The most disappointing Alabama Crimson Tide loss to Tennessee happened in ...

There have been two periods when Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Tennessee games created the South's greatest football rivalry. The first greatest rivalry period matched Alabama coaches, Wallace Wade and Frank Thomas against Tennessee's General Robert Neyland. Paul Bryant understood the magnitude of the rivalry when he played for Frank Thomas against the Vols; with a broken leg. After the game, Bryant deflected attention from any heroism being assigned to him by saying it was just a little old fracture.

In the second period of the South's greatest rivalry, Bryant was the Alabama coach. In the 1960s Bryant led the Crimson Tide to three National Championships. Every Alabama old-timer knows the three not being four National Championships was a robbery.

In the 1961 through 1966 Alabama Crimson Tide seasons, Bryant led Bama to a 60-5-1 record. Alabama opened the 1965 season as the defending National Champion. The season opener was against Georgia in Athens. On the scoreboard the Bulldogs won, but the winning play should have been blown dead when the first receiver on a Bulldog flea-flicker play caught the ball with his knee clearly down on Sanford Stadium grass. Alabama was undefeated for the remainder of the 1965 season, beating Nebraska in the Orange Bowl.

An 11-0 1966 season pushed the Crimson Tide's unbeaten streak to 21 games. The streak grew to 25 straight in the 1967 season. In the pre-Bobby Bowden years for Florida State, a bad FSU nearly beat Alabama in the opening game of the 1967 season. In one of the poorest performances of Bryant's 25 Alabama coaching seasons, the Crimson Tide held on to tie FSU, 37-37.

After the Florida State game, three 1967 wins had given the Crimson Tide a 25-game unbeaten streak. At Legion Field, on Oct. 21, 1967, the Tennessee Vols ended Alabama's unbeaten streak. Having a rival end a run of such success was bad enough. Making it more painful for Alabama football fans were the game's odd circumstances.

Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Tennessee Vols Oct. 21, 1967

The Crimson Tide was on a six-game unbeaten streak against the Vols. Tennessee had to play with a little-used and little-respected third-team quarterback. One of Tennessee coach, Doug Dickey's best offensive weapons had been an Alabama high school star who turned down a scholarship offer from Bryant. He was Richmond Flowers Jr., son of then Alabama Attorney General, Richard Flowers Sr. Senior, and Junior were vilified by some Alabama fans after the young man took his blazing speed to Knoxville. Flowers Sr. was a political moderate, not in favor with entrenched Alabama segregationists. The civil rights struggle was the same in Tennessee but the younger Flowers later said joining the Vols was partly to get away from the anger some in the state of Alabama held for his father.

Tennessee, ranked No. 7, beat No. 6 ranked Alabama 24-13 to win the 1967 game. Richmond Flowers Jr. caught six passes. Two Kenny Stabler passes went off the hands of Alabama receivers Dennis Homan and Danny Ford (the same Danny Ford who later coached Clemson to a National Championship). The missed catches were gobbled up by Albert Dorsey, who had three interceptions of Stabler passes in the game. Dorsey returned one of the picks for a touchdown. Stabler was intercepted a total of five times.

A more detailed and superbly written story about the game was published by Sports Illustrated.