Examining the history of the Third Saturday in October

No. 7 Alabama and No. 11 Tennessee renew their rivalry this weekend in a marquee SEC matchup in Neyland Stadium. The game already has huge stakes, with SEC championship and College Football Playoff chances set to be greatly affected by the outcome.

But this rivalry is huge regardless of what the postseason stakes are. Having first met in 1901 and meeting every year since 1929, Alabama and Tennessee have one of the best rivalries in college football. So in honor of this weekend’s game, let’s take a look back and examine how this rivalry became what it is today.

The Name

The Alabama-Tennessee rivalry is unique in that it’s widely known not by a nickname, but by a date.

Many of the best rivalries in the sport have a nickname, the Iron Bowl, the Egg Bowl, the Red River Shootout, an so on. But when the nickname of this rivalry is simply the Third Saturday in October.

Starting in 1928, that began to be the date the game was played on annually. As that trend continued, it adopted its nickname in 1939, and has been known by that ever since. The game was always schedule on the third Saturday in October without fail until 1992.

Since then, there have been a few instances where the scheduling hasn’t lined up with the game’s nickname, but the SEC scheduling office has mostly done well lining the game up with the proper date.

The Tradition

One of the best parts about college football is the traditions, and the Third Saturday in October has an incredibly unique one. The winner of the game each year, including fans, players, and coaches, all smoke cigars in the stadium.

The tradition began in the 1950s as Alabama’s head athletic trainer Jim Goostree handed out cigars following a win over Tennessee. The tradition was held by the teams only and in secret at the beginning, due to the NCAA’s rules against tobacco and players receiving extra benefits.

Then in 2005, Alabama made the tradition public after a 6-3 win over the Vols, and self-reported the NCAA violations. Now, every year the winner of the game self-reports NCAA violations in order to keep the tradition in tact.

The Trends

Alabama leads the all-time series with Tennessee 59-39-7. While there’s a 20-game lead, Tennessee has more wins against Alabama than any other program in college football.

Many rivalries have a back-and-forth nature, but not this one. In this rivalry, someone is constantly on a long winning streak.

Alabama won eight of the first 10 meetings of the series. Tennessee dominated in the 1950s, winning nine out of 10 meetings from 1948-1960. Alabama won the next five in the series, and Tennessee won the following four after that.

Bear Bryant came into the picture and dominated the series, winning 11 straight from 1971-1981. Tennessee won the next four, and Alabama won eight in a row after that.

Tennessee dominated the series under head coach Phillip Fulmer in the late 1990s and early 200s, winning 10 of 12 meetings from 1995-2006. Then, of course, came Nick Saban‘s dominant run during his time in Tuscaloosa, winning his first 15 meetings with the Vols before falling 52-49 in 2022. Saban won his final meeting with Tennessee last season, 34-20.

Now, Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer is set to face Tennessee for the first time, with this being Alabama’s first trip to Neyland Stadium since that 2022 loss.

The Moments

There have been plenty of monumental games in this series’ history. Many memorable moments came under Bryant for Alabama fans and Fulmer for Tennessee fans, but in recent memory there’s been one win for each program that stands out above the rest:

No. 1 Alabama 12, Tennessee 10, 2009

Alabama was undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the country in Saban’s third year at Alabama, but an unranked Tennessee team had the Crimson Tide on the ropes.

In an absolute slugfest, the Crimson Tide gutted out a win thanks to two blocked field goals from defensive tackle Terrence Cody, the latter of which came on the final play of the game as time expired. The game has since been immortalized as a pivotal moment, as Saban went on to win his first national title at Alabama following the win.

The game was appropriately nicknamed “Rocky Block,” a play on Tennessee’s affinity for playing “Rocky Top” during games.

No. 6 Tennessee 52, No. 3 Alabama 49, 2022

It was an Alabama loss, but the game that broke the streak was one of the best games not only in the rivalry’s history, but one of the best college football games in recent memory.

Alabama went on the road to Tennessee for one of the most hyped games in Neyland Stadium in years. Both teams were undefeated and ranked in the top six.

The Crimson Tide fell behind 28-10 by the middle of the second quarter, but scratched and clawed all the way back to take a 49-42 lead late in the fourth. After a quick Tennessee touchdown, Alabama missed a potential game-winning field goal, then allowed Tennessee to move into field goal range and make a game-winning field goal of their own as time expired.

The field was stormed, cigar smoke filled the stadium, and the fans tore down the goal posts and hurled them into the nearby Tennessee River.