Decade of Dominance: Nick Saban reclaimed Alabama by turning tide in Iron Bowl

It was Nov. 24, 2007. First-year Alabama coach Nick Saban was getting his primary taste of the Iron Bowl on the road at Auburn.

The Tigers jumped out to an early 10-0 lead behind a 3-yard touchdown run by Ben Tate and a 37-yard field goal from Wes Byrum. The Crimson Tide answered with a 2-yard score from John Parker Wilson to make it 10-7 at halftime.

‘Bama would never get any closer, as Auburn pushed its advantage to 17-7 after a 1-yard plunge from Brandon Cox. The Tide could do no better than a 49-yard field goal from Leigh Tiffin with 2:11 left in the fourth quarter — final score, 17-10. It was the sixth consecutive win for the Tigers over the Tide, the longest streak in a series that dates back to 1893.

Auburn dominated the box score with more first downs, rushing yards and passing yards, all while committing fewer penalties.

“Any time you beat your in-state rival and for a record amount of times, it’s a great feeling,” then-Tigers coach Tommy Tuberville said, according to AuburnTigers.com. “It had never been done here at Auburn, six times in a row, and doing it here against a new coaching staff added to it. They had all the things going for them. They came in ready to go, and again, we played well enough to win the game. I thought we played a bit tight in that game, but it was a huge win against Alabama.”

The Tigers had fielded the tilt’s leading rusher passer (Cox), rusher (Brad Lester) and receiver (Rodgeriqus Smith). They improved to 8-4 and climbed to 22nd in the AP Poll. Alabama fell to 6-6 and remained out of the rankings.

“The most disappointing thing about this season is we didn’t finish,” Saban said, according to ESPN.com. “I failed the players in not getting them to be able to finish. There’s a lot of sad guys in there right now.”

The following spring, Auburn had five players selected in the 2008 NFL Draft. The Crimson Tide? Zero. There certainly appeared to be a gap in talent. From 2003-07, recruiting rankings for the Tigers were never higher than No. 10 — but also never lower than No. 29. ‘Bama couldn’t crack the Top 10 and were once as low as 41st (2003).

Come 2008, Saban would break Auburn’s “one for the thumb” streak in Tuscaloosa. He did so fielding the No. 1 team in the country, too.

The Tide have now won six of the past eight Iron Bowls, and they’re heavily favored to triumph yet again Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium. If not for a couple of miracle finishes, they could very well be sitting on eight in a row.

In 2010, Alabama was leading the Tigers 24-0 midway through the second frame. Cam Newton — not just a once-in-a-generation player, but once in a lifetime — led a comeback for the ages with 4 total touchdowns to escape 28-27. In 2013, the Kick Six … well, you know. Still, by all means, relive that moment again.

What’s more impressive? How quickly Saban broke the streak? Or how much he’s practically owned this rivalry ever since?

sweet home alabama

Every now and then, a two-star Rudy outperforms a five-star stud. However, the recruiting services are right much more than they’re wrong.

Historically, more five-star recruits become first-round picks than four-star recruits, more four-star recruits than three-star recruits … and right on down the line. Even Hall of Fame coaches need great players to win.

Name the last college football national champion that wasn’t considered a recruiting monster at the time. Maybe Washington’s shared title with Miami in 1991. Colorado and Georgia Tech split one in 1990. Florida, Florida State, Nebraska, LSU, Ohio State, USC — those heavyweights have been the champ multiple times since then.

To reclaim the Yellowhammer State from Auburn, Saban needed to right some of the Crimson Tide’s previous wrongs on the recruiting trail.

From 2008-16, or beginning a year after his initial haul in Tuscaloosa, his recruiting classes have ranked third, second, fifth, first, first, first, first, first and first nationally. His projected class for 2017? Presently first, of course.

Perhaps most important is his ability to corral the premier in-state prospects. In 2008, for example, of the 16 top-rated recruits in Alabama, Saban managed to sign 12 of them — including two future All-Americans (Mark Barron and Courtney Upshaw) and three eventual first-rounders (Barron, Marcel Dareus and Julio Jones).

The Tigers didn’t ink a player from Alabama that cycle ranked higher than No. 17 Cameron Henderson, who had a forgettable career.

“We have an opponent in this state that we work every day, 365 days a year, to dominate,” Saban once said about the Tigers, according to 247Sports.

It was much of the same in 2009. All eight of the top-rated prospects in Alabama pledged to Saban. Among them were two more destined for Round 1 (Dre Kirkpatrick and D.J. Fluker) and the soon-to-be winningest quarterback in program history (AJ McCarron).

Beginning in 2008, not once has Auburn signed the No. 1 high school player in the state of Alabama. That prospect has ended up in crimson every year with the exception of 2012, when Jameis Winston — imagine what Saban could have done with him at the controls instead of, say, Blake Sims — bucked the trend and chose Florida State.

There have been 19 five-star kids come out of Alabama from 2008-16. Saban signed 15 of them. The Tigers? Only two, just as many as FSU.

