Georgia Tech: 7
Alabama: 20

Fresh off of a stunning 30-13 upset of 14th ranked Tennessee, the Yellow Jackets headed to Birmingham to face the Alabama Crimson Tide at Legion Field. After dropping its first two games to Tulane and Vanderbilt, Bama collected itself to improve to 3-2-1 before the contest with the Jackets. With Tech still playing without its star quarterback Jim Southard, Bama was a favorite to beat her opponent and add to her winning streak.

Each squad had a chance to get on the board in the opening period but failed to do so. The Tide moved to the Yellow Jacket 20 yard line on the opening possession before a 15 yard penalty put an end to the march. Later in the period, Tech’s Jimmy Jordan broke loose on a punt return, but was dropped on a shoe string tackle by Herb Hanna that saved a touchdown. The Jackets still managed to advance to the Alabama two yard line, but three runs lost four yards and Darrell Crawford overthrew John O’Neill in the end zone to turn the ball over on downs.

The Jackets cracked the scoreboard in the second quarter after Robert McCoy intercepted Ed Salem’s pass and returned it 21 yards to the Crimson Tide 32 yard line. Buster Humphreys threw incomplete on first down, but found Dick Harvin for the score one play later when Harvin made a leaping catch in the end zone.

Neither team threatened again before halftime and Tech held a 7-0 lead at the break.

Misfortune struck the Jackets at the start of the third quarter when Humphreys lost a fumble to Bill Theris at the Yellow Jacket 38 yard line. Salem took a pitch 28 yards to the Ramblin’ Wreck 10 to setup his tying touchdown run to make it 7-7 just under two minutes into the half.

Bama took the lead late in the quarter after taking over on a punt at the Yellow Jacket 35 yard line. Tom Calvin gained a first down to the 25 before Butch Avinger found Al Lary for a 25 yard touchdown pass to go ahead 14-7.

The Tide iced the game late in the fourth quarter after Jack Brown intercepted a Yellow Jacket pass and returned it 24 yards to the Tech 37. Calvin and Lary marched the Tide towards the Tech end zone and Salem punched it in from three yards out to seal the victory. The junior halfback missed the extra point though, and Alabama would go on to win 20-7.

The victory over the Jackets extended the Alabama winning streak to three games, and the Tide would win two more before finally falling to Auburn in the season finale to finish at 6-3-1 overall.

Statistics:

First Downs:
GT – 14
ALA – 6

Rushing Yards:
GT – 87
ALA – 229

Passing (Comp-Att-Yds):
GT – 5-15-50
ALA – 7-15-62

Fumbles (Total-Lost):
GT – 2-2
ALA – 1-0

Interceptions thrown:
GT – 1
ALA – 2

Penalties (Total-Yards):
GT – 3-25
ALA – 5-65

References:
Bradberry, John. “Tide Turns On Tech, 20-7.” The Atlanta Constitution. 1949 Nov. 13
Ticket courtesy of Tom Brakefield, Birmingham, Alabama