It’s Iron Bowl week, minus Sir Nick...will it be Roll Tide or War Eagle?
This game largely determines Tide or Tiger happiness for 2021. Which rational fanbase will capture joy in the 84th meeting?
By: Dave in Tuscaloosa
Photo: Vasha Hunt, AP
Sir Nick won’t be on the sideline today, but the revenge factor doesn’t diminish.
Well, it’s Iron Bowl week...the one where Alabama and Auburn fans lose all sense of reality and the one that defines, for far too many of us, how the coming year will pan out. After all, it makes total sense to base such a thing solely on a group of 18-22-year-olds, who will hold the key to our happiness for the next year...so rational.
The series record stands in Alabama’s favor at 46-37-1. Nick Saban is 8-5 against the Tigers (only 4-3 against Gus Malzahn) and holds a commanding 5-1 edge against Auburn in Tuscaloosa. Since 2000, Auburn has been victorious 11 times to Alabama’s 9. Alabama enters the game as a favorite to win the national championship. However, Auburn has, in 2013 and 2019, ended the Tide’s dream of a possible title. Could they do it again in 2020? Now that Sir Nick is officially sidelined for this one due to COVID-19, will the end result impact his overall record?
Auburn enters the contest at 5-2, ranked #22 in the initial college football rankings. After a slow start, the Tigers have found their footing and are on a three-game winning streak with victories over Ole Miss (35-28), LSU (48-11), and Tennessee (30-17). Offensively, quarterback Bo Nix has had an up and down sophomore season but is looking more comfortable in the pocket as of late, completing 61% of his passes for 1,627 yards, 10 touchdowns against 5 interceptions. In addition, Nix is the team’s second-leading rusher with 284 yards and 3 touchdowns. Freshman tailback Tank Bigsby has been impressive, rushing for 527 yards and 5 touchdowns while averaging 5.7 yards per carry. Bigsby injured his hip during the Tennessee game, and, along with starting tackles Brodarious Hamm and Alec Jackson, are listed as questionable for the tussle with the Tide. Receiver Seth Williams leads a nice group of pass-catchers, averaging 17 yards per catch. He has hauled in 33 passes for 563 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Photo: Todd Van Emst, AU Athletics
Bigsby is Auburn’s leading rusher, and many believe he has the potential to be an all-time Auburn great.
As a team, Auburn ranks 6th in the conference offensively, averaging 402 yards and 29 points per game. On the defensive side, the Tigers rank 7th in the conference, surrendering 22 points per game. Auburn has struggled against the run, giving up 165 yards per game, including 222 yards on the ground last week against Tennessee. Not good news, as the Tide’s running game as of late is hitting on all cylinders. Linebackers Zakoby McClain and Owen Pappoe and defensive end Big Kat Bryant lead the Auburn defense and they are all having nice campaigns. The trio, along with the entire defensive unit, will need to have a monster game on Saturday.
On the other side, top-ranked Alabama is plain and simply rolling and it will be interesting to see if the absence of Saban impacts that fact at all. Offensively, Tide quarterback and Heisman Trophy candidate Mac “Daddy” Jones is leading a relentless, dominant group that can score almost at will. The unit is the conference’s 2nd best and is ranked 6th nationally, averaging 548 yards and a staggering 49 points per game. Jones has tossed 18 touchdowns with 3 interceptions, is completing 77% of his passes for 2,426 yards, and is surrounded by an embarrassment of talent (the entire offensive line, backs Harris and Robinson, receivers Smith and Metchie, tight end Forristall, and the list goes on and on).
Look for Mac “Daddy” Jones to make several trips to Celebration Station on Saturday.
Early in the season, the Bama defense was a concern, yet the unit has started to come into its own. They give up first downs and points, yet they have moved up to the conference’s third-ranked unit, giving up 359 yards and 19 points per game. Led by linebacker Dylan Moses and an emerging secondary, the unit is gaining confidence and has held their last three opponents to 17 (Tennessee), 0 (Mississippi State), and 3 (Kentucky) points, respectively. The unit is still not getting the push or sack production (11 through 7 games) upfront that Bama fans are used to, yet improvement is occurring each week and they seem to be headed towards peaking at the right time.
The Tide enter this game on a mission, with a conference and national championship on their minds. With a win, Alabama clinches the SEC West. They have scored at least 35 points in 20 straight games, and in addition, they enter Saturday’s contest extremely motivated after last year’s 48-45 heartbreaking loss at Auburn, a loss that included:
Mac Jones throwing not one, but two pick-sixes despite throwing for four touchdowns and 335 yards
The Tide doinking a 30-yard field goal off an upright with 2:00 left that would have knotted the contest
The Auburn staff out coaching the Tide staff (yes, I said the unthinkable), creating a situation late in the game where Bama had too many men on the field as Auburn prepared to punt the ball back to Alabama with a little over a minute remained that ended the game and sent Tide fans into utter misery
I have a great amount of respect for this Auburn program, and the Tigers have the ability to make this a game, at least for a while. Nix and company need to put points on the board and keep Jones, Harris, and Smith (and company) on the sidelines. In addition, although Auburn has one of the top kickers in the country, junior Anders Carlton who has made 11/12 field goals on the season with a long of 50 yards, they have to figure out how to stick the ball in the endzone as field goals will not beat the Tide. Defensively, Auburn has to solve the Bama running game riddle if they want to have a shot at this one. Lastly, the Tigers need breaks. The good news for Auburn fans is the fact that the Tigers have gotten more than their share of breaks during the Malzahn era, and they will need a few more to put a halt to Bama’s plans to compete for a title. The first big break has already occurred, with Coach Nick not being able to lead his team on game day. The next would be for Bigsby and their starting tackles to be healthy enough to not only play, but have an impact.
Auburn plays hard, inspired ball, Gus displays several emphatic “Booms” early to drive the Tide Nation crazy, and Nix and company move the ball well enough to make it interesting for a while. However, Alabama’s motivation, talent, and drive to win it all eventually takes over, the Tide offense wears down the Tiger D much as they did against Georgia, and Bama Nation rejoices, finding some good in the world for 2020.
Rollllllll Tide!
Alabama 42
Auburn 23
Bonus: Celebrity Guest Pickers this Week...Dave in Tuscaloosa’s Family (a bunch of homers indeed):
Wife: Son (13 yrs old): Daughter (10 yrs old): Mother:
Alabama 42 Alabama 45 Alabama 56 Alabama 40
Auburn 17 Auburn 10 Auburn 21 Auburn 10
Brother #1 and Niece: Brother #2 Brother #3
Alabama 30 Alabama 35 Alabama 31
Auburn 6 Auburn 17 Auburn 27