Florida State finds itself on the wrong side of history

Hey, look it's Alabama again. I guess they loved disappointing their fans early in the 1950's. Harold "Red" Drew was still the coach for the Crimson Tide. 1953 was his seventh season as the man in charge. The year before, Alabama went 10-2 and defeated Syracuse in the Orange Bowl and ranked ninth in the final rankings.

They entered the 1953 season ranked fifth in the AP preseason poll. 1953 remains one of the weirdest years in Alabama history. They began the year with an upset loss to Southern Mississippi at home. They lost 25-19 as the Tide gave up 13 fourth-quarter points after leading 19-12. The next week against LSU, Alabama tied the Tigers by a 7-7 score.

After the 0-1-1 start, Alabama fell out of the week one poll that was released on September 28th. Alabama was able to recover in a way by beating Vanderbilt on the road and Tulsa at home over the next two weeks. The team ended the season with a 6-3-3 record. All three times came in SEC contests to LSU, Tennessee, and Mississippi State.

The 4-0-3 conference record was enough for them to win the SEC title. Alabama found themselves ranked a couple more times through the year and eventually, they would end the year ranked 13th in the final AP poll. They would lose to Rice in the Cotton Bowl, 28-6. Below is footage from their 0-0 tie against Tennessee.