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1953 Alabama

6–⁠3–⁠3 (4–⁠0–⁠3 Southeastern Conference), coached by Red Drew, finished No. 13 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Alabama in 1953, game by game: lost vs. Southern Miss 19–25; tied at LSU 7–7; won at Vanderbilt 21–12; won vs. Tulsa 41–13; tied at Tennessee 0–0; tied vs. Mississippi State 7–7; won at Georgia 33–12; won vs. Chattanooga 21–14; won vs. No. 5 Georgia Tech 13–6; lost at No. 2 Maryland 0–21; won vs. No. 16 Auburn 10–7; lost vs. No. 8 Rice 6–28+28−22Lost 19–25 vs. Southern Miss-6Southern MissTied 7–7 at LSU0LSUWon 21–12 at Vanderbilt+9VanderbiltWon 41–13 vs. Tulsa+28TulsaTied 0–0 at Tennessee0TennesseeTied 7–7 vs. Mississippi State0Mississippi Sta…Won 33–12 at Georgia+21GeorgiaWon 21–14 vs. Chattanooga+7ChattanoogaWon 13–6 vs. No. 5 Georgia Tech+7No. 5 Georgia TechLost 0–21 at No. 2 Maryland-21No. 2 MarylandWon 10–7 vs. No. 16 Auburn+3No. 16 AuburnLost 6–28 vs. No. 8 Rice-22No. 8 Rice
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 18vsSouthern MissL 19–⁠2596%
Sep 26atLSUT 7–⁠746%
Oct 3atVanderbiltW 21–⁠1255%
Oct 10vsTulsaW 41–⁠1362%
Oct 17atTennesseeT 0–⁠050%
Oct 24vsMississippi StateT 7–⁠768%
Oct 31atGeorgiaW 33–⁠1251%
Nov 7vsChattanoogaW 21–⁠1495%
Nov 14vs5Georgia TechW 13–⁠646%
Nov 21at2MarylandL 0–⁠2127%
Nov 28vs16AuburnW 10–⁠761%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs8RiceCotton BowlL 6–⁠2850%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Rice 28–⁠6 in the Cotton Bowl; No. 13 in the final AP poll; Southeastern Conference champions.

In program history: The 77th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 5
  2. Wk 7: 20
  3. Wk 9: 11
  4. Final: 13

Southeastern Conference champions4–⁠0–⁠3 in the conference

Record
6–⁠3–⁠3
Conference
4–⁠0–⁠3 first in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 13 peak No. 5
Points
178–⁠152
Coach
Red Drew
Elo
1632 +10 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
12.6 No. 19 of 110 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Bud Willis

Drafted in 1954

The 1954 draft
Rd 7Sid Youngelman OTSan Francisco 49ers

All-SEC

1 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

  • Ed CulpepperOTUP-2
  • George MasonOTUP-2
  • Ralph CarriganCAP-2; UP-3

From Wikipedia’s 1953 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1953 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Alabama4–⁠0–⁠36–⁠3–⁠313
Georgia Tech4–⁠1–⁠19–⁠2–⁠18
Kentucky4–⁠1–⁠17–⁠2–⁠116
Ole Miss4–⁠1–⁠17–⁠2–⁠1
Auburn4–⁠2–⁠17–⁠3–⁠117
Mississippi State3–⁠1–⁠35–⁠2–⁠3
Tennessee3–⁠2–⁠16–⁠4–⁠1
LSU2–⁠3–⁠35–⁠3–⁠3
Florida1–⁠3–⁠23–⁠5–⁠2
Vanderbilt1–⁠53–⁠7
Georgia1–⁠53–⁠8
Tulane0–⁠71–⁠8–⁠1

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.