Here are a few grades from Auburn’s 55-44 to Alabama:

OFFENSE: A

Auburn dominated the game offensively, and put forth its best offensive output of the season. The Tigers racked up 44 points and 630 yards of total offense on 90 plays against the nation’s second-best defense. Gus Malzahn emptied the playbook and had a lot of success early. Senior quarterback Nick Marshall capped off his Auburn career with his best game as a Tiger, completing 27-of-43 passes for 456 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. The Pineville, Ga., native was locked in all night as a passer, averaging nearly 17 yards per completion and showed all of the talk this offseason of his improvement as a passer was warranted. Auburn struggled in the red zone, however, converting just one touchdown in eight chances. The Tigers had to settle for five Daniel Carlson field goals, which would come back to bite Malzahn and company late.

DEFENSE: C

The Tigers picked off Blake Sims three times and sacked him just once, forcing two three-and-outs in the first 30 minutes. Considering its resume during the previous five weeks of SEC competition, Auburn played above its ceiling defensively keeping it afloat after a disastrous start. The offense rewarded the turnovers, scoring 17 points off the takeaways, and exploded for 20 second-quarter points, giving Ellis Johnson a chance to be aggressive early. However, after Jonathan Jones picked off Sims on the second play of the second half, it was all downhill from there as the Crimson Tide would go on five consecutive scoring drives en route to 55 points and 539 yards of total offense. Amari Cooper went off after intermission, amassing 183 yards in the second half, and Auburn could find no answer for him. Poor tackling and fatigue cost the Tigers late as Alabama did a good job of staying on the field, converting five of nine third down chances and two of two fourth down opportunities.

SPECIAL TEAMS: A

Carlson made all five of his field goal attempts, and averaged 41.0 yards per punt. The redshirt freshman had five touchbacks on the evening out of nine kickoffs, and had a good night overall kicking the football. Corey Grant had a nice night on kick return, totaling 70 yards on three returns.

COACHING: A-

The Tigers’ second-year head coach had his team prepared and ready to play early. The Tigers held all of the energy early as they quieted more than 100,000 Alabama faithful during a controlling first half. Malzahn added wrinkles to the playbook and he and offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee were aggressive most all night in their play-calling. A botched time management situation right before the half potentially cost the Tigers seven points. After a heave from Marshall to Sammie Coates got the Tigers down to the Alabama two-yard-line, Auburn lined up for its next snap with 28 seconds left. Auburn would only get one offensive play off before brining the field goal unit on. Malzahn let too much time drain off the clock, and pocketed him timeouts instead of trying to punch it in.

OVERALL: B+

Auburn played well and competed all night against college football’s No. 1 team. Penalties again were an issue, and was a costly Marshall turnover late in the third quarter. However, for a team that was left for dead two weeks ago after a 24-point drubbing at the hands of Georgia, the Tigers fought and played like they had nothing to lose and — for three quarters — gave the Crimson Tide a scare.