Alabama vs. Rice
Friday, January 1, 1954, Cotton Bowl Share
No. 8 Rice beat Alabama 28–6. It was their first meeting; after it, Rice led the series 1–0.
FinalTV: NBCAttendance 75,504Referee: Cliff Shaw (SWC; split crew: SWC, SEC)
MVPs Richard Chapman (Rice); Dan Hart (Rice); Dickey Maegle (Rice)Wikipedia
On the newsreel
- COTTON BOWLRice defeats Alabama, 28-6, but the highlight of the game is a sensational tackle by Alabama's quarterback Tommy Lewis, made from the bench to down touchdown bound Dicky Moegle.
Universal Newsreel, National Archives (catalog record). Story titles and words as Universal’s release sheet gives them; the films themselves may still be under copyright, so we link to the record rather than show them.
Before kickoff
Our ratings going in
Our ratings (scores only)
Alabama 50% to win. Rice won as Elo’s underdog.
The series
Every Alabama–Rice gameRice leads 3–0 in three meetings, counting the two since this game.
| 1956 | Rice 20, Alabama 13 | |
| 1955 | Rice 20, Alabama 0 | |
| 1953 | Rice 28, Alabama 6 | Cotton Bowl |
Around this game
Alabama
- Next gamevs. Southern MissSept. 17, 1954
- SeasonAlabama in 1953
- ProgramAlabama history and records
Rice
- Next gamevs. FloridaSept. 18, 1954
- SeasonRice in 1953
- ProgramRice history and records