Alabama, Auburn to face off in Iron Bowl
TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— Alabama’s Deionte Thompson vividly remembers the feeling of walking off the field following an Iron Bowl loss while Auburn fans swarmed onto it.
The Crimson Tide headed to the locker room fearing their national championship dreams had just been crushed after last year’s game.
“It wasn’t a good feeling,” said Thompson, a Crimson Tide safety. “Yeah, it wasn’t a good one.”
The Crimson Tide (11-0, 7-0 Southeastern Conference) lost a shot at the league title with that defeat but did wind up making the playoffs and ultimately winning its fifth national title under coach Nick Saban.
Top-ranked Alabama enters Saturday’s rematch with the Tigers (7-4, 3-4) having already secured an SEC championship game berth against No. 5 Georgia. But Tide players don’t want to leave their home field with that same disappointment and uncertainty.
Of course, Auburn was ranked No. 6 in that game and also playing for an SEC title shot. Now, the Tigers are banking on this one to help redeem a disappointing season.
The 24-1/2-point underdogs are trying to do what no other SEC team has managed: Give the Tide a four-quarter game. Alabama has beaten every league opponent by at least 22 points.
“Anything can happen in a game like this,” Auburn quarterback Jarrett Stidham said. “We know how we can play. You know, it’s not even a year ago that we were on the same field and beat them.”
Much has changed in those 12 months, though. Now, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is a Heisman Trophy contender leading a potent Tide offense. Auburn’s normally strong running game hasn’t produced consistently and the offensive line has struggled to protect Stidham.
Alabama coach Nick Saban is still paying respect to the ground game, though Auburn doesn’t have a star tailback like Kerryon Johnson.
“They’ve always been able to run the ball,” Saban said. “We’ve always struggled to stop them running the ball.”
The stakes are much different for the two teams. Auburn’s gunning primarily for the cherished statewide braggin’ rights. The Tide doesn’t want to leave its fate once again in the hands of the playoff selection committee.
Beat Auburn and Georgia, and there’s no doubt ‘Bama is in the four-team field like every other season since the College Football Playoffs began.
“We want to finish this season on a high note, and losing late is always not the best look,” Tide center Ross Pierschbacher said. “People say you can lose early and kind of build on that and later on have a better chance.
“But if you lose late, it makes it really tough. I think we noticed that last year, losing late, how hard it was to get into the playoff and what it took. We don’t want to leave that up to them.”