Daily Dose of Crimson Tide: Johnny Cain

The nickname went back to the 1930 season, when as a sophomore he was the only non-senior in the Crimson Tide’s starting lineup. All it took was Coach Wallace Wade, who when he wanted him in a game yelled out: “Hurry, Cain.”

“Hurri-Cain” was actually listed on the roster as the quarterback of Wade’s swan-song season, when Alabama was a perfect 10-0, outscored the opposition 273-13, and won the national championship. The Crimson Tide was so deep that season that Wade occasionally started his backup players, and then just as the opposition began to wear down a bit would bring in the fresh starters. The Rose Bowl against Washington State was one of those games, and Alabama crushed the Cougars, 24-0.

After Frank Thomas took over and installed his Notre Dame box formation, it only took one game for the new coach to move his only returning starter to fullback, “because he is too modest to call his own signal,” Thomas said.

Alabama’s offense scored an average of 36 points per game, and destroyed most of its opponents, including Clemson 74-7, Ole Miss 55-6, and Mississippi State 53-0. Following the 14-6 victory at Vanderbilt, Blinkey Horn wrote in the Nashville Tennesseen: “Twas a savage struggle. Vanderbilt has encountered no rival which hit as hard as Alabama. Nor an enemy which tackled so surely. And so viciously.”

At 9-1, which was the best coaching debut in Alabama history, the Tide’s lone loss that season was 25-0 at Tennessee, which set up a punting showdown the following year between Cain and Volunteers standout Beattie Feathers (punts were considered more of a weapon during that time, and it wasn’t uncommon for a coach to call for a quick-kick on third down instead of risking a pass). Cain punted 19 times with an average of 48 yards, and Feathers 21 times, but Alabama lost, 7-3.

“John Cain is the best football player I have ever seen on a football field,” Alabama line coach and 1924 All-American center Clyde “Shorty” Propst told Owen Merrick of the San Francisco News.

Cain and guard Tom Hupke were the last Crimson Tide players to earn All-Southern Conference honors as the following year Alabama would join the offshoot Southeastern Conference, simply known as the SEC. Cain and Feathers also finished tied for the conference lead in scoring at 72 points, even though Cain played one fewer game. At 8-2 the Tide didn’t win the final Southern Conference championship, but came close.

In his final game for Alabama, Cain’s 71-yard touchdown run against St. Mary’s in San Francisco – the Tide’s first regular-season game on the West Coast – resulted in a 6-0 victory and served as a perfect way to top his career.

He would later serve as Southwestern Louisiana’s head football coach from 1937-41, and was athletic director at the same school from 1946-47 before moving on to Ole Miss.

Zipp Newman, who covered Alabama football from 1913-48, wrote, “He could run, block, punt, and play defense, the best all-around back I ever saw.”

Some of this post originated from "100 Things Crimson tide Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die," published by Triumph Books