Struggling Bama secondary key for Tide against Auburn
Alabama’s secondary has struggled this year but will be needed to squash an Auburn upset attempt.
By: Dave in Tuscaloosa
Bryce Young looks to have a big day against the Tigers.
Despite being 19.5 point favorites, Tide fans enter this year’s Iron Bowl on edge. The third ranked Tide currently reside in their usual late season position under Nick Saban...SEC West Champs and fighting for a playoff spot. Yet Auburn, under first year coach Brian Harsin, has dropped three straight and will be without two key cogs in the Tiger machine, as quarterback Bo Nix and kicker Anders Carlson will be watching this one from the sidelines after suffering season ending injuries two weeks ago in a loss to Mississippi State. Still, the heavily favored Crimson Tide have had three straight tight adventures against SEC foes that they were favored to beat handily, and as Bama fans know well, strange things can happen in Jordan-Hare. Here’s a stat that will make your hair stand up: Alabama is only 1-4 in their last 5 trips to the Plains. Welcome to the Iron Bowl, version 2021.
Auburn enters the Iron Bowl unranked and sits at 6-5 (3-4 in conference) and the general thought around Tiger Nation is that the season has fallen short of expectations. Auburn has played well at times, especially in a close September loss on the road against Penn State and in an October win over Ole Miss. At one point, the Tigers sat 6-2 and were ranked 13th in the nation. Yet after consecutive loses to Texas A&M, where their offense slept walked through the game, Mississippi State, where they experienced an epic meltdown at home that saw the Tigers squander a 28-3 second quarter lead and lost 43-34, and a head scratching 21-17 loss to rebuilding South Carolina, has left those on the Plains concerned about what Harsin is bringing to the table. Offensively, the unit ranks 49th nationally, averaging 427.8 yards and 30.3 points per game. LSU sophomore transfer TJ Finley (all 6’7’’, 246 pounds of him) is at the helm and in limited action, has completed 52% of his passes for 3 touchdowns and he is yet to throw a pick. His top receivers include seniors Shedrick Jackson (13.8 yards a catch and 1 touchdown) and Demetris Robertson (13.6, 4).
A talented tailback room is led by sophomore Tank Bigsby, who is averaging 5.3 yards per carry and he leads the team with 10 touchdowns. The line has been suspect all year, which could be a problem against the Tide’s powerful front seven. Sophomore Ben Patton has taken the dependable Carlson’s spot, hitting on 1 of 2 attempts. Defensively, Auburn gives up 369 yards and 22 points per game, ranking 57th nationally. Senior linebackers Chandler Wooten and Zakoby McClain and senior safety Smoke Monday are all solid players and are having fine seasons. Defensive coordinator Derrick Mason’s unit has been inconsistent all season, coming up with great performances, like the effort against A&M where they did not give up a touchdown in the loss, yet have also performed poorly at times, like against Mississippi State when the unit imploded, giving up 40 points in a little over a half.
Meanwhile, the Tide dropped from #2 to #3 in the College Football Playoff rankings after a close victory over Arkansas where the offense was exceptional and the defense was anything but. Bama enters the home stretch clicking on all cylinders offensively, ranking 6th nationally gaining 501.6 yards and 44.4 points per game. Quarterback Bryce Young has had a monster season, completing 71.7% of his passes for a touchdown to interception ratio of 38-3. Senior tailback Brian Robinson Jr. leads the rushing attack and has 14 touchdowns on the season. Junior receivers Jameson Williams (13 touchdowns, averaging 20.6 yards per catch) and John Metchie III (7 touchdowns, averaging 11.6 yards per catch) are coming off huge games against Arkansas and continue to have great seasons as well. Junior tight end Cameron Latu has had a few drops this year and had a costly goal line fumble last week that kept the Hogs in the game, yet is still averaging 15.1 yards per catch and has caught 6 touchdown passes. Steady junior placekicker Will Reichard has hit on 12 of 16 attempts with a long of 51 yards.
The issue for the Tide all season has primarily been on the defensive side of the ball. Despite having superstar sophomore Will Anderson (13.5 sacks on the season) and a steady linebacker unit, the defense has struggled in key games and in crucial situations. College Football Playoff Committee chair Gary Barta outright stated on Tuesday night that the reason the Tide slipped from 2 to 3 was because of their lack of domination on defense. The unit ranks 9th nationally, which is impressive, and is giving up 305.6 yards and 19.7 points per game. Yet the secondary has not performed well all year. Whether it be due to misalignment, a lack of making plays on throws, or even several instances where players have run right into one another in coverage, opposing quarterbacks have taken advantage of the Bama corners and safeties to convert on key third downs and have made games closer than they should have been by throwing on the Tide. On top of that, it seems like the Bama corners are constantly grabbing onto opposing receivers, creating more than enough pass interference calls to drive the average fan crazy. Whether Finley will be able to take advantage of the Tide’s back line will go a long way in determining how this one ends up.
This game will go one of two ways...a close, hard fight contest that resembles recent Crimson Tide wins or complete Bama domination. If Bo Nix was playing, I would be tempted to pick Auburn in a close one, yet with him and Carlson on the bench and a Tide team that should show up with an attitude, Auburn hangs in there for a half, Finley has some early success against the Bama secondary, yet Alabama explodes in the second half. Young takes advantage of the Auburn secondary more than Jefferson takes advantage of the vulnerable Tide back line, Alabama wins going away, and quickly turns their attention to the Georgia Bulldogs, which will be a massive challenge indeed.
Alabama 42
Auburn 20