Revenge Mission Accomplished: Bama Steamrolls Auburn, 42-13

The Tide rout Auburn to stay undefeated and on target for a College Football Playoff birth.

By: Dave in Tuscaloosa

Mission Accomplished: Sir Nick Saban announces triumphant revenge against their hated rivals.

“No one expected [Auburn] to win this game, but in a rivalry, you expect to make your opponent uncomfortable. Auburn failed to do that” - Josh G., 2020 Auburn Graduate

For those who identify themselves as part of the Bama Nation, boy that was fun. For those, like my former student Josh who pull for the Auburn Tigers, well...not so much.  

Sir Nick Saban, sidelined by COVID and forced to watch the game from home? Sad, but no problem. Covering a 24.5 point spread? Done. Mission to avenge last year’s heartbreaking 48-45 loss to the Tigers? Mission accomplished.

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Man, that was easy.

Behind another dominating offensive performance by quarterback Mack “Daddy” Jones and company, and riding on the momentum of a steadily improving defense that is starting to remind Tide fans of units of old, the Crimson Tide dominated every aspect of the game against its rival, steamrolling the Auburn Tigers 42-13. It was a beating in every aspect of the game, and it goes down as Gus Malzahn’s second-worst loss as the head coach at Auburn (the worst...a 52-21 beating by Alabama and a guy named Tua in 2018). On the shoulders of Jones’ three first half touchdown passes, one each to DeVonta Smith (66 yards where Smith was so open, he was lonely), John Metchie III (a beautifully thrown 7-yard pass in the back of the endzone), and emerging (what? Another one?!!?!) sophomore star Jahleel Billingsley on a 24-yard strike, the Tide sprinted to a 21-3 halftime lead and never looked back. When Smith took a short slant 58 yards for six with 9:09 remaining in the third quarter, the lead swelled to 28-6. Bama would add two more touchdowns and Auburn added their only touchdown on a one-yard Bo Nix run in the 4th quarter to bring the final tally to 42-13.   

Mac Jones and Steve Sarkisian’s offensive juggernaut put on a clinic, as Jones completed 18 of 26 passes for 305 yards and tied an Iron Bowl record with 5 touchdown passes (Tua passed for 5 in 2018...remember him?). Behind an offensive line that has been terrific all year, Jones continued to show great poise in the packet as well as a touch on his passes that are making the lives of the Bama receiving corps extremely enjoyable. Trying to slow down the Tide offense, Auburn blitzed Jones 12 times to no avail, as Mac Daddy completed 8 of those passes, which included 4 of his 5 touchdowns. Smith led all receivers with 7 catches for 171 yards and two touchdowns.

Back Najee Harris continued his brilliant senior campaign, touting the ball 11 times for 96 yards, which included a beautiful 39-yard third-quarter touchdown run that extended the Tide lead to 35-6. Overall, the Tide racked up 445 total yards and moved the chains 20 times. The only bad news on the offense side was a 4th quarter fumble deep in Auburn territory by senior Brian Robinson, and (this is debatable because we at Biscuits & SEC like mentioning this guy) senior punter Charlie Scott, #85 from Colorado, punted a career-high 4 times. The shame of it all.  

Alabama’s defense continued to impress, as the unit has surrendered only 33 points in the last 18 quarters. Auburn’s offense has been off and on this year, and although they did gain a respectable 347 total yards and 20 first downs on Saturday (take away the 114 yards gained in the 4th quarter when the end result was already decided, the Tigers were only able to muster 233 on the day), they could not compete against the ever-improving Tide defense. Auburn sophomore quarterback Bo Nix never looked comfortable in the pocket, completing 23 of 38 passes for 227 yards, no touchdowns, and 2 interceptions. Nix didn’t receive a lot of help, as his line, who started two reserve tackles due to injuries to starters Brodarious Hamm and Alec Jackson, struggled to keep Bama defenders out of the backfield. Freshman star tailback Tank Bigsby carried the ball only 11 times for 39 yards as he was limited due to a hip injury sustained against Tennessee last week.

