1922 Alabama vs. Penn football game

The 1922 Alabama vs. Pennsylvania football game, played November 4, 1922, was a college football game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and Penn Quakers. Beating one of the "big 4" Ivy League institutions in a major upset, it is considered one of the most important wins in Alabama football history,^[1][2] giving the team some of its first national recognition.^[3][4] One writer called the game the hardest fought battle on Penn's field in seven years.^[5]

1922 Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Penn Quakers football game
Alabama Crimson Tide Penn Quakers (2–2–1) (5–0) 9 7 Head coach:  Xen C. Scott Head coach:  John Heisman
1 2 3 4 Total Alabama 0 3 6 0 9 Penn 0 7 0 0 7
Date	November 4, 1922
Season	1922
Stadium	Franklin Field
Location	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Referee	E. J. O'Brien
Attendance	20,000

Background

It was the second game at the newly renovated Franklin Field; the first an important victory for Penn over Navy.^[6]

John Heisman's Penn team was highly favored. Noted sports columnist Grantland Rice predicted a 21–0 Quaker victory.^[7]

Game details

Alabama quarterback Charles Bartlett set up the winning touchdown with a dash from the 35-yard line to the 6.^[5] College Football Hall of Fame inductee Pooley Hubert was a freshman at fullback.

Aftermath

After the game, when the news reached Tuscaloosa, "they started burning red fires and celebrating in a manner that Tuscaloosa had never seen before in its history."^[8]

Bartlett received Walter Camp's All-America honorable mention,^[9]

References

1. "Alabama vs Pennsylvania". Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
2. Bridget Heos (July 15, 2013). Alabama Football. The Rosen Publishing Group. p. 39. ISBN 9781448894161.
3. Lewis Bowling (2012). Alabama Football Tales: More Than a Century of Crimson Tide Glory. History Press. p. 14. ISBN 9781609497224.
4. Eric Bain-Selbo (2009). Game Day and God. Mercer University Press. p. 137. ISBN 9780881461558.
5. "Pennsy Beaten By Alabama In Spirited Game". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. November 5, 1922. Retrieved April 21, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "Alabama's Eleven Humbles Old Penn". The New York Times. November 5, 1922. p. 25. Retrieved April 21, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
7. Kordic, Gregory (2007). A Damn Good Yankee: Xen Scott and the Rise of the Crimson Tide. Bloomington, Indiana: AuthorHouse. pp. 1–9. ISBN 978-1-4259-6018-6.
8. Fuzzy Woodruff. History of Southern Football. Vol. 2. p. 210.
9. "Camp's All America Stars Show Why They Are Winners; Have Brains, Power, Spirit". Harrisburg Telegraph. December 26, 1922. p. 15. Retrieved March 8, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.