1915 Alabama Crimson Tide football team

The 1915 Alabama Crimson Tide football team (variously "Alabama", "UA" or "Bama") represented the University of Alabama in the 1915 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football season. It was the Crimson Tide's 23rd overall and 20th season as a member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA). The team was led by head coach Thomas Kelley, in his first year. It was in 1915 Alabama moved its on campus home games from The Quad, where all on-campus home games had been played since 1893, and to a new location, University Field (later renamed Denny Field in honor of school president George Denny in 1920). Home games were also played at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama. They finished the season with an overall record of 6–2 record and mark of 5–0 in the SIAA.

1915 Alabama Crimson Tide football
ConferenceSouthern Intercollegiate Athletic Association
Record6–2 (5–0 SIAA)
Head coach
CaptainWilliam L. Harsh
Home stadiumUniversity Field
Rickwood Field
1915 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L TW L T
Vanderbilt $ 5 –0 –09 –1 –0
Alabama 5 –0 –06 –2 –0
LSU 4 –0 –06 –2 –0
Transylvania 3 –0 –17 –1 –1
Auburn 5 –1 –06 –2 –0
Georgia 3 –1 –15 –2 –2
Chattanooga 3 –1 –25 –2 –2
Mississippi A&M 4 –2 –15 –2 –1
Kentucky 2 –1 –16 –1 –1
Florida 3 –3 –04 –3 –0
Clemson 2 –2 –12 –4 –2
South Carolina 1 –1 –15 –3 –1
Furman 1 –1 –05 –3 –0
Mercer 2 –3 –05 –4 –0
Mississippi College 2 –3 –04 –4 –1
The Citadel 1 –2 –05 –3 –0
Sewanee 1 –2 –24 –3 –2
Tennessee 1 –4 –04 –4 –0
Tulane 1 –4 –04 –4 –0
Centre 0 –3 –13 –5 –1
Louisville 0 –3 –11 –5 –1
Howard (AL) 0 –3 –03 –4 –1
Wofford 0 –3 –03 –5 –0
Ole Miss 0 –5 –02 –6 –0
  • $ – Conference champion

William T. "Bully" Van de Graaff, who punted, kicked, and played tackle, was named Alabama's first All-American in 1915, when was selected second-team All-America by Walter Camp.[1]

Alabama opened the season 5-0 with four shutout victories and a 23-10 win over Sewanee. Against Mississippi College Van de Graaff kicked four field goals and missed a fifth from 54 yards out when the ball hit the upright.[2] The victory over Sewanee was the first for Alabama in that series since 1894. Alabama led the Tigers 10–0 at the half and continued to lead by that score after Sewanee marched inside the Alabama 20 four times in the third but came away with no points. The Tigers finally scored a touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter, then blocked a punt and kicked a field goal to tie the game 10–10. However, Van de Graff knocked the ball out of a Sewanee player's hand and ran it back 65 yards for a touchdown, then tacked on two more field goals as the Tide beat the Tigers for only the second time in 12 meetings.[3]

Coach Kelley was hospitalized with typhoid fever two days prior to the Tulane game, and as a result missed the last five games of the season. Athletic director B. L. Noojin and former quarterback Farley Moody then served as co-head coaches for the remainder of the season.[2] The 1915 season in its entirety is still officially credited to Kelley.[4]

Schedule
DateOpponentSiteResultSource
October 2Howard (AL)
W 44–0[5]
October 9Birmingham*
  • University Field
  • Tuscaloosa, AL
W 67–0[6]
October 16Mississippi College
  • University Field
  • Tuscaloosa, AL
W 40–0[7]
October 23Tulane
  • University Field
  • Tuscaloosa, AL
W 16–0[8]
October 30Sewanee
W 23–10[9]
November 6at Georgia Tech*
L 7–21[10]
November 13at Texas*
L 0–20[11]
November 25Ole Miss
  • Rickwood Field
  • Birmingham, AL (rivalry)
W 53–0[12]
  • *Non-conference game

[13]

Awards

William T. Van de Graaff was selected to the 1915 College Football All-America Team. His selection was the first ever for an Alabama football player.[14]

References

General

  • "1915 Season Recap" (PDF). RollTide.com. University of Alabama Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 25, 2014. Retrieved February 27, 2012.

Specific

  1. Bully Van de Graaff's Alabama Sports Hall of Fame bio
  2. 1914 Season Recap
  3. "1915 game recaps" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 4, 2012. Retrieved September 17, 2012.
  4. DeLassus, David. "Thomas Kelley: Coaching Records Game-by-Game (1915)". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved February 28, 2012.
  5. "Alabama boys go roughshod over Howard". The Birmingham News. October 3, 1915. Retrieved February 17, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. "Alabama rides to victory over Owenton boys". The Birmingham News. October 10, 1915. Retrieved February 17, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "The Alabama squad dazzles rivals by its wonderful offense". The Birmingham News. October 17, 1915. Retrieved February 17, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. "Alabama is held to 1 touchdown by Tulane". The Montgomery Advertiser. October 24, 1915. Retrieved February 17, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "Sewanee Tigers outplayed by Alabama and lose, 23–10". Chattanooga Daily Times. October 31, 1915. Retrieved February 17, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. "Jackets humble Alabama". The Atlanta Constitution. November 7, 1915. Retrieved February 17, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. "Longhorns in great form, sweep Alabamians off feet, winning game with straight football, 20 to 0". The Austin American. November 14, 1915. Retrieved February 17, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. "Alabama wins by huge score over "Ole Miss"". The Birmingham News. November 26, 1915. Retrieved February 17, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. "1915 Alabama football archive". RollTide.com. University of Alabama Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
  14. Reed, Delbert (March 24, 1963). "Great is Van de Graaff". The Tuscaloosa News. Google News. p. 9. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
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