Iron Bowl rivalry hooks participants early, latches on
Alabama fifth-year senior center Ross Pierschbacher is from Cedar Falls, Iowa, which is a long way away from the annual Iron Bowl showdown.
Pierschbacher was a couple of days into his career with the Crimson Tide when he went through fan day festivities inside Bryant-Denny Stadium and quickly learned of the rivalry’s importance.
“Everyone kept coming up to me and saying, ‘Hey, are you guys going beat Auburn this year?’” Pierschbacher said this week in a news conference. “I was like,
‘Well, we’ll get to that game when it comes. We’ve got to focus on fall camp first.’
“I understand it a little more now than I did.”
Pierschbacher arrived at Alabama in 2014, which was on the heels of Auburn’s frenzied 34-28 victory in 2013, yet the questions from Crimson Tide fans about winning the Iron Bowl never went away. Auburn prevailed 26-14 in last year’s showdown, but the 6-foot-4, 309-pounder did get to experience three consecutive rivalry wins with the games in between.
Alabama and Auburn will play Saturday afternoon in Tuscaloosa, with the Crimson Tide heavily favored to start another streak.
“Back in high school, I watched the (ESPN) ‘Roll Tide/War Eagle’ documentary,” Pierschbacher said. “I thought it was cool just how crazy everyone was down here about this game. Having played in it now, it’s been a lot of fun.”
The Iron Bowl is nothing new for the two head coaches, with Alabama’s Nick Saban entering his
12th such showdown having produced a 7-4 record. Saban has experienced everything from a 49-0 cruise in the 2012 game to the heartbreak of the contest two years earlier, when his Tide built a 24-0 lead only to watch quarterback Cam Newton rally the Tigers to a 28-27 triumph.
Saban’s first Iron Bowl was a 17-10 loss in 2007, which not only introduced him to the competitiveness of the rivalry but all that surrounds it.
“I don’t think you fully understand and appreciate the tradition that’s involved in this rivalry until you play in the game,” Saban said, “so the first one I coached in however many years ago — I kind of had the moment then. I realized how important this was to so many people on both sides.”
Two years after the 2007 matchup, current Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn was in his first of three seasons as the Tigers’ offensive coordinator. The Iron Bowl has a recent history of either Alabama winning handily or Auburn prevailing by a close call, but the 2009 game was an aberration, as the Crimson Tide pulled out a 26-21 victory on a 4-yard touchdown pass from Greg McIlroy to Roy Upchurch with 1:24 remaining.
Malzahn is in his sixth season as Auburn’s head coach, so Saturday will be his ninth Iron Bowl.
“You hear about it, but this is one of those rivalries that you have to experience it to fully understand it,” Malzahn said. “It just takes you one time.”
Alabama holds a 45-361 series advantage, but Auburn is 19-17 in the rivalry since Bo Jackson went over the top for a 23-22 win in the 1982 game at Legion Field in Birmingham. The Crimson Tide won nine straight meetings under Bear Bryant from 1973 to 1981, and the Tigers snagged six in a row under Tommy Tuberville from 2002 to 2007.
It’s a rivalry that has been ranked as the best in college football and one of the best in all of sports, but with that comes obstacles that the players must overcome. Auburn’s win last season resulted in an SEC West championship, but the Tigers are 7-4 and trying to play spoilers this season for the 11-0 and topranked Tide.
“With the Iron Bowl, whatever happened in the previous game is something you’ve got to hear about the entire year,” Alabama sophomore receiver Henry Ruggs said. “You actually will hear about it for years, because the fans love to harp on their victories and will talk about them for years.”
Said Tide redshirt junior safety Deionte Thompson: “There are always a lot of extracurricular activities leading up to this game, and you can’t buy into any of them.”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.