“I was set to go to Auburn,” said Josh Chapman, a three-star recruit for the class of 2007 who went on to play with the Indianapolis Colts, according to Bleacher Report. “Then I sat in coach Saban’s office, and that changed everything for me. You just feel he’s got a plan for you and that he’s the guy who will get you to the NFL. He’s got a presence like no one I’ve ever met.”

divine intervention

As previously discussed, Alabama has won six of eight vs. Auburn and is a three-touchdown favorite Saturday to make it seven of nine.

Included in those six victories are a pair of shutouts: 36-0 in 2008 and 49-0 in 2012. The latter was the kiss of death for then-Tigers coach Gene Chizik, who had won a national championship only two years earlier.

Nothing upsets an Auburn fan more than suggesting that this could very easily be an eight-game win streak, as it took a couple of answered prayers — the Newton game and the Kick Six — to survive in 2010 and 2013. That comeback from 24-0 in 2010 wasn’t just the biggest in Iron Bowl lore. It was the biggest ever for the Tigers.

Had any QB in the century-plus annals of football on The Plains played that day instead of Newton, the Crimson Tide close that one out easily.

“It was an unbelievable feeling because we knew the only time stuff like that happens is on NCAA the video game,” former Auburn safety Ikeem Means said, according to Bleacher Report. “To have a comeback win like that? At their house? It’s the biggest rivalry in college football. To come back from that deficit, you couldn’t explain it.”

As for the Kick Six, it’s the single greatest play in Iron Bowl history. It’s the single greatest play in Tigers history. To a lot of people, it’s on the short list of single greatest plays in college football history.

If Adam Griffith’s 57-yard field-goal attempt had only traveled a bit further — he didn’t miss by much — it might have split the uprights and resulted in a 31-28 win for ‘Bama at the buzzer. Even if it had just flown another yard, yet still come up short, Chris Davis wouldn’t have been able to make the catch and subsequent 100-yard return.

“After the season was over and you hear people comparing it to some of the top plays in the history of college football, that’s really the first time you think it was a pretty special play,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn later said, according to CBS Sports.

For the first 59-plus minutes of that game, the Crimson Tide were the better team. You would have liked their chances in overtime.

The only reason that contest even got to 28-28 was a questionable 39-yard TD on an option pass from Nick Marshall to Sammie Coates with 32 seconds left in regulation. The Tigers sure looked to have a lineman downfield illegally on the play.

Five of the six wins for ‘Bama during this stretch were by 16 points or more. Only once was Auburn able to keep it a one-score game, when the Tide won 26-21 in 2009 — no gifts from above were necessary, either. They pulled it out with a 15-play, 79-yard drive that culminated in a 3-yard TD toss from Greg McElroy to Roy Upchurch with 1:24 to go.

Starting with that first one in 2009, Saban’s four national title-winning teams in Tuscaloosa have beaten Auburn by an aggregate score of 146-48.

tide keeps rolling

Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium will be the 81st rendition of the Iron Bowl. Alabama leads the all-time series 44-35-1.

The Crimson Tide are the lone undefeated team from a Power 5 conference this season. Auburn, on the other hand, has dropped three games and is simply jockeying for a bowl berth. Best-case scenario, the Tigers get a Sugar Bowl invite.

‘Bama has a clear advantage at the game’s most important position, as Jalen Hurts has completely transformed the offense — the Tide are essentially a spread-option team now — as a true freshman. With 19 through the air and 11 more on the ground, he’s accounted for 30 total TDs in 2016. Only Tennessee’s Joshua Dobbs (33) has more.

Conversely, Auburn could start Sean White, Jeremy Johnson or John Franklin III. White is the best available, but he’s been limited by injury.

Despite all of Saban’s success in Tuscaloosa, he’s still yet to produce a genuine difference maker at quarterback. McElroy was a gamer but didn’t last long in the NFL. McCarron has been a backup in the pros.

Hurts is different, though. He has a cannon for an arm. He’s incredibly smooth as a runner. When asked to run the various read-option plays that have been added to the system — coordinator Lane Kiffin is quite the chameleon — he seemingly never makes the wrong decision. These days, Alabama’s offense is just as scary as its defense.

The Tigers will be forced to deal with Hurts for at least two more years after this one. Advantage, Crimson Tide.

If you’re an Auburn fan, it’s tough to find light at the end of the tunnel. Keeping up with Saban from a recruiting perspective is seemingly impossible. Life’s only certainties are death, taxes and ‘Bama signing the No. 1 class in America.

“It’s not just another game,” Malzahn said Monday, according to AL.com. “It’s the Iron Bowl. Every year, it’s just as special.”

Additionally, with each passing season, it’s more apparent that Saban isn’t going anywhere. Despite his reputation — well earned, by the way — for being a bit of a mercenary earlier in his career, Saban has already stayed with the Tide twice as long as some expected. This might indeed be the last stop on his coaching carousel.

“I think this is one of the greatest rivalry games in the country,” Saban said Monday, according to RollTide.com. “I know it means a lot to a lot of people in this state as well as nationally. For the competitors in the game, they probably enjoy this competition, this kind of rivalry as much as any game that they play.”

There’s a popular saying in the South that football is more important than religion. That shouldn’t stop Auburn fans from praying, though.

* All recruiting rankings courtesy of 247Sports

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John Crist is the senior writer for Saturday Down South, a member of the FWAA and a voter for the Heisman Trophy. Send him an e-mail, like him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter.