The final score of the 2014 edition of The Iron Bowl will be recorded as: Alabama 55-Auburn 44. Analysts and stat geeks will slice and dice the game in all sorts of ways trying to understand how the Tide came back in the second half to win the game in the 4th quarter. For example: Compare the six consecutive offensive possessions each team had from the time the score was 14-3 mid-way through the first period. Alabama gained 96 yards of offense, ran 20 plays, had only 7 points to show for its efforts, punted twice, scored a single TD and threw 3 interceptions. All while Auburn was running 39 plays, gaining 325 yards and scoring 23 points on 3 field goals, a TD and a punt. Then consider the next 6 consecutive possessions. Auburn gains 253 yards on 43 plays, but scores only 17 points, suffering an interception and turnover on downs; while Alabama runs 30 plays, gains 345 yards and scores 5 consecutive TDs.
I know.....it is more than a little mind-numbing.
So how can you wrap your head around this game? How and when did Alabama find a way to win the 79th game in college football's most bitter rivalry? Pundits have already started writing about how Nick Saban challenged the team in the locker room at halftime to play up to their potential....or words to that effect, after all, this is a family-friendly blog....but is that right? Was it a halftime pep-talk that turned the course of the game and, for a week at least, salvaged Alabama's season and kept alive the campaign for a 16th national championship?
I don't think so. I believe that Amari Cooper got it right when he told the ESPN on-field reporter that this game was won long before it was played. "We won this game back in the summer and in the off season. We have already put ourselves through adversity. So we know how to respond when we have adversity in a game."
If there is an architect of this win, it is Scott Cochran. Nobody does adversity like Alabama's strength and conditioning coach. This win has Cochran's fingerprints all over it. The Tide players proved they were the better conditioned athletes.
By the start of the fourth quarter, Alabama's defense, which had been on the field for a punishing 27:40 at that point, asserted itself physically. Auburn, which had amassed more yards of total offense than any team has ever achieved in the Nick Saban era, found itself unable to move the ball, and was held scoreless in the final stanza until only 20 seconds remained in the game. Meanwhile, the offense put together five consecutive scoring drives of 75, 75, 31, 72 and 92 combining precision passing-mostly from Blake Sims to Amari Cooper-and punishing running by TY Yeldon, Derrick Henry and Jalston Fowler.
On the second play of the second half, Blake Sims threw his third interception of the game. Seven plays later, Auburn increased its 5 point lead to 12, Jake Coker was warming up on the sidelines and the Villagers were breaking out their family packs of toilet paper. But Coach Saban decided to stick with Sims, and the fifth-year senior responded like a champion. Over the remainder of the game, Sims completed 11 of 13 pass attempts including three for TDs [Cooper (39 yds); Cooper (75 yds); White (6 yds), and rushed for a TD of his own.
Amari Cooper is the best wide receiver to play at Alabama since Don Hutson. TJ Yeldon is a fierce competitor. The Tide defense is stocked with players who will make millions playing in the NFL. But for my money, there is no better college football player on the Alabama roster than Sims....nor is there a player more indispensable in the last half of the season. I cannot recall a Tide quarterback who has had to engineer as many crucial rallies as Sims. To be sure, other Tide QBs have lead great come-from-behind wins in crucial games. Kenny Stabler and Steadman Shealy readily come to mind as quarterbacks who put together comebacks in the Iron Bowl. But Sims has done it in his only year as a starter against three ranked opponents over the last four games.
There are all sorts of reasons to hand out some tough grades. We had a PAT blocked. The opening kickoff went out of bounds. Auburn set an Iron Bowl record for total offense. But this is Auburn. Reverse the score and there are no statistics that would salvage a failing grade. Instead, Alabama won the Iron Bowl by 11 points, in a game it trailed by a dozen with 10 minutes to play in the third quarter, therefore, here is how I grade the game:
Offense: A+ Aside from the three interceptions, Blake had an excellent game throwing the football. He completed 20 of 27 pass attempts for 312 yards and 4 TDs. Amari Cooper was his favorite target. The Junior wide receiver caught a career high 13 passes and set an Iron Bowl receiving record with 224 yards. DeAndrew White caught 3 passes for 19 yards including a crucial 4th and 3 to pick up a first down at the Barn 39 yard line. On the next play, Sims found Cooper open down the middle for the first of five consecutive TDs. Six different receivers caught passes from Sims.
Yeldon was the rushing leader with 127 yards on 19 carries. He scored 2 rushing TDs and his longest run from scrimmage was 25 yards. Henry gained 72 yards on 5 carries and scored a TD. Blake ran the ball 5 times for 23 yards and scored a rushing TD. Jalston Fowler rushed 3 times for 11 yards.
Alabama converted 5 of 9 third downs and ran a play twice on 4th down converting both, once for a TD. The Tide gained 539 yards of total offense.
Bama had five red-zone possessions and scored TDs each time.
Defense: A+ Auburn converted 9 of 19 third downs and 3 of its 4 attempts on 4th down. In addition to a fumble recovery [Reggie Ragland], the Tide intercepted Nick Marshall [Nick Perry] and forced a turnover on downs at the Alabama 10 yard line.
Trey DePriest was the leading tackler with 14 stops [7 solo]. Nick Perry made 13 tackles, Gino Smith was credited with 10, Landon Collins made 9 and Cy Jones made 8. Collectively, the Tide defense made 9 tackles for lost yardage [2 sacks], broke up 6 passes and hurried the AU QB 8 times.
Special Teams: A+ OK, I admit it .... this is a sympathy grade. Ordinarily place kicking would get an F due to the blocked PAT and kickoffs would suffer a serious down grade as a result of the opening kickoff that went out-of-bounds. I still have not heard whether that was an intentional on-side attempt or if Griff pulled a muscle in his back. I suspect the latter inasmuch as he did not see the field again. The fact that the Tide beat Auburn trumps everything else.
Coaching: A+ The participation report lists 60 players who saw action; fully 10 more than the Tigers. The Tide was only penalized 3 times and gained 649 all purpose yards.
As he was leaving the field at the half, Coach Saban was asked about whether he still had confidence in Sims due to the two interceptions he had thrown at that point. Saban was very supportive of his player. He complimented Sims as a competitor and said that he knows that Blake is upset with himself for the turnovers. Then he turned the topic to the defense. "We are not playing our game," he said. The Alabama game is to smother opposing offenses. To grind them down and make them quit. That is what the Tide did starting late in the third period. Auburn's final TD was in fact a win for the defense since it drained 3:20 from the clock and left no doubt about the ultimate outcome of the game.
There is a message in this game for Missouri and whomever else Alabama is destined to play this year: Never count this team out. Not as long as number 6 is under center. Not as long as number 9 is playing wide receiver. And, in honor of Senior Day: Not as long as the likes of Leon Brown, Trey DePriest, Xzavier Dickson, Jalston Fowler, Brandon Ivory, Christion Jones, Arie Kouandjio, Anthony Orr, Nick Perry, Austin Shepherd, Blake Sims, Brian Vogler, DeAndrew White and Jarrick Williams answer the recruiting call of the best head coach in the game, to be developed, tutored, trained and conditioned by the best staff in the business.
The 2014 Alabama Crimson Tide are the Champions of the SEC West without benefit of tie-breakers and other voodoo. And there is also a message in all of that for the facilities folks at The Capstone: start making plans for more marble slabs commemorating Conference and national championships. This team is not finished.....and neither is Nick Saban.
We've got one more set of Tigers to beat.....Roll Tide, Y'all.
The Commissioner
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