Alabama Football: The Historical Third Saturday in October

Alabama football and the Tennessee Volunteers share one of the most historical rivalries in college football.

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The Alabama Crimson Tide currently holds a 10-game winning streak within the ‘Third Saturday in October’ rivalry. Over the past ten years, Alabama has outscored Tennessee by a total of 351-119. Be that as it may, the Third Saturday in October was once a crucial game for the Alabama football program.

The rivalry began in 1901. The Alabama Crimson Tide was victorious in eight of the first ten match-ups, and did not allow the Tennessee Volunteers to score one touchdown. In 1928, the rivalry was resurrected by Tennessee’s Robert Neyland.

The head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide, Frank Thomas, and General Neyland battled it out from 1931 to 1946. For the most part, the rivalry went both ways and neither team held a significant streak.

In 1955, the Tennessee Volunteers began one of the most important winning streaks of all time. For lack of a better term, the Volunteers dominated the Crimson Tide. Alabama didn’t score a touchdown for three straight series. This led to the coaching change that was heard around the world.

Paul “Bear” Bryant became the head coach of the Crimson Tide in 1958. A few years later, the Third Saturday in October rivalry was changed forever. From 1961 to 1981, except for four years, Alabama was victorious over Tennessee. The Crimson Tide then began an 11-game winning streak in 1971.

The streak was ended in 1982 by Tennessee’s Johnny Majors, but was quickly recaptured by Ray Perkins and the Crimson Tide in 1986.

The rivalry began as a stepping stone for General Neyland and his Volunteers. The purpose of the match-up was to challenge the Crimson Tide for their pinnacle position on top of the Southeastern Conference.

History has shown that challenging Alabama has done everything but help Tennessee obtain the crown jewels of the SEC. The Crimson Tide’s SEC Championships double that of the Volunteers.

The Cigars

The wining team of the Third Saturday in October rivalry celebrates with victory cigars. This event began in the 1950s when Alabama’s athletic trainer, Jim Goostree, would hand out cigars to the Crimson Tide players as a celebration token for beating the Volunteers.

As one would think, publicly giving tobacco products to students as gifts would be a sight. That’s why the Crimson Tide kept the post-game celebration out of view. The Tennessee Volunteers quickly caught on to the victory cigars, and began to also express the tradition.

Alabama began to publicly acknowledge the cigars in 2005. Since then, the winning team purposely abuses the NCAA rules, and writes off the infringement as a traditional privilege.

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Today’s Rivalry

In 1995, Tennessee regained victory. Philip Fulmer led the Volunteers to a 7-game winning streak. From 1995 to 2006, the Alabama Crimson Tide were only victorious in two games. Inside this Tennessee streak lies one of the most incredible games of the series.

Mike Shula and Brodie Croyle guided Alabama to an unbelievable match-up against Tennessee. The Crimson Tide and the Volunteers battled for four quarters and five consecutive overtimes in 2003. The Volunteer’s quarterback, Casey Clausen, put the game to rest in the fifth overtime.

In 2007, Nick Saban was hired as the head coach of the Crimson Tide. Since that hiring, Alabama has dominated the Volunteers. The Crimson Tide currently holds a 10-game winning streak, and looks to tie the all-time rivalry record of 11 wins, this coming Saturday.

The majority of the past ten Third Saturdays in October have resulted in Alabama blowouts, but one does stand out from the rest. In 2009, the Crimson Tide survived the Volunteers by the tips of their fingers. After a low-scoring match-up, Tennessee was preparing to kick a short field goal to upset No. 1 Alabama by a modest score of 13-12.

Terrence Cody, known as Mount Cody to Alabama fans, blocked the field goal and gained Alabama’s victory. The Crimson Tide won by the score of 12-10. This unpredicted and substantial victory helped Alabama go on to win the 2009 BCS National Championship.

Next: Alabama v. Tennessee: What Rivalry?

One could argue that the Third Saturday in October rivalry has lacked competition over the past ten years; nevertheless, it is full of rich and momentous history. The Alabama Crimson Tide and the Tennessee Volunteers will meet for the 100th time this Saturday.