Alabama at Auburn

• 

  The Birmingham age-herald, Alabama, October 19, 1902, page 1

  Read the text

  Men From Tuscaloosa Fail to Make Any Impression on the Tiger LineandLOse by Score of 23 to 0. Allison Makes Star Play of the Game by Seventy-fve Yard Run and Touch Down on a Buck Through Center. uA ETH the shrill blast of the ref kM eree’s whistle a doughty Auburn HW leg sent the pigskin whirling into Alabama territory. and for two hours it lowered around the goal of the crimson and white with the university men hope lessly at the mercy of the tiger-striped lads from the village of the plains. Score Auburn g, University O. Again and again the wearers of the Ala bama colors made mad plunges at the orange and blue line. only to be thrown back and forced to surrender the ball or kick 1t into Auburn’s end of the field. Near unto 500 admirers of the red-striped giants for awhile sat stupefied and with painful expressions listened to the exul- tant yells from their rival rooters. As the Auburn men began a series of plunges through the line of the beloved varsity, the dismay deepened, and as it gradually dawned upon them that Alabama’s task was hopeless, they drifted into state of resigned silence, and the final score of 2S to was not unexpected. University Had No Chance. From the moment the first toe struck the pigskin it was evident that Tusca- loosa had no chance, and the much vaunted predictions that for the first time in seven. xears, the crimson and white would vanquish the lads from Auburn were cast to the forewinds. The univer- sity eleven showed 8 woefui lack of team work, and not for a single moment did they show any effort at ingenuity. From the start they played straight, old style football, and depended entirely on main strength and awkwardness to make an v road into the stone-wall formation of their lighter but wiry opponents. They were painfully slow in getting the ball into play, and Auburn had every oppor- tunity to prepare for any offensive action. Further to the disadvantage of defenders of the university’s honor the backs were slow to take the ball from the quarter, and frequent fumbles resulted. A little hard work would straighten out the var sity’s miscomings, and with the strong material they have at hand a formidable team could be put on the field. Auburn played clean, snappy ball. and much credit Is due young Zac Smith for bis head work in the various formations when long gains were needed. The line work of the orange and blue was excel lent and their offensive plays against the line by tandem bucks was the best seen in Birmingham for several years. The h. reference was almost beyond criticism, and if the Auburn lads can continue to protect the ball with such precision in the future the goals of many southern teams will be in danger. Auburn’s Only Fault. The only fault the experts and alumni of the Tigers” could find with their play was the s1owness in getting the ball into play, though this was not noticeable to the ordinary observer, as Alabamas work afforded no comparison. Smith will make the best quarter back Auburn has ever turned out if he will be a trife quicker in calling signals. He handles the ball in a masterly style, free from fumbles, and his interference is of the highest order. It has always been Au- burns custom to begin the signal before the players arise from the scrimmage. and by the time the men are m place the ball is gone. This method has run sev- eral teams off their feet, and the old Au- burn players say young Smsc1 will see its advantages before many moons and lead Auburn through series of victories. Captain Smiths many friends in Bir- mingham are proud of his athletic achievements and look to him to maintain against Sewanee and the University Of Georgia. To the happy surprise of the alumni, Coaches Kent and Harvey or Auburn have developed some great football tim Der, and in Lay, Allison, Webb, Mitchell, Smith, Patterson and others they have tower of strength. Stokes and Eichel- berger were not used yesterday and the strength of these two men is not known here pxpqnt from mast records. FtVprVhodv knows Bill Stokes of the famous 97 team. but Eichelberger is a new conner, though the advance notices proclaim him a wonder. Allison the Star Runner. Webb. Lay and Mitchell made some beautiful gains yesterday, put 1t was left for Allison to wear the laurel wreath. as he made himself solid in the hearts Of the Birmingham enthusiasts by 75-yard run for a touchdown. The opportunity came on tandem play through right tackle. and the fleet fu-iback, after handing two, varsity men the ‘‘stlff arm,’‘ fitted across the field for a touchdown. The next spectacular performance was by Stickney of the University of Ala bama. who went through left tackle on a hard buck for fifteen yards and but for the nice tackle of Smith would have scored touchdown. Long ere the game had been called the crowd began pouring into the park, and by o’clock something over two thous- and persons had passed around the en- closure. The spectators filled the bleach- CTS, and the smoker and the thirty third degree rooters contented themselves with standing around the enclosure and keep ing the air vibrating with college yells As the Auburn sponsors drove upon the field a lusty roar came from the orange and blue quarters only to be answered by

Public-domain newspapers from the Library of Congress’s Chronicling America, found through the American Stories dataset (Dell and Harvard, CC BY 4.0). The text is the machine reading of the page, mistakes and all.

Officially, Alabama leads 52–⁠37–⁠1; as played, 51–⁠32–⁠1 in the 84 games on file; the official count covers all 90 meetings, counting the 83 since this game.