The two schools had not played each other since 1907. The break was not sentimental: the programs fell out over the size of travelling squads, the per-diem paid to players, and who would choose the officials, and once the argument hardened neither side moved for four decades. Students at both schools spent the post-war years pushing to get the game back. It returned on 4 December 1948 at Legion Field in Birmingham, and Auburn would probably have preferred another year of silence.
Ed Salem’s afternoon
Alabama scored in every quarter and led 21-0 at the interval. Gordon Pettus opened the scoring with an eight-yard pass to Butch Avinger. Ed Salem then took the game over: a 20-yard touchdown pass to Clem Welsh, a 53-yard touchdown pass to Rebel Steiner, a third scoring throw to Howard Pierson, a 17-yard touchdown run of his own, and seven successful extra points. Welsh also scored on a six-yard reverse. Late on, Tom Salem fell on a blocked punt in the end zone and Don Spurrell returned an interception 20 yards. Eight touchdowns, seven conversions, 55 points.
What the scoreline hid
Auburn were not a good team and the result did not misrepresent them. Earl Brown was in his first season in charge and the Tigers finished 1-8-1, without a single conference win. Alabama, under Harold “Red” Drew in his second year, were themselves an ordinary 6-4-1 side who had already lost to Tulane, Tennessee, Georgia and LSU. The gap on the day was far wider than the gap between the two programmes over the season.
The margin that still stands
Fifty-five points is the largest margin in the 90 games the two schools have now played. The nearest result is Alabama’s 49-0 win in 2012; Auburn’s 48-point wins in 1895 and 1900 are next.
The more durable result was procedural rather than sporting. The 1948 game began an unbroken run that has continued every year since. Whatever else the rivalry has produced, it has not stopped again.