History Behind Alabama-Southern Miss Game

Alabama and Southern Miss meet for the 44th time on Saturday. Even though the Crimson Tide have dominated this series, these two teams actually have an interesting history with each other.

Southern Miss has more wins over Alabama than SEC opponents Kentucky, Missouri, South Carolina, and Texas A&M.

These teams first met in 1947 when Alabama prevailed 34-7 in Birmingham. The Crimson Tide were able to win the next five meetings in five consecutive seasons, holding a 6-0 record over the Eagles.

This streak came to an end that next season in 1953 when Southern Miss knocked off Alabama 25-19 in Montgomery. The Eagles returned to Montgomery the following year and knocked off the Crimson Tide once again 7-2.

In 1956, this series was moved back to Tuscaloosa, which ended in a 13-13 tie. The Crimson Tide were finally able to come on top in 1957 before taking a decade break from playing the Eagles.

The Tide came back strong mustering ten mostly dominant wins over the Eagles during the Paul "Bear" Bryant era.

In 1981, the Eagles were able to scrape out a 13-13 tie against Bryant's Tide. This performance was followed up with a 38-29 road victory in Tuscaloosa that next season. This was only the second loss ever for Alabama under Paul Bryant at home.

Since then, the Eagles have notched two more victories over the Crimson Tide.

The first came in 1990 as the Eagles won 27-24, spoiling Gene Stallings' first game as Alabama head coach.

The second came in 2000 when Mike Dubose's Crimson Tide suffered an embarrassing 21-0 defeat in Birmingham. This was the last time the Eagles defeated the Tide.

The overall series favors Alabama 36-5-2 and the Crimson Tide have won the last six meetings, including a 49-7 route in 2019.