November 26

The football history of November 26 is filled with top games. Performances and players doing the remarkable feats we love to remember. Sit back and rekindle these fond football memories.

A few Grey Cups to get things rolling

November 26, 1910 - AAA Grounds, Hamilton, Ontario - The 2nd Grey Cup was played to determine a Canadian Champion per the American Football Database. The University of Toronto Blues kept the title, as they knocked off the home team Hamilton Tigers, 16-7 before a crowd of nearly 12,000 fans.  

November 26, 1927 - Varsity Stadium, Toronto- Toronto’s Balmy Beach defeated the Hamilton Tigers by the score of 9-6 for their first of 2 Grey Cups per the CFL.ca website. An all-eastern Canada final was played due to the Regina Roughriders not accepting their earned Western bid into the Cup game  because of the long delay between their last league game and the Canadian final.

November 26, 1949 - Varsity Stadium, Toronto - Our friends at NinetyNineyards.com are all over this story. Montreal Alouettes out played the Calgary Stampeders for a 28-15 victory for their first Championship. Make sure you check out the great piece the Ninety Nine Yards has on this game by clicking their highlighted name.

Iron Bowl Season

November 26, 1949 - Grant Field, Atlanta, Georgia  - Georgia Tech was a seven point favorite at home against their rivals from the University of Georgia per a report by georgiatechticketstubs.com. The Bulldogs recovered a fumble in the second quarter and then cashed in it to take a 6-0 lead. That is when the calvary came to the rescue of the stagnant Tech offense, Jim Southard their injured starting quarterback came off the bench and breathed a little bit of life into the Yellow Jackets. It finally paid off when after multiple long drives the Ramblin’ Wreck finally put the ball across the goal line and made the point after. It was just enough as the final score read Georgia Tech 7, Georgia 6, the victory that started “The Drought,” for the Bulldogs and initiated Bobby Dodd’s eight-year mastery of Georgia.

Cup & Iron Montage

November 26, 1955 - Empire Stadium, Vancouver - In the 43rd Grey Cup it was the Edmonton Eskimos who kept their championship status for another year by a 34-19 victory over the Montreal Alouettes per the Grey Cup’s Website.

November 26, 1955 - Birmingham, Alabama - At the 20th Iron Bowl the fans in attendance saw the Auburn Tigers blank the Crimson Tide of Alabama 26-0 per a clip on OnthisDay.com.

November 26, 1960 - Empire Stadium, Vancouver - The 48th Version of the Grey Cup Final pitted the Edmonton Eskimos against the Ottawa Rough Riders per the sportsteamhistory.com web site. This year it was the Rough Riders who would come out on top  as they defeated the Eskimos 16-6 for their 5th Championship.

November 26, 1960 - Birmingham, Alabama - In a defensive battle per onthisday.com it was the Alabama Crimson Tide that kicked a field goal to allow them to get by Auburn by the score of 3-0 in the 25th Iron Bowl. OnthisDay.com

Staubach wins Heisman

November 26, 1963 - New York CIty - The 29th Heisman Trophy was awarded to Navy’s Junior quarterback Roger Staubach. Roger had an impressive 1963 season as he led the Midshipmen to the number 2 ranking in the country as he passed for 1474 yards on 161 attempts, which were pretty lofty numbers for the era that he played in. Staubach was the first player to win the Thompson Trophy Cup  three times. Roger’s four years in the Navy included a tour in Vietnam and when he returned he was drafted in the NFL by the Dallas Cowboys. Staubach was at the helm of the Cowboys for 11 seasons and led them to 4 Super Bowl appearances.

More Iron and Grey

November 26, 1964 - Was the advent of the First Televised Iron Bowl per si.com. It was a great one to show on TV too as Quarterback Joe Namath and a 100-yard kickoff return by Ray Ogden pushed the Crimson Tide to a 21-14 Thanksgiving Day victory over Auburn.  

November 26, 1966 - Empire Stadium, Vancouver -The 54th CFL Grey Cup game was played. It was a significant game as the Saskatchewan Roughriders won their first Championship by downing the Ottawa Rough Riders by the score of 29-14. The story is told in detail at NinetyNineYards.com so please click their name and read all about it.  

Heisman's a plenty

November 26, 1968  - OJ Simpson the running back from Southern Cal won the 34th Heisman Trophy. The Senior rusher set a new NCAA rushing mark during the 1968  season and helped the Trojans achieve a 9-0-1 record and second in the rankings with his 22 touchdowns and 1709 yards on the ground. Simpson was the number one pick in the 1969 NFL Draft by the Buffalo Bills. Per the Heisman .com site OJ became the first pro player to rush for over 2,000 yards when he gained 2,003 in 1973 in just 14 games.  

