A-Day (University of Alabama)

A-Day is an annual college football exhibition game set at the conclusion of spring practice by the University of Alabama Crimson Tide. Played on-campus at Bryant–Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, the game features teams composed of offensive starters against defensive starters of the Crimson Tide. National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rules allow for member schools to conduct a series of fifteen practice sessions during the spring months.^[1] As part of these practices the NCAA allows three 11-on-11 scrimmages, one of which may be conducted as a spring game.^[1]

A. J. McCarron takes a snap for the White team during the 2013 A-Day Game.

Prior to the game, the captains from the previous seasons' team are honored at the annual "Walk of Fame" ceremony at the base of Denny Chimes.^[2] In addition to this ceremony, several other memorable events have occurred as part of the annual A-Day festivities. The 1967 edition of the game saw Dock Rone and Andrew Pernell participate and become the first African American players to play at Denny Stadium as members of the Crimson Tide football team.^[3] At halftime of the 1976 game, Denny Stadium was officially rededicated as Bryant–Denny Stadium in honor of then head coach Bear Bryant.^[2] The 1985 edition of the A-Day game featured a White team of current, varsity starters against a Crimson team of former Alabama players such as Ken Stabler and Ozzie Newsome.^[4]

Since the arrival of head coach Nick Saban in 2007, A-Day has become a major event. The 2007 game saw an overflow crowd of 92,138 in attendance and served as the catalyst for other programs to make their spring game a larger event.^[5][6] The growth of A-Day has resulted in its being televised nationally by ESPN first in 2009 and again in subsequent years in addition to being utilized to enhance recruiting.^[6][7]

History

Originally, the A-Day game was called the Red and White Game and was played on Alumni Day. Alumni Day was a day devoted to alumni and typically consisted of coffees, luncheons, tours, the football game, and an alumni dinner. Recently, there has been an alumni flag football game inside the Bryant-Denny Stadium preceding the A-Day game.

