1921 Alabama Crimson Tide football team  The 1921 Alabama Crimson Tide football team (variously "Alabama", "UA" or "Bama") represented the University of Alabama in the 1921 college football season. It was the Crimson Tide's 28th overall and 25th season as a member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA). The team was led by head coach Xen C. Scott, in his third year, and played their home games at Denny Field in Tuscaloosa and at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama. They finished the season with a record of five wins, four losses and two ties (5–4–2 overall, 2–4–2 in the SIAA). In the opener, Alabama spotted a 14–0 first-quarter lead before they rallied and won, 34–14. After a victory over Spring Hill in their second game, the Crimson Tide outscored Marion Military Institute and Bryson College by a combined 150–0 over their next two games en route to a 4–0 start to open the season. The fast start did not translate to winning for the remainder of the season as they lost four of their next five games. In their first Rickwood Field game of the season, the Crimson Tide was shut out by Sewanee and followed the loss with a tie against LSU in their first road game of the season at New Orleans. Alabama returned to Rickwood in their next game, where they were shut out by Vanderbilt, followed by losses to Florida on homecoming in Tuscaloosa and then to Georgia at Atlanta. After they tied Mississippi A&M in their final home game of the year, Alabama upset Tulane at New Orleans and prevented their first losing season since 1903. As they had lost several starters from the previous season, Alabama entered their season opener against Howard (now known as Samford University) with much uncertainty. Against the Bulldogs, the Crimson Tide trailed 14–0 after the first quarter, but rallied with 34 unanswered points and won 34–14. Early in the first, Howard scored both of their touchdowns on fumble returns on successive Alabama possessions; the first came on a 60-yard and second on a 30-yard return. The 14–0 deficit marked the first time Alabama ever trailed Howard at the end of the first quarter in the history of their series. Alabama responded in the second with a pair of 25-yard touchdown runs first by Lelias Kirby and then by Max Rosenfeld that made the halftime score 14–13. The Crimson Tide then closed the game with three touchdowns in the third quarter that made the final score 34–14.