November 26, 1969 - In the 35th Heisman Trophy selection it was Steve Owens the senior running back from Oklahoma was the winner of the nation's top college football individual award. Steve ran the ball 358 times for 1,523 yards in 1969 and punched in 23 touchdowns per the Heisman Trophy web page.

'Bama Rolls

November 26, 1977 - Legion Field, Birmingham - The 42nd Iron Bowl had number 2 in the nation Alabama on a surge as they dispatched unranked Auburn by the tune of 48-21 per the Pickin Splinters web site. Alabama’s QB Jeff Rutledge threw for 2 touchdowns & RB Tony Nathan rushed for 2 touchdowns as the Crimson Tide rolled their arch rival.

CFL Champs

November 26, 1978  - CNE Stadium, Toronto - The 66th version of the CFL Grey Cup saw the Edmonton Eskimos take their first of 5 straight titles as they survived the Montreal Alouettes by a 20-13 final score per the American Football Database.
 

Saints for Sale

November 26, 1984  - John W Mercom Jr announces New Orleans Saints are up for sale for $75 million per the onthisday website.  It would be in May of 1985 that Tom Benson would purchase the Saints for  $70,204,000. OnthisDay.com

The Kick

November 26, 1989 - SkyDome, Toronto - Let’s start off and tell you that this 77th time the Grey Cup was played is fondly referred to as “The Kick.” Well that ought to take some mystery out of it.  Yes it was a tight game between the Saskatchewan Roughriders  and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and it came down to the end.  The Ti-Cats scored a game tying TD with 44 seconds remaining per the cfl.ca  article on the game. It looked like their late surge would send the game into an overtime session. But The Saskatchewan offense had other plans as they quickly marched down the field to get into a position to have their kicker try a Field Goal attempt with just two ticks remaining on the clock.  That kicker was Dave Ridgway, and his kick was true and it propelled the Roughriders to a 43-40 win over the Tiger-Cats.

Tide rolls in

November 26, 1992 - Birmingham, Alabama -The 57th Iron Bowl took place and the Alabama Crimson Tide was victorious over Auburn by a margin of 17-0 
November 26, 1995 Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino set another record. This time it was an NFL record from 343rd touchdown pass in the game against the Indianapolis Colts per American Fandom.  Marino’s passing wasn’t enough as the Blue Horseshoe scored 36 points to the Dolphins 28.

Below .500 Champs

November 26, 2000 - McMahon Stadium, Calgary-  In a thriller it was the BC Lions who outlasted the Montreal Alouettes 28-26 in a very improbable CFL Champion in the 88th edition of the Grey Cup. The Lions were the first team ever to finish the regular season with more losses than wins and then to win Grey Cup! The NinetyNineYards.com gang is all over this game in detail so be sure to check out their article by clicking their highlighted name above.

Iron Sharpens Iron

November 26, 2010 - Tuscaloosa, Alabama - The second ranked Auburn Tigers squeaked by number 9 Alabama 28-27 in a thriller at the 75th Iron Bowl. ESPN.com’s coverage of the game tells us that the Tigers had to stage a comeback from being down by 24 points led by Quarterback Cam Newton and a staunch Defense to win the game.

November 26, 2011 - At the 76th Iron Bowl onthis day.com shows us that Alabama beat Auburn 42-14 in Auburn’s home stadium. OnthisDay.com

Boatmen Cruise

November 26, 2017 - TD Place Stadium, Ottawa - The CFL Championship of the 105th Grey Cup was a whale of a game. The Toronto Argonauts won their 17th Championship with a 27-24 victory over Calgary Stampeders. You can read all about the game story on Sportsnet.ca’s piece on the contest.
 

• November 26, 1892 - Joe Guyon of Carlisle & Georgia Tech was placed into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1971.
• November 26, 1909 - Ernie Smith of USC who played Tackle who you can find in the College Football Hall of Fame in 1970.
• November 26, 1942- The Kicker Jan Stenerud was born and is a member in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
• November 26, 1946 - Art Shell the two way tackle from Maryland Eastern Shore who was inducted into both the College Football Hall of Fame & the Pro Football Hall of Fame. 
• November 26, 1947 - Roger Wehrli who was inducted into both the College Football Hall of Fame & the Pro Football Hall of Fame. 
• November 26, 1953 - Harry Carson the Defensive End from South Carolina State who was inducted into both the College Football Hall of Fame & the Pro Football Hall of Fame.