Key

W	White team win
C	Crimson team win
T	Tie

Games

List of A-Day games showing season played in, score, date, MVP and attendance

Season[A 1]	Score[A 2]	Date	MVP[A 3]	Attendance[8]	Reference
1946	W 18–6	March 30, 1946	—	24,000[A 4]	[10]
1947	C 13–7	March 15, 1947	—	12,000	[13]
1948	W 20–7	March 13, 1948	—	12,000	[14]
1949	C 14–0	March 12, 1949	—	10,000	[15]
1950	W 12–0	March 11, 1950	—	10,000	[16]
1951	W 22–7	March 9, 1951	—	15,000	[17]
1952	C 41–26	March 8, 1952	—	—	[18]
1953	W 13–6	March 14, 1953	—	7,500	[19]
1954	W 20–13	March 20, 1954[A 5]	—	4,000	[21]
1955	C 12–7	March 12, 1955	—	—	[22]
1956	W 26–0	March 10, 1956	—	—	[23]
1957	C 21–0	March 9, 1957	—	—	[24]
1958	W 13–0	April 26, 1958	—	—	[25]
1959	C 14–3	April 11, 1959	—	15,000	[26]
1960	C 38–0	April 30, 1960	—	—	[27]
1961	C 17–7	April 22, 1961	—	—	[28]
1962	W 15–14	May 19, 1962	—	—	[29]
1963	W 17–6	May 11, 1963	—	14,000	[30]
1964	C 17–6	May 8, 1964	—	14,500	[31]
1965	C 67–36	May 8, 1965	—	13,000	[32]
1966	C 17–15	April 23, 1966	—	15,000	[33]
1967	C 13–3	May 5, 1967	—	15,000	[34]
1968	W 17–7	May 4, 1968	—	12,000	[35]
1969	W 27–25	May 10, 1969	—	17,000	[36]
1970	W 40–39	April 18, 1970	—	17,000	[37]
1971	W 21–15	May 1, 1971	Steve Dean	15,000	[38]
1972	W 24–7	April 22, 1972	Wayne Wheeler	20,000	[39]
1973	W 21–16	April 21, 1973	Mike Washington	5,000	[40]
1974	C 17–14	April 20, 1974	Conley Duncan	15,000	[41]
1975	C 21–13	April 12, 1975	Johnny Davis	15,000	[42]
1976	C 14–11	April 10, 1976	Ozzie Newsome	10,000	[43]
1977	W 27–23	April 16, 1977	Tony Nathan	10,000	[44]
1978	T 7–7	April 22, 1978	Keith Pugh	7,000	[45]
1979	W 21–0	April 14, 1979	Alan Gray	7,500	[46]
1980	W 16–14	April 12, 1980	Johnny Brooker	8,000	[47]
1981	C 31–13	April 11, 1981	Ken Simon	8,500	[48]
1982	W 17–0	April 17, 1982	Walter Lewis	11,500	[49]
1983	W 14–11	April 16, 1983	Jon Hand	16,000	[50]
1984	W 7–3	April 14, 1984	Brent Sowell	16,000	[51]
1985	W 20–7	April 20, 1985	Don McClain	28,000	[4]
1986	W 20–0	April 19, 1986	Angelo Stafford	20,435	[52]
1987	W 20–10	April 25, 1987	Kerry Goode	32,000[A 4]	[11]
1988	W 28–16	April 9, 1988	Vince Sutton	51,117[A 4]	[12]
1989	C 28–14	April 8, 1989	Jeff Dunn	16,500	[53]
1990	W 42–12	April 21, 1990	Danny Woodson	12,500	[54]
1992	C 13–7	April 11, 1992	Jeremy Nunley	35,016	[55]
1993	C 27–19	April 17, 1993	Brian Burgdorf	30,000	[56]
1994	C 17–6	April 16, 1994	Brian Steger	46,700	[57]
1995	W 16–10	April 15, 1995	Toderick Malone	37,323	[58]
1997	W 9–5	April 19, 1997	Michael Vaughn	30,212	[59]
1998	W 65–24	April 18, 1998	Montoya Madden	8,968	[60]
1999	W 23–10	April 17, 1999	Jason McAddley	32,500	[61]
2000	C 17–12	April 15, 2000	Ahmaad Galloway	25,355	[62]
2001	C 10–7	April 14, 2001	Jonathan Richey	35,000	[63]
2002	C 20–6	April 13, 2002	Ahmaad Galloway	37,000	[64]
2003	C 47–0	March 29, 2003	Brodie Croyle	34,000	[65]
2004	W 21–0	March 19, 2004	Tim Castille	35,000	[66]
2005	W 20–18	March 19, 2005	John Parker Wilson	25,000	[67]
2006	W 17–3	April 1, 2006	D. J. Hall	40,000	[68]
2007	W 20–13	April 21, 2007	D. J. Hall	92,138	[5]
2008	C 24–14	April 12, 2008	Terry Grant	78,200	[69]
2009	C 14–7	April 18, 2009	Marquis Maze Greg McElroy	84,050	[70]
2010	W 23–17	April 17, 2010	Mark Ingram, Jr.	91,312	[71]
2011	C 14–10	April 16, 2011	Trent Richardson	92,310	[72]
2012	W 24–15	April 14, 2012	T. J. Yeldon	78,526	[73]
2013	W 17–14	April 20, 2013	T. J. Yeldon	78,315	[74]
2014	W 17–13	April 19, 2014	T. J. Yeldon	73,506	[75]
2015	W 27–14	April 18, 2015	Robert Foster ArDarius Stewart	65,175	[76]
2016	W 7–3	April 16, 2016	Damien Harris	76,212	[77]
2017	C 27–24	April 22, 2017	Jerry Jeudy	74,326	[78]
2018	C 24–12	April 21, 2018	Mac Jones Joseph Bulovas	74,732	[79]
2019	W 31–17	April 13, 2019	John Metchie III	62,219	[80]
2021	W 13–10	April 17, 2021	Bryce Young	47,218	[81]
2022	W 25–7	April 16, 2022	Jahmyr Gibbs	31,077	[82]
2023	C 30–21	April 22, 2023	Malachi Moore	58,710	[83]
2024	W 34–28	April 13, 2024	Jam Miller	72,358	[84]
2025		April 12, 2025

Notes

1. Links to the season article for the Alabama team that played in the A-Day for that year. The game was not played in the 1991, 1996, or 2020 seasons.^[8]
2. Results are sortable first by whether the result was a Crimson or White team win and then second by the margin of victory.
3. Links to the winner of the Dixie Howell Memorial Award, presented annually to the outstanding player of the game as selected by the media since 1971.^[9]
4. The 1946, 1987 and 1988 editions of the A-Day game were played at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama.^[10][11][12]
5. The 1954 A-Day game was originally scheduled to be played on March 13, but was postponed for a week due to poor field conditions at Denny Stadium as a result of heavy rains.^[20]