| abstract | - In April 1930, Wallace Wade announced that he was resigning his position at Alabama and taking the head coaching job at Duke University. Wade resented criticism he was receiving over three mediocre seasons from 1927 to 1929 (23–10–1) after three years of spectacular success 1924–26 (27–1–1, three straight conference titles, two national championships). However, Wade still had one year left on his Alabama contract and insisted on honoring it. The result was possibly his best team. The 1930 Tide was so good that Wade's "starters" didn't even need to start. Wade, for psychological effect, routinely started games with his second team. The backups never allowed a point, and the first team didn't allow very many as the Tide sailed to a 9–0 record. Only the Vanderbilt game was close, as the Commodores scored a fourth-quarter TD to cut Alabama's lead to five and then drove to the Tide 27-yard-line before stalling out and never threatening again. Bama beat Vandy 12–7; all other wins were by double-digit margins. Vanderbilt's touchdown and a touchdown scored by Tennessee accounted for 13 points and all of the scoring by Alabama's opponents in 1930. Alabama received its third Rose Bowl invitation in six seasons, this time against the 9–0 Cougars of Washington State. Again Wade started his second team, and again the second team didn't allow any points. Neither did the first team. In the second quarter, after the first team took the field, they struck for three touchdowns in a six-minute blitz. Jimmy Moore completed a 61-yard pass to John Suther, then Bama intercepted a pass at the Cougar 47 and scored in two plays, then Monk Campbell ran 43 yards for a touchdown on the next possession, and it was all over. The Tide won 24–0, clinching the second perfect season in school history after 1925. The Crimson Tide claims the 1930 national championship, a claim it shares with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, another equally remarkable team from that year, due to each school being selected by various major selectors. Wallace Wade completed his Alabama tenure with a 61–13–3 record (.812), four conference titles, and three national championships. Johnny Cain starred at fullback, linebacker, and punter. Cain was named punter for the Alabama Crimson Tide All-Century Team. Cain, a sophomore, led a team that consisted of himself and ten senior starters. Cain was later inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Other inductees from the 1930 Alabama team include Fred Sington, who went on to play baseball for the Washington Senators, and Frank Howard, who later became famous as the long-time head coach at Clemson University. Coach Wade, who followed up his success at Alabama with a longer and almost as successful run at Duke, joined them as a Hall of Fame inductee. J.B. Whitworth, who kicked a field goal in the Rose Bowl, was hired as Alabama's football coach a quarter-century later. See also: 1931 Rose Bowl
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