Alabama Football: Celebration time for Bryant-Denny return

From Alabama Football, there is a new, stirring video defining the Crimson Tide Standard. Narrated by Tide offensive lineman, Chris Owens, Crimson Tide fans are credited as a major factor in Alabama Football success.

No Alabama football fan must be told how special games are at Bryant-Denny. They always have been, even before all Alabama Crimson Tide home games were moved out of Birmingham’s Legion Field. The last Crimson Tide game in Birmingham was the season opener against South Florida on Aug. 30, 2003. Going back to 1927, the Alabama Football record at Legion Field was 160-52-12.

Alabama football teams played on three different campus fields before Denny Stadium was built. Two of those locations were on different spots of what is now the Main Quad. Pre-dating that, some loosely organized football was played on Woods Quad. University Field, later named Denny Field was the Tide’s ‘stadium’ through 1928.

Denny Stadium opened with a 12,000 capacity. The first game was in 1929 against Mississippi College, with a recorded attendance of 6,000. The stadium was not formally dedicated until the following week, the day the Crimson Tide played Ole Miss.

Alabama Football – Lookback in time thanks to Michael Casagrande

Expansions took the capacity to 24,000, 31,000, 43,000, 60,000, 70,000, 84,000, 92,000 and reached a peak of 101, 821. The current capacity is 100,077.

The complete record of the Crimson Tide at  Bryant-Denny Stadium is 277-54-3. Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant coached 74 games in Denny Stadium, winning all but two for a 97.3 win percentage. The Alabama Football, Bryant-Denny record under Nick Saban is 88-8, for a 91.7 win percentage. Going back to the 2013 season, the Tide’s Bryant-Denny record is 52-2, for a 96.3 win percentage.

The winning percentages for Bryant and Saban cannot be fairly compared. In the Bear Bryant era of Alabama Football, most big games were played in Birmingham. Bryant’s teams won 57 straight games in Tuscaloosa from 1963 into 1982, but overall against less tough opponents than Saban era, Tuscaloosa games.

Fans of other college football programs can argue their campus locations are better than the University of Alabama. There are so many wonderful campus settings, there is no reason for Crimson Tide fans to take offense.

Bryant-Denny, the Quad, the campus, the Strip and downtown spots make Tuscaloosa a special place for a college football game. That those environs are the home of the greatest program in college football history makes attending Bryant-Denny games, must-be-there events. Even when the opponent is an outmatched FCS team.

All the win numbers cited above will increase Saturday before the sun sets across a west Alabama sky. Mercer will be glad when it is over.