Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Bama aims to avoid Iron Bowl upset
Alabama’s recent trips to Auburn’s Jordan-Hare Stadium have been filled with uncharacteristic misadventures for the college football powerhouse.
The third-ranked Crimson Tide (10-1, 6-1 SEC) have been bedeviled by pick-sixes and even a Kick Six when visiting the Tigers (6-5, 3-4).
“We’ve kind of been our own worst enemy,” Alabama Coach Nick Saban said.
Auburn may need a little help today as well with the Tide coming in as 19 1/2-point favorites.
The Tigers are trying to avoid ending Coach Bryan Harsin’s first regular season with four consecutive losses. Alabama has already locked in an SEC Championship Game matchup with No. 1 Georgia, with designs on making the playoffs.
It’s the Iron Bowl debut for Harsin, a former Boise State player and coach.
“I told the players I’m excited to coach in this game,” he said. “This is one of the reasons why I wanted to be at Auburn. Go back before I was ever a part of this program, the Iron Bowl has been a game that everybody’s watched.
“Everybody knows Auburn and Alabama are playing.”
Auburn has won the last two Iron Bowls played on the Plains and three of four. Two years ago, the Tigers returned two Mac Jones interceptions for touchdowns in a 48-45 win that knocked Alabama from the playoffs. Then there was 2013, Chris Davis’s 109yard return of a missed field goal on the final play.
Despite the hefty point spread and Auburn’s losing streak, Tide safety Jordan Battle has “no concern at all” that his team will get caught taking this one too lightly.
“We know Auburn is the biggest game of the year, so we can’t look past this game,” Battle said. “This is the Iron Bowl, the biggest rivalry, what we’ll be remembered for for the rest of our lives. So we know we can never look past this game.”
Alabama’s Bryce Young has passed for 3,584 yards with 38 touchdowns against just three interceptions this season. Auburn’s T.J. Finley is coming off his first start of the season and has just 463 yards and three touchdowns with no picks. Finley took the offensive reins with a season-ending ankle injury to Bo Nix, who had started 34 straight games.
It’s still the first Iron Bowl start for both of them.
“I’ve definitely heard a lot of stories about how intense it is, how loud it is, how crazy an environment it is,” Young said. “That’s something we know going in.”
Alabama’s Will Anderson Jr. has been one of college football’s biggest defensive playmakers all season, leading the nation with 13.5 sacks and 27.5 tackles for loss.
Auburn’s Zakoby McClain delivered one of the biggest plays in the Tide’s last visit to Auburn. He scored on a 100yard interception return.
“I remember I could feel the stadium almost rocking while he was running it back,” Alabama’s Battle said.
McClain also needs 11 tackles to become the first Auburn player with back to back 100-plus tackle seasons since Takeo Spikes in 1996 and 1997.