AUBURN — The voodoo looked like it still existed. The curse looked like it hadn’t gone anywhere. Jordan-Hare Stadium was looking again to be a frightful place for Alabama football to play, even when it shouldn’t have been.
The Crimson Tide had won nine games in a row before Saturday. Auburn had just lost a blowout to New Mexico State. Alabama should have won by a mile on paper.
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But Jordan-Hare again and again proves to be scissors, cutting up that paper into a thousand pieces.
Yet somehow Alabama put it back together at the very end. The Crimson Tide scored a touchdown on fourth-and-31 to take a lead in the final minute and beat Auburn 27-24.
Here are observations and takeaways from the game between No. 8 Alabama (11-1, 8-0 SEC) and Auburn (6-6, 3-5).
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Fourth-and-31 magic
Alabama had a fair amount of success moving the ball throughout the game. The difference between the first half and the second half, however, was that the Crimson Tide couldn’t find ways to reach the end zone.
Not until it mattered most.
Going without a touchdown for most of the second half, quarterback Jalen Milroe found a way to hit Isaiah Bond in the end zone on fourth-and-31 to take the lead with less than a minute left.
A snapping issue on second down led to an 18-yard loss that set up a third-and-26. Then on the third down play, Milroe crossed the line of scrimmage before throwing the pass, leading to a penalty. That led to an incredibly difficult fourth-down attempt, but Milroe and Bond said no problem.
Auburn runs all over Alabama
The Tigers didn’t try to pretend they had a multi-dimensional offense. They made clear they were going to run, and run in bunches.
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And Alabama couldn’t stop it. At least not consistently. After a slow start, the Tigers practically ran at will. Jarquez Hunter kicked things off with a 42-yard scamper. Auburn capped the drive with a rushing score. Two drives later, Auburn put together a three-play, 88-yard drive with rushes only to take a 14-10 lead. That drive included a 56-yard run from Damari Alston.
Auburn tallied 201 yards of offense in the first half, running for 181 of those.
Then the rushing onslaught continued in the second half. Auburn finished the day with more than 250 yards rushing.
Penalties prevent Alabama from early scores
The Crimson Tide seemed like it had kicked the bad habit of nullifying touchdowns with penalties. A problem early in the season, it dissipated over time.
Then Kendrick Law had a touchdown called back after a hold on a fourth-down sweep. Then tight end Amari Niblack had a touchdown called back because Jalen Milroe threw the pass after crossing the line of scrimmage.
Alabama still held a 17-14 lead at halftime, but the Crimson Tide could have very well broke the game open had the Law and Niblack touchdowns counted.
Nick Kelly covers Alabama football and men’s basketball for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at [email protected] or follow him @_NickKelly on X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter.
Source: https://t-tees.com
Category: WHY
