Another close Iron Bowl in Jordan-Hare boosts Bama, haunts Auburn

 

 

AUBURN — Although it has been the favorite in every Iron Bowl since 2007, wasn’t Alabama supposed to lose to Auburn Saturday night? Wasn’t the Crimson Tide supposed to be too soft? Have no running game? See its playoff hopes and Kalen DeBoer’s job buried under a mountain of Charmin at Toomer’s Corner?

Wasn’t Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson supposed to play like Homer Simpson, panicking and turning it over, as he has against defenses with plentiful NFL Draft choices?

After being dragged behind a garbage truck for five years, weren’t the Tigers supposed to experience a hosanna weekend? Beat the Tide and slam the playoff door on its fingers while getting bowl eligible?

Wasn’t Jordan-Hare Stadium supposed to be haunted, as the esteemed poltergeist hunter Nick Saban claimed? Saban picked Alabama to win on College GameDay — “I didn’t have a choice,” he said — but not without trepidation, acknowledging the Kick Six defeat and some squeamish wins there while wearing the look of a man who was sitting on an armadillo. It’s an environment that often helps Auburn play over its head.

“Credit to Auburn’s fans, they brought the juice,” Simpson said. “But I didn’t see any ghosts.”

If anyone, it’s Tigers fans who should be seeing haints after a third straight loss to Alabama in the final moments at Pat Dye Field, named for a man who said there are no miracles in football.

Simpson put himself in Alabama football lore, proving the Tide was tough enough to drive 75 yards in 15 plays through much of the fourth quarter before stabbing Auburn in the heart with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Horton on fourth-and-2 with 3:50 remaining to win 27-20.

Four plays before that, Horton got called for holding on Simpson’s go-ahead touchdown keeper from 14 yards out. With another chance, and with the ground quaking from the 88,000 fans clamoring for failure, Horton dug into the Tigers’ jumbled man-to-man coverage and grabbed Simpson’s spear between defenders.

 

Avoiding the hot seat

 

It was reminiscent, in a way, of the fabled fourth-and-31 Gravedigger throw from Jalen Milroe to another Isaiah, Isaiah Bond, in the same end zone to beat Auburn 27-24 two years ago.

Afterward, DeBoer plopped down in a hard plastic chair to meet with reporters, which was preferable to the fiery seat he would have found himself on had he lost a 17-0 lead and the game.

Frankly, DeBoer had to go for it to prove something to himself, his players, Alabama fans and those who doubt the Tide belongs in the College Football Playoff.

Asked why he went for the riskier touchdown instead of a field goal, DeBoer had the perfect reasoning and showed a sense of humor that few see.

“I figured it was 29 yards shorter than the last time we needed a touchdown over here, so the percentage is much more in our favor,” he said.

On the other side of the stadium, Auburn had nothing to be ashamed of as interim coach D.J. Durkin put the Tigers in position to win after falling behind 17-0, which had some in the stadium wondering if Hugh Freeze was still calling the plays. It’s obvious now that Freeze was the problem with what had been a constipated offense, which played not to lose instead of to win before putting up 100 points and 1,110 yards of total offense in the two games before the Iron Bowl.

Auburn outgained Alabama 411 yards to 280 with an offense consisting of quarterback Ashton Daniels scrambling when everything else broke down and with no meaningful contribution from star wideout Cam Coleman. Eventually, Daniels put the Tide’s defensive backs in a twist — run when they dropped back to cover the pass and pass when they came up to stop the run. He finished with 108 yards on 23 carries and was 18-of-39 passing for 259 yards, including a 64-yard TD pass to Malcolm Simmons.

 

New era for Auburn

 

Hopefully for Auburn, it has squelched its historical myopia about beating Alabama as its No. 1 benchmark by hiring South Florida’s Alex Golesh as its new head coach. Golesh, also a former Tennessee offensive coordinator under Josh Heupel, may not have been the school’s top target but he is a competent coach who is well-equipped to make the Tigers relevant in the SEC again.

“Alex is known nationally for his player development prowess, ability to shape creative and explosive offenses and his relentless approach to building winning programs,” Athletic Director John Cohen said. “I was also struck by his coaching experience on both sides of the ball. In our conversations, he showed the determination and edge that this program demands of its head coach.”

A few days ago, Tulane’s Jon Sumrall seemed to be the clear choice but a source who knows Sumrall told the Call News he didn’t want to be dictated to retain Durkin as the defensive coordinator because he preferred to hire his own staff. That’s nothing against Durkin — who has the respect of his players and did an admirable job of breathing life into the program after the Freeze debacle — but Golesh could keep Durkin and end up with the best of both worlds.

Auburn didn’t want to wait any longer on Lane Kiffin, the self-absorbed greatest coach of all time, or at least the last few weeks, to decide where he was going. Florida finally severed its interest in the narcissistic Ole Miss coach, pushing Sumrall to Gainesville. For a coach who has never won a national championship or an SEC championship and has been the ringmaster of a circus everywhere he has been, I’m not sure why people are breathlessly waiting to see if he sends up blue smoke to signify he’s staying at Ole Miss, which deep down probably no longer wants him, purple smoke to show he’s going to LSU or black smoke to represent all the bridges he has burned. Had Auburn hired him instead of Freeze three years ago, he’d be hunting a job, just as he is doing now, and the Tigers would be his plan B.

There was no plan B for Alabama on the fourth-and-2, no thought of kicking a field goal.

“Absolutely not,” Simpson said while pressed against the same wall by reporters that Milroe found himself up against in the aftermath of the Gravedigger game. “I told coach all week to just give me the ball. Just put it all on me. And the confidence that he had in me on that fourth down, I was really, really comfortable with it.”

Horton, who has known Simpson since middle school, felt bad about the holding call that took away Simpson’s touchdown.

“He played his balls off,” Horton said. “I didn’t know if I would get the ball but I knew if it came to me, I had to make a play. I saw the man coverage and I said, ‘Oh, yeah, it’s no stopping me.’”

Durkin found little to criticize about his defense on the play.

“We were there, we just lost our eyes for a second and that’s all it takes,” he said. “He made a good throw in that moment. But there were two critical fourth downs on that drive that we had chances to stop them and did not do it.”

 

Character comes through

 

DeBoer said the winning drive — which will stand next to fourth-quarter drives to win the 1979 and 2021 Iron Bowls — brought forth the character of his team.

“I think there’s some teams that hope they can find a way,” he said. “I think our guys really understand that. Nothing’s going to be given to you. You’ve got to earn it. These guys have done that since day one. … I think a lot of things that are part of our identity stepped out tonight.”

The Tide will need more of that because beating Georgia twice in a year will be exceedingly demanding, even unlikely, and the win over the Tigers probably won’t help 10^th-ranked Alabama earn a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff if it loses to the Bulldogs in the SEC Championship Game.

“We’ve got a little bit of wiggle room probably but not much,” DeBoer admitted. “We’ve got to go do it again.”

Carrying over a running game that actually gained more yardage than the passing game (158-122) Saturday night will help.

“I think we took some steps tonight,” DeBoer said. “We needed it. We see really good fronts each and every weekend, dynamic players and big players and we’ve got to block and move them. I can’t wait to see what the next step is next weekend.”

Simpson said he can’t conceive of the Tide missing the playoffs regardless.

“The question is why aren’t we (a playoff team)?” he rhetorically asked. “We’re the most resilient team in the country. I think every SEC team should be in the playoffs because basically every SEC game is a playoff game.”