The Auburn receivers had pedestrian days, as the explosive trio of Anthony Schwartz, Eli Stove, and the usually sure-handed Seth Williams, who dropped a perfectly placed 58-yard touchdown pass with 41 seconds to play in the first half that would have cut the deficit going into the locker room to 21-10, had a combined 15 catches for only 106 yards...an average of 7 yards per catch. On the ground, offensive coordinator Chad Morris’ rushing attack averaged only 2.9 yards per carry. Alabama’s front four produced great push and pressured Nix all day. In addition, the Bama secondary, led by Patrick Surtain Jr, Josh Jobe, and freshman Malachi Moore, continue to read routes well and, as a unit, they are making plays they weren’t making at the beginning of the year. Their ability to play press coverage proved effective against the Auburn receiving corps. In addition, the linebackers led by senior stud Dylan Moses are fulfilling their assignments well and against the Tigers, their tackling was solid. Bad news for the rest of the country indeed. 

Photo: Alabama Athletics

No receiver wants to see #2 lined up across from them.

No question, the Iron Bowl result is going to send the Auburn nation into a funk, and conversation about Malzahn’s seemingly perpetual hot seat will heat up once again. Talking to a few Auburn gentlemen after the game, it's obvious to see that patience with the “Gus Bus” is wearing thin. One such person, Josh, who is in the mortgage business in Atlanta and graduated from Auburn last spring, is as diehard War Eagle as you can get, yet has a true sense of realism as well. After the defeat, Josh texted me, stating “ Mediocrity gets old quickly. We feel like we know what we get with Gus...mediocrity sprinkled in with a good year every four or so years. If we lose to A&M next week, that will make at least 4 losses per year under Gus since losing in the national title game to Florida State in 2013. The highs are high, yet short, and the lows are low and long for Auburn fans.”

Gus fell to 3-5 against Saban (still the best record against Sir Nick in the SEC), and is yet to record a win in Tuscaloosa as Auburn’s head man. Furthermore, Auburn has a slew of draft-eligible players on their roster that are difference-makers, including receivers Schwartz, Stove, Williams, Shaun Shivers, and defensive stars Smoke Monday, Big Kat Bryant, and Zakoby McClain. Is time running out on Malzahn and his run as Auburn coach? I hope not, as I think Gus is a good person and is the best “average” coach in the business. Yet, I know that average doesn’t cut it in the SEC, and as seen by the firing on Sunday of “Overall Terrific Guy” Derrick Mason from Vanderbilt, being a good person absent of key victories doesn't cut it either.  Time, and Auburn’s end-of-the-year matchups against fifth-ranked Texas A&M and Mississippi State, will most certainly tell a lot about the future of Gus Malzahn on the Plains.

It may be deja vu next week for Auburn fans…

As for the team in Crimson and White, the 2020 Iron Bowl could not have gone better. To add to Tide Nation’s ecstasy, earlier in the week it was announced that the postponed LSU game would be rescheduled for this Saturday, December 5th. That gives Bama the opportunity to avenge both losses from last year in the span of eight days. Only news of a Jaylen Waddle return (which might happen should the Tide make the college football playoffs...wouldn’t that be something?) could make this season better….and a pounding of LSU would be nice as well. 

It’s becoming more and more obvious that if a team is going to beat Alabama, they will need to put up 40-plus points. With Bama’s defense getting better each week, how many teams in the country will be able to do that?  Florida, Clemson, or Ohio State? Perhaps, on terrific offensive days. Anyone else, highly doubtful, but we will see. For now, those of us loyal to the Crimson and White aren’t thinking about the playoffs just yet. 

Instead, we will revel in our Iron Bowl rout, and dream of a repeat performance this coming Saturday in Baton Rouge.

Roll Tide!