Slowing a Crimson Tide running game that features Kenyan Drake (17) and T.J. Yeldon will be a big task for Auburn's defense. (Spruce Derden-USA TODAY Sports)
What could be better than an Iron Bowl with championship implications?
Actually calling the game the Iron Bowl is the mistake. With the game now being played on the two campuses it no longer should be called Iron Bowl. But it was known that way for so long that it became ingrained in our minds.
The same way the Florida-Georgia game is still thought of as the “World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party” and always will be while the game is played in Jacksonville despite the efforts of the city and of Georgia president Michael Adams to drop the moniker.
This year’s Alabama-Auburn game has more on the line than the SEC West title and a trip to Atlanta to play for the SEC championship. There are also national title implications on the line as well.
If Alabama wins, the Crimson Tide will stay on track for a third consecutive national championship. But if Auburn wins, and the Tigers are good enough to pull off the upset, the Tigers are in a position to jump feet-first into the BCS national championship picture.
And wouldn’t that be ironic considering the BCS snubbed the undefeated Tigers in 2004.
But there will be plenty of talk about what’s on the line this year. Even if none of the championship aspects of the game were on the line, it would still be Auburn vs. Alabama — and that would be enough to get the blood flowing a little faster.
Think back over all the great moments this rivalry has given us over the years Picking the best would probably be decided by which team you followed, but the rivalry’s top games have earned their own titles over the years.
Auburn fans think back on “Punt Bama, Punt” or “Bo Over The Top.” Of course no Auburn fan can think about the first time Alabama came to Jordan-Hare in 1989 without having a catch in the throat or a tear in the eye. That was on Dec. 2, 1989 and Alabama was ranked No. 2 and undefeated. But the Tigers won it 30-20 and the series was changed forever.
The Iron Bowl only returned to Birmingham’s Legion Field as a neutral site one more time, the final true Iron Bowl game in 1991. Alabama continued to play the game in Birmingham when it was its turn to be the home team until 2000.
Alabama fans think lovingly back on Van Tiffin’s kick or Ken Stabler’s 47-yard touchdown run in the mud. But the memories also bring back other moments that have taken place in the rivalry that don’t immediately come to mind.
There was Ray Ogden’s 107-yard kickoff return in 1964 as Alabama won 21-14 on Thanksgiving Day.
Connie Frederick surprised Alabama, and his own coach, by not punting in an obvious punting situation and running for a 84-yard touchdown in a 49-26 Auburn win in 1969.
Then there was the year of the comeback in 1970 when Pat Sullivan looked a 17-0 deficit in the eye and didn’t blink as he led the Tigers back for a 33-28 win.
In 1971 both teams were undefeated, but Johnny Musso led Alabama to a 31-7 win over Sullivan, the Tigers’ Heisman Trophy winner.
The 2000s saw the game have some extremely memorable moments. And in the past four years the winner of the Iron Bowl has went on to win the BCS national title.
In 2005, Auburn made life miserable for Alabama quarterback Brodie Croyle by sacking him an amazing 11 times in a 28-18 Auburn victory.
Auburn took six straight wins in the series in the 2000s until Alabama won 36-0 in 2008. That was Tommy Tuberville’s final game as the Auburn coach. The Tide then went on to the SEC Championship Game and Tuberville went on to eventual coaching jobs at Texas Tech and now Cincinnati.
Alabama got the upper hand in 2009 when Greg McElroy led Alabama on a 79-yard drive late in the fourth quarter that concluded when McElroy threw a touchdown pass to Roy Upchurch with 1:24 left in the game for a 26-21 win that led to a national championship for the Tide.
The next year in Bryant-Denny Stadium, Alabama led 24-0 before Cam Newton took over and led Auburn to a victory. And, just like Alabama the previous season, the win paved the way for a national championship for Gene Chizik’s Tigers.
The Prediction: Alabama should beat Auburn, but it won’t be easy. Alabama 31-27.
The SEC Crystal Ball sees this for the final weekend of the regular season:
Florida State will destroy Florida 52-7.
Vanderbilt will keep its November winning streak alive by beating Wake Forest 38-21.
Georgia Tech will beat Georgia playing without Aaron Murray 28-14.
Clemson will knock off South Carolina 31-28.
In conference games, Ole Miss will beat Mississippi State on Thanksgiving 24-10.
On Friday LSU will beat Arkansas 49-7 to wind up Bret Bielema’s first season in Fayetteville on a nine-game losing streak.
On the final Saturday of the regular season, Tennessee will beat Kentucky 17-10.
Missouri will down Texas A&M 38-21 to lock down the SEC East championship.
