Alabama football fell off sharply in 1948. The season opening loss to Tulane was the first time Alabama started its season with a loss since the 1903 team kicked off with a 30-0 loss to Vanderbilt. The next week the Tide had to score a TD with ten seconds left to salvage a tie with Vanderbilt. A 35-0 loss to eventual SEC champion Georgia was the worst loss for Alabama since a 36-0 loss to Georgia Tech in 1910. The Tide struggled home with a 6-4-1 record.
This otherwise forgettable season is noteworthy for one event: the resumption of the Iron Bowl rivalry with Auburn after a 40-year hiatus. The Iron Bowl dated all the way back to Alabama's very first team in 1892. The two schools met regularly through 1895 and then, after a five-year break, regularly from 1900 through 1907. However, trivial disputes led to the series being discontinued in 1908. Alabama and Auburn disagreed on how much per diem to allow players for the trip to Birmingham, how many players each school should bring, and where to find officials. By the time all these matters were resolved, it was too late to play in 1908, and the series ended. By 1947 pressure to renew the Iron Bowl had grown to the point that the state legislature threatened to withhold funding from the two schools unless they scheduled a game. In 1948 the Tide and Tigers finally agreed to meet on a football field. The result was a 55-0 Tide victory that remains the most lopsided win by either team in the history of the series.
| Date | Opponent | Site | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| September 25 | Tulane | New Orleans, LA | L 14-21 |
| October 2 | Vanderbilt | Mobile, AL | T 14-14 |
| October 8 | Duquesne | Tuscaloosa, AL | W 48-6 |
| October 16 | Tennessee | Knoxville, TN (Third Saturday in October) | L 6-21 |
| October 23 | Mississippi State | Starkville, MS | W 10-7 |
| October 30 | Georgia | Birmingham, AL | L 0-35 |
| November 6 | Southern Miss | Tuscaloosa, AL | W 27-0 |
| November 13 | Georgia Tech | Atlanta, GA | W 14-12 |
| November 20 | LSU | Baton Rouge, LA | L 6-26 |
| November 27 | Florida | Tuscaloosa, AL | W 34-28 |
| December 4 | Auburn | Birmingham, AL (Iron Bowl) | W 55-0 |
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