The team was led by head coach Frank Thomas, in his first year, and played their home games at Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, at Legion Field in Birmingham and at the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Alabama.
The Crimson Tide responded from the loss to win their final five regular season games against Sewanee, Kentucky, Florida, Clemson and Vanderbilt.
Alabama then competed in a pair of charity games scheduled in early November to follow the regular season finale against Vanderbilt.
Although Alabama did have considerable success on the field, tragedy did strike the team on November 17 when freshman center James Richard Nichols died from complications due to a spinal injury he suffered during a football practice.
[3] On July 26, 1930, former Chattanooga head and then Georgia assistant coach Frank Thomas was announced as Wade's successor by the University Athletic Committee.
[18][19] The Crimson Tide took a 14–0 lead into halftime after Leon Long scored on touchdown runs of one-yard in the first and five-yards in the second quarter.
[20] In what was Frank Thomas' first SoCon game as Alabama head coach, the Crimson Tide defeated the Ole Miss Rebels 55–6 at Denny Stadium.
Touchdowns were scored twice by Erskine Walker and Ben Smith and once each by Howard Chappell, Hillman Holley, Larry Hughes and Leon Long.
[27] Johnny Cain then scored on a short run in the second, and after a scoreless third quarter, the Crimson Tide closed the game with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns.
[29] The Crimson Tide then took a 9–7 lead early in the fourth quarter when both Tom Hupke and Jennings B. Whitworth blocked a Ralph Kercheval punt that rolled out of the endzone for a safety.
[19][31] After a scoreless first quarter, Alabama scored a pair of second-quarter touchdowns on short runs by Johnny Cain and Leon Long to take a 14–0 halftime lead.
[35] In early November, university officials announced the football team would participate in a pair of charity games after the scheduled season finale against Vanderbilt.
[36] The two games included one against Chattanooga where the 1931 squad would compete, and an all-star exhibition in Washington, D.C. that would feature graduating seniors and former Crimson Tide players.
[36] Each of the two games was played as part of a national campaign to raise money for unemployment relief due to the effects of the Great Depression.
[36] In the first of the two scheduled charity games, Alabama defeated the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association champion Chattanooga Moccasins 39–0 at Chamberlain Field.
[40] The game was played at Griffith Stadium and featured three separate contests against George Washington, Catholic University and Georgetown.
[40][41] Each of the three games consisted of two, ten-minute halves, and because the Alabama team was playing three separate squads, the Crimson Tide was allowed to make unlimited substitutions.
[41] In the final game, Alabama tied Georgetown 0–0 after Long intercepted a Hoyas pass in the endzone on a fourth-and-three play late in the second period.