Preseason 2001

Has everyone put last season behind you yet? I have, and I'm ready once again for FOOTBALL! Here's some facts to get you going for UCLA on September 1^st.

• Bama's all-time record (on-the-field) at the beginning of the year stands at 745-267-44, a 72.63% winning clip. Not counting the forfeited wins and tie in 1993, Bama's record is 737-276-43. Bama has scored 24,089 points and surrendered 11,151. That's an average game of about 23-11.
• Alabama is 83-20-3 in season openers, a 79.72% winning percentage. The average score for season openers: 29-8 'Bama. In home openers, Bama is 89-14-3 (85.4%), and in Tuscaloosa openers, Bama is 91-11-1 (88.8%; Bama didn't play a game in Tuscaloosa in 1892, 1894, or 1987).
• In season openers played at Tuscaloosa, Alabama is nearly perfect: 41-1-1 (96.5%). The only two blemishes are 1893 (4-0 loss to the Birmingham Athletic Club) and , and 1935 (7-7 tie with Howard). This is only the fifth time since 1940 that Bama will open its season in Tuscaloosa, and the first time since 1998 against BYU.
• Alabama has never played a game on September 1^st. This is the fourth-earliest start to a season in Alabama's history (August 27, 1986; August 30, 1997; August 31, 1996).
• Alabama is 138-34-5 (79.4%) during the month of September.
• Alabama is even in the series against UCLA, 1-1.
• This will be the fourth time that Alabama has played a California team at home; Bama is 1-2 in the previous three games. The win was over Cal, 66-0. The losses were both to USC. Overall, Bama is 8-2-1 against California teams.
• Alabama's record in years ending in 1 is 77-20-7 (77.4%), including the national title years of 1941 and 1961.
• Coaches' records in their first games as Tide coach (counting Eli Abbott's second tenure with the Tide, seven years after the first): 19-5 (79.2%).
• A Bama coach has not started his career in a Tuscaloosa game since Frank Thomas in 1931 (Howard, a 42-0 win). Bama is 14-1 in such games, however.
• And finally, first-year head coaches at Alabama have an overall record of 108-75-6 (58.7%). Below is each coach's first-year record:

2000 UA Football Facts