“Stanford Made a Mistake in Scoring First; It Just Made Those Alabama Boys Mad”

All this week, BamaCentral will be looking back at Alabama's elaborate history in the Rose Bowl, where the Crimson Tide has only lost once.

One of the greatest quotes about the Alabama Crimson Tide stems from the 1935 Rose Bowl, and was by none other than Will Rogers. 

Obviously, we're not talking about the former Mississippi State quarterback who is in the process of transferring to Washington for a final collegiate season, but by the famous actor, author and performer, who was known for everything from being a cowboy philosopher and humorist/social commentator, to being a famous radio personality. 

“Stanford made a mistake in scoring first," he said. "It just made those Alabama boys mad.”

How many times over the years could that have been used to describe Alabama football? A lot. But now for the perspective: 

In 1934, Alabama was coming off a 7-1-1 season and won the inaugural championship of the new Southeastern Conference, which included Sewanee, Georgia Tech and Tulane. But the team also had an amazing collection of young talent, including fullback Joe Demyanovich, halfback Dixie Howell, end Don Hutson, tackle Bill Lee, quarterback Riley Smith, and a rugged end named Paul W. “Bear” Bryant.

It was easily the best team Frank Thomas had coached so far since taking over the program in 1931, and that was saying something. The Crimson Tide had gone 9-1, 8-2 and 7-1-1 over those first three seasons. 

After opening with a 24-0 victory against Howard, which was coached by former Alabama All-American center Clyde “Shorty” Propst, the Crimson Tide blew through its SEC schedule, with the lone close game a 13-6 victory against Tennessee.

The wins kept piling up, with an impressive season-ending stretch of 40-0 against Clemson, 40-0 at Georgia Tech, and 34-0 vs. Vanderbilt in Birmingham. Consequently, Alabama was headed back to Pasadena to play in the Rose Bowl, but for the first time without Wallace Wade. Thomas pushed all the right buttons to motivate his players, including making sure they knew many sportswriters had declared Minnesota would have been a better choice to face Stanford, and like usual the West Coast team was expected to win.

“I’ll never forget going to the Rose Bowl,” Bryant said. “I remember everything about it. We were on the train and Coach Thomas was talking to three coaches and Red Heard, the athletic trainer at LSU. Coach Thomas said, ‘Red, this is my football player. This is the best player on my team.’ Well shoot, I could have gone right out the top. He was getting me ready, and I was too. I would have gone out there and killed myself for Alabama that day.”

Duly inspired, and aided by scouting reports from former standout Johnny Mack Brown, who was still living and acting in the Los Angeles area, Alabama dominated, 29-13, before a sellout crowd of 84,484.

Rose Bowl archives described the game this way: “Frank Thomas’ Alabama (9-0) brings the first great aerial circus in Rose Bowl history to Pasadena to hand Stanford’s ‘Vow Boys’ (9-0-1) another Rose Bowl defeat, 29-13. The 85,000 spectators are amazed by the soaring footballs propelled by Dixie Howell to Don Hutson. Howell completes nine of 12 passes and averages 44.8 yards with six punts.”

Howell scored two touchdowns, one on a 67-yard run, and passed 59 yards to Hutson for another. He passed for 160 yards and ran for 111 more to be named the game’s most valuable player.

Thomas called Howell’s performance the “greatest I’ve ever seen.”

“That boy has ice water in his veins, if ever a competitive athlete had. I’ve never seen him nervous before, but that morning he couldn’t look at his breakfast, let alone eat it. And he couldn’t eat lunch.”

Alabama had won its fourth national championship by averaging 31.4 points per game while yielding just 4.5. Howell was named SEC player of the year in addition to All-American along with Lee and Hutson, who would go on to revolutionize the National Football League as a wide receiver with the Green Bay Packers.

1934-35 Alabama Crimson Tide

10-0, national, SEC champions

Date, Opponent, Location, Result

Sept. 29: Howard, Tuscaloosa, W 24-0
Oct. 5: Sewanee, Montgomery, W 35-6
Oct. 13: Mississippi State, Tuscaloosa, W 41-0
Oct. 20: Tennessee, Birmingham, W 13-6
Oct. 27: Georgia, Birmingham, W 26-6
Nov. 3: Kentucky, Lexington, W 34-14
Nov. 10: Clemson, Tuscaloosa, W 40-0
Nov. 17: Georgia Tech, Atlanta, W 40-0
Nov. 29: Vanderbilt, Birmingham, W 34-0
Jan. 1, 1935: Stanford, Rose Bowl, W 29-13

Coach: Frank Thomas
Outscored opponents: 316-45
Captain: Bill Lee
All-American: First team — Millard “Dixie” Howell, back; Don Hutson, end; Bill Lee, tackle.
All-SEC (first team): Dixie Howell, halfback; Don Hutson, end; Bill Lee, tackle; Charlie Marr, guard.

Alabama returning from the 1935 Rose Bowl / Bryant Museum

Parts of this story originally appeared in 100 Things Crimson Tide Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die.

This is the fourth story in a series about Alabama's history in the Rose Bowl as in prepares to face Michigan in the CFP semifinal on Jan. 1

Alabama had 'Greatest Swan Song' by a coach in Rose Bowl History