Ground Report

Crimson Tides gives SEC four straight FWAA national titles

ALABAMA WINS 2009 GRANTLAND RICE TROPHY

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (FWAA) – Following their 37-21 win over Texas in the Citi BCS National Championship Game, the Alabama Crimson Tide (14-0) was presented the 2009 Grantland Rice Trophy by the Football Writers Association of America. FWAA president Tim Griffin of espn.com made the presentation to head coach Nick Saban at a morning news conference.

After trailing 6-0 in the first quarter, Alabama rallied to take a 24-6 halftime lead, punctuated by Trent Richardson’s 49-yard touchdown run and Marcell Dareus’ 28-yard interception return that came with just three seconds left in the first half.

Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram ran for 116 yards and two scores and Richardson added 109 yards and another pair of scores on the ground. Two late turnovers forced by the Crimson Tide defense allowed Alabama to stretch a 24-21 fourth-quarter lead and provide the final margin of victory.

The Grantland Rice Trophy has been presented by the Football Writers Association of America to college football’s national champion since 1954. Named for the legendary sportswriter, the Grantland Rice Trophy was the first national championship award to be presented after the college football postseason.

This is the fifth time Alabama has been awarded the FWAA national championship trophy and the fourth straight season a team from the Southeastern Conference has earned the award. The last time Alabama won an FWAA national title was in 1992. Other Alabama FWAA titles came in 1965 (a tie with Michigan State) and back-to-back Grantland Rice Trophies in 1978 and ’79.

A panel of veteran FWAA member writers selected the Crimson Tide as the FWAA’s national champion. Although the FWAA does not conduct a final poll at the end of the season, it will conduct a 2010 preseason poll during this summer when the entire membership will vote. The poll will be released in late August before the beginning of the upcoming season.

The Football Writers Association of America, a non-profit organization founded in 1941, consists of more than 1,100 men and women across North America who cover college football for a living. The membership includes journalists, broadcasters and publicists, as well as key executives in all the areas that involve the game. The FWAA works to govern areas that include game day operations, major awards, a national poll and its annual All-America team.

For more information on the FWAA and its award programs, contact FWAA executive director Steve Richardson 972-713-6198.

HENRY GRANTLAND RICE …

The dean of American sportswriters was born Nov. 1, 1880 and died July 12, 1954. Tim Cohane, sports editor of Look magazine from 1944-65, founded the Grantland Rice Trophy to honor the annual college football national champion as selected by the Football Writers Association of America.

THE FAMOUS ‘FOUR HORSEMEN’ PASSAGE …

After Notre Dame’s 13-7 victory over Army on Oct. 18, 1924: "Outlined against a blue, gray October sky the Four Horsemen rode again. In dramatic lore they are known as famine, pestilence, destruction and death. These are only aliases. Their real names are: Stuhldreher, Miller, Crowley and Layden. They formed the crest of the South Bend cyclone before which another fighting Army team was swept over the precipice at the Polo Grounds this afternoon as 55,000 spectators peered down upon the bewildering panorama spread out upon the green plain below." — From the New York Herald-Tribune

FROM HIS 1941 POEM, ‘ALUMNUS FOOTBALL’:

"For when the One Great Scorer comes to mark against your name, He writes – not that you won or lost – but how you played the Game."

ALL-TIME GRANTLAND RICE TROPHY WINNERS

Year… School… Conference… Head Coach… W-L-T

2009 Alabama SEC Nick Saban 14-0
2008 Florida SEC Urban Meyer 13-1
2007 LSU SEC Les Miles 12-2
2006 Florida SEC Urban Meyer 13-1
2005 Texas Big 12 Mack Brown 13-0
2004 USC Pac-10 Pete Carroll 13-0
2003 USC Pac-10 Pete Carroll 12-1
2002 Ohio State Big Ten Jim Tressel 14-0
2001 Miami Big East Larry Coker 12-0
2000 Oklahoma Big 12 Bob Stoops 13-0
1999 Florida State ACC Bobby Bowden 12-0
1998 Tennessee SEC Phil Fulmer 13-0
1997 Michigan Big Ten Lloyd Carr 12-0
1996 Florida SEC Steve Spurrier 12-1
1995 Nebraska Big 8 Tom Osborne 12-0
1994 Nebraska Big 8 Tom Osborne 12-1
1993 Florida State ACC Bobby Bowden 12-1
1992 Alabama SEC Gene Stallings 13-0
1991 Washington Pac-10 Don James 12-0
1990 Colorado Big 8 Bill McCartney 11-1-1
1989 Miami Independent Dennis Erickson 11-1
1988 Notre Dame Independent Lou Holtz 12-0
1987 Miami Independent Jimmy Johnson 12-0
1986 Penn State Independent Joe Paterno 12-0
1985 Oklahoma Big 8 Barry Switzer 11-1
1984 BYU WAC LaVell Edwards 13-0
1983 Miami Independent Howard Schnellenberger 11-1
1982 Penn State Independent Joe Paterno 11-1
1981 Clemson ACC Danny Ford 12-0
1980 Georgia SEC Vince Dooley 12-0
1979 Alabama SEC Paul "Bear" Bryant 12-0
1978 Alabama SEC Paul "Bear" Bryant 11-1
1977 Notre Dame Independent Dan Devine 11-1
1976 Pittsburgh Independent Johnny Majors 12-0
1975 Oklahoma Big 8 Barry Switzer 11-1
1974 USC Pac-8 John McKay 10-1-1
1973 Notre Dame Independent Ara Parseghian 11-0
1972 USC Pac-8 John McKay 12-0
1971 Nebraska Big 8 Bob Devaney 13-0
1970 Nebraska Big 8 Bob Devaney 11-0-1
1969 Texas Southwest Darrell Royal 11-0
1968 Ohio State Big Ten Woody Hayes 10-0
1967 USC AAWU John McKay 10-1
1966 Notre Dame Independent Ara Parseghian 9-0-1
1965 Alabama– Michigan State
SEC– Big Ten–
Paul "Bear" Bryant 9-1-1 Duffy Daugherty 10-1
1964 Arkansas Southwest Frank Broyles 11-0
1963 Texas Southwest Darrell Royal 11-0
1962 USC AAWU John McKay 11-0
1961 Ohio State Big Ten Woody Hayes 8-0-1
1960 Ole Miss SEC John Vaught 10-0-1
1959 Syracuse Independent Ben Schwartzwalder 11-0
1958 Iowa Big Ten Forest Evashevski 8-1-1
1957 Ohio State Big Ten Woody Hayes 9-1
1956 Oklahoma Big 7 Bud Wilkinson 10-0
1955 Oklahoma Big 7 Bud Wilkinson 11-0
1954 UCLA Pacific Coast Red Sanders 9-0

Most Grantland Rice Trophies: USC 6, Oklahoma 5, Alabama 4, Miami 4, Nebraska 4, Notre Dame 4, Ohio State 4.

Back-to-back Grantland Rice Trophy winners: USC (2003-04), Nebraska (1994-95), Alabama (1978-79), Nebraska (1970-71), Oklahoma (1955-56).