No. 10 Alabama defeated Auburn 27-20 in the 90th matchup of the Iron Bowl Saturday night in Jordan-Hare Stadium. The victory clinched a spot in the SEC championship game for the Crimson Tide and likely secured a playoff bid.
“I couldn’t be more proud of these guys,” head coach Kalen DeBoer said postgame.
Auburn won the coin toss and elected to defer possession to the second half. The Crimson Tide punted on its opening drive after quarterback Ty Simpson missed a wide open receiver as Germie Bernard watched the ball sail over his head on third down. The Tigers followed suit after Alabama defensive end James Smith recorded a sack.
The Crimson Tide drove into Auburn territory and was able to muster a successful 46-yard field goal attempt from kicker Conor Talty with just over four minutes gone in the first quarter.
DeBoer praised his kicker after the game saying that he was proud of Talty after the scrutiny he’s gotten in recent weeks for inaccuracy in the kicking department.
The teams traded punts a few times until Alabama put together a seven-play, 65-yard drive that saw Simpson find wide receiver Isaiah Horton in the back of the endzone for a touchdown. This gave the Crimson Tide a 10-0 lead with 1:14 left in the first.
On the other side of the quarter break, Auburn was stuffed on a fourth down attempt in Alabama territory while the Crimson Tide added to its lead with another touchdown reception from Horton with 11:28 left in the second quarter.
Two drives later, the Tigers drove down inside the Alabama five-yard-line after a poor punt from Blake Doud, but the Crimson Tide defense was able to bend without breaking and only surrendered a chip-shot field goal to make the score 17-3 with four minutes left in the half.
Alabama punted on the ensuing drive, setting up Auburn with a chance to make it a one-score game at halftime.
The Tigers gave the Crimson Tide a scare with a few near shock plays, but the drive ended with another converted field goal as time expired on the half. This made the score 17-6 as the teams departed for their respective locker rooms.
Despite the pair of touchdown passes on fantastic throws from Simpson, the quarterback looked shaky at times throughout the half, missing open targets and nearly turning the ball over on multiple occasions. He finished the half 8-18 with 59-yards.
The Tigers went scorched Earth out of the break, as Auburn quarterback Ashton Daniels found wide receiver Malcolm Simmons for a 64-yard touchdown in the first minute of the third quarter to make the score 17-13.
After another successful Alabama field goal attempt , followed by an Auburn punt, the Crimson Tide took over from its own 35 with a 20-13 lead and a chance to pull away. Instead, it punted away the opportunity to the Tigers.
Auburn looked primed to score, but momentum turned on its head after Daniels had a pass tipped and intercepted by safety Bray Hubbard to give Alabama possession at midfield to end the third quarter.
A frenzied Jordan-Hare Stadium rained down upon Simpson and his offense on a third and long, which the team was unable to convert. This forced the punting unit to come out and give possession back to Auburn.
It only took the Tigers six plays to gain 88 yards to tie the game at 20 with 11:43 left in the game with a rushing touchdown from running back Jeremiah Cobb.
Alabama then put together a 15-play, 75-yard drive that saw Simpson taking a snap on fourth-and-two inside the Auburn 10-yard-line with the game on the line. He delivered in the clutch with what would be a game-sealing touchdown pass to Horton (again) to take a 27-20 lead with under four minutes to play.
DeBoer said that previously in the season he had told Horton that “the ball will find him in big moments.”
He also said that he was both confident in his offense to make the play, while also expressing confidence in his defense’s ability to get a stop in the result that the offense came up short.
The Tigers then came up empty on the next drive and Alabama withered enough clock to punt the ball away with 20 seconds left. Daniels scrambled around but couldn’t find anything on the game’s final play, ending the Iron Bowl and sending Crimson Tide fans into jubilation.
“I’m interested to really see what our team does moving forward,” DeBoer said. “Even this celebration here, it’s exciting, but it’s very businesslike…they’re kind of stuck in this mode where it’s like, okay we got another one. We got to go do it again. And they just keep doing it.”
The Crimson Tide’s next test will be the SEC championship, which will be played against the Georgia Bulldogs next Saturday from Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Kickoff is slated for 3 p.m. CT.
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