Alabama’s postseason fate remains uncertain after beating rival Auburn 28-14 in the Iron Bowl. Auburn forced four Alabama turnovers, but could only convert those into six points. Other than the turnovers, the Crimson Tide offense played well. Jalen Milroe completed 75 percent of his passes for 256 yards. Germie Bernard had a career game with seven catches for 111 yards. The team rushed for 201 yards and four touchdowns. They dominated third downs on both sides of the ball and the defense had two interceptions at critical moments. Kalen DeBoer’s team needed to win and they did. Now Alabama’s postseason fate lies with the CFP selection committee.
Defense Sets the Tone
Alabama’s defense started strong forcing a three-and-out on Auburn’s opening offensive drive. Bama got the ball and Milroe completed a third-down pass to Ryan Williams. But he fumbled the ball as he was tackled. Auburn recovered it and they were in business. Auburn got the run game rolling with a Payton Thorne 10-yard run followed by a Jarquez Hunter 19-yard run where he broke multiple tackles. Auburn got down to the Bama 23-yard line, but the defense got a stop. The Tigers had to settle for a field goal, but kicker Ian Vachon missed the 39-yard attempt.
Terrible Turnovers
Milroe avoided a disaster on a third down when he tried to run and fumbled the ball. Alabama fortunately recovered it, but they were forced to punt. Another Tigers’ three-and-out set the Crimson Tide up near midfield. Milroe took advantage with a 19-yard touchdown run to go up 7-0. Auburn turned the ball over on downs after a solid drive. But Milroe had Bama’s second turnover when he badly overthrew his receiver. It was intercepted by Caleb Wooden and Auburn had momentum.
Auburn drove the ball 72 yards in nine plays, but they had to settle for another field goal attempt. Vachon made this one and it was 7-3. Alabama responded with a 12 play, 75-yard drive capped off by a Milroe one-yard touchdown run. He accounted for all but 11 yards on the drive and the score was 14-3. Alabama got another defensive stop and Auburn had to punt with under two minutes to go before half. If Alabama could score again, this game could be over by halftime.
Auburn Folds
But the team’s season-long turnover troubles rose up again. Milroe dropped back to pass, was hit, and fumbled. Auburn recovered with great field position. After a completion, Tim Smith got called for a hands-to-the-face penalty that cost them 15 yards and put Auburn in the red zone. A beautifully designed screenplay got the Tigers down to the two. Auburn ran it three times in a row gaining no yards. On fourth down, Auburn set up like they were going for it. But instead, they oddly tried to draw Bama offside when there wasn’t a first down to get. They folded on a prime opportunity and took a 25-yard field goal to make it 14-6 at the half.
Two-Faced
Bama wasted no time. A drive featuring two big Milroe passes and four Jam Miller rushes culminated with a Justice Haynes two-yard touchdown run. The 21-6 lead made Hugh Freeze’s decision to settle for the field goal before half look even worse. Now the Tigers’ backs were against the wall and they desperately needed a scoring drive. They wouldn’t get it. Bama’s defense forced a throw-away, a false start, a sack, and a screen pass that went nowhere. They punted and gave Bama good field position starting at their own 40.
Milroe led the offense 62 yards and his 17-yard touchdown run seemed to put the game out of reach at 28-6. But Thorne wasn’t giving up. A 10-play, 75-yard drive ended on a 29-yard touchdown pass to Cam Coleman. Hunter ran in the two-point conversion to make it a two-score game. Auburn needed a stop and got it when Milroe turned it over for a third time, fumbling trying to run for a first down. It wouldn’t matter though because Auburn made the inexplicable decision to throw it backward to Hunter behind the line of scrimmage and let him make a pass. Naturally, it was intercepted by Bray Hubbard. That took the wind out of the Tigers’ sails.
Taking Control
An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the play put Bama back inside their own five. But a blatant pass interference on third down got them out from the shadow of their own goal line. That allowed the offense to settle down and put together a 13-play, 54-yard drive that took 7:54 off the clock. They ended up punting but Auburn got the ball back, still down two scores, with only four minutes left in the game. One last gasp from Auburn turned into a whimper as Thorne forced a pass downfield that was easily intercepted by Zabien Brown. Alabama did what they needed to do and won the Iron Bowl. But will it be enough?
Now What?
Alabama must wait to find out if they make the postseason. The CFP selection committee will decide after the conference championship games if they are one of the top 12 teams in the country. The only certainty right now is chaos. Ole Miss, South Carolina, and Tennessee winning probably hurt Bama. But Texas A&M and Miami losing might have helped them. If the committee is willing to put in four SEC teams, Bama is probably in. If it’s only three, they will be out. The Crimson Tide only had a 19 percent chance of making the playoffs with a victory. Those aren’t great odds, but it’s better than nothing. Alabama has done all it could to make the postseason. Now all they can do is wait.
