Alabama beat Auburn 10-0 at the Birmingham Fairgrounds on 17 November 1906. It is a small scoreline with an outsized place in the story, because of an argument it started.
Pollard’s shift
J. W. H. “Doc” Pollard took over at Alabama in 1906 and brought with him a shifting formation, new to football in the South, in which the linemen moved position before the snap. Auburn objected to it. The objection did not change the result here, but it did not go away either: the same complaint, about the same coach’s formations, resurfaces in every account of why the two schools stopped playing each other two years later.
Auburn also lodged a protest about the eligibility of an Alabama player, T. S. Sims. The protest was not upheld.
Burks scores all ten
Auxford Burks scored all of Alabama’s points. With a touchdown worth five in 1906 and the kick after it one, ten points is two touchdowns with neither kick converted — which is consistent with the accounts crediting Burks with the lot.
Washington Moody captained Alabama; W. C. Whitner captained Auburn, who had a poor season and won once. Mike Donahue was in his third year in charge and would spend 1907 away from the school.
A note on the name
Alabama were not yet the Crimson Tide in 1906. The name is generally dated to 1907 and to a sportswriter’s description of a mud-soaked team holding out against Auburn. Before that they were the Crimson White, among other things.
Second in a row
This was Alabama’s second consecutive shutout of Auburn and their third win in four meetings. One game remained before the silence.