Alabama went into the 1961 Iron Bowl ranked #1 and 9-0, having moved to the top of the polls that week after Texas lost to TCU. They came out of it 10-0, and were named national champions by both wire services before the bowls were played.
Four touchdowns and two field goals
Billy Richardson opened the scoring with an 11-yard run. Alabama then scored 17 points in the second quarter: a one-yard touchdown run by Pat Trammell, a 35-yard field goal by Tim Davis, and a 19-yard touchdown pass from Trammell to Richard Williamson. It was 24-0 at half-time. Richardson ran in a second touchdown from six yards in the third quarter, and Davis added a 34-yard field goal in the fourth for the 34-0 final.
The defence
The 1961 Alabama defence conceded 25 points across the entire eleven-game season, including the Sugar Bowl. Auburn were the sixth side that year to be shut out by them. The Iron Bowl was the last of ten regular-season games, and the third Iron Bowl shutout in a row.
Two programmes, four years apart
Auburn came in 6-3 and finished 6-4, unranked. Four seasons earlier they had been national champions and Alabama had been in the middle of a three-year collapse. The reversal was complete by 1961 and it held: Alabama beat Arkansas 10-3 in the Sugar Bowl on 1 January 1962 for Bryant’s first national title at the school, and five more followed over the next 18 years.