick Saban, having dispatched longtime nemesis Florida 32-13 in the SEC championship game. Texas, also unbeaten and ranked No. 2, had squeaked past Nebraska 13-12 in the Big 12 title game. The Longhorns led 6-0 early, but an injury to quarterback Colt McCoy opened the door for the Crimson Tide to storm through and build a 24-6 lead by halftime. Texas cut the lead to 24-21 behind freshman quarterback Garrett Gilbert, but Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram and Alabama tacked on two late touchdowns to secure the Crimson Tide’s first national championship in 17 years and first of six (and counting) under Saban.
So there you have it. Alabama is 5-2-1 in games played in Pasadena.
We’ll find out Jan. 1 if the Crimson Tide can add to its illustrious history at the Rose Bowl.