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Alabama football: 10 memorable Crimson Tide Iron Bowl performances
By Marq Burnett
Published:
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Iron Bowl week is in full swing as No. 1 Alabama is set to host in-state rival Auburn on Saturday inside Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CDT on CBS. With Alabama wrapping up the SEC West against LSU, the Iron Bowl won’t matter from a division standpoint, but it’s still a big rivalry game.
With that in mind, we wanted to take a look back at some of the top performances in Alabama history.
To make it a little more interesting, we pulled from the Nick Saban era and pre-Saban. Chime in with a comment if you agree or disagree with the ones we picked.
Steve Sloan, 1965
In one of the more lopsided Iron Bowls, Sloan put on a show. The senior threw for 226 yards and 3 touchdowns while completing 13 of 18 passes in a 30-3 win.
Ken Stabler, 1967
Stabler produced an Iron Bowl moment that will live forever. With Alabama down 3-0 in the fourth quarter, Stabler broke free down the sideline for the 47-yard go-ahead touchdown to give Alabama the 7-3 victory.
Johnny Musso, 1971
Alabama dominated the time of possession in the 1971 Iron Bowl thanks in large part to the ground game and Musso, who rushed for 167 yards and 2 touchdowns in a 31-7 win over the Tigers.
Steadman Shealy, 1979
With Alabama down a point midway through the fourth quarter of the 1979 Iron Bowl, Shealy took over. He rushed for a go-ahead touchdown and converted the two-point attempt to give Alabama a 25-18 victory.
Van Tiffin, 1985
Who better to upstage Auburn legend Bo Jackson than a kicker? Alabama’s Tiffin was an elite kicker during his days with the Crimson Tide. He connected on 3 field goals on the day, including a 52-yard kick for the 25-23 win.
Shaun Alexander, 1999
Alexander was a beast for Alabama and one of the best offensive players in school history. Alexander rushing for 182 yards and 3 touchdowns in Alabama’s 28-17 win over Auburn, one of many big games in a senior season that saw him rush for 1,383 yards and 19 touchdowns before entering the 2000 NFL Draft.
Glen Coffee, 2008
Auburn had ripped off six straight wins in the series, including a close one during Saban’s first year in Tuscaloosa in 2007. That made the 2008 Iron Bowl even sweeter for Alabama fans as the Crimson Tide spanked the Tigers 36-0 in Bryant-Denny.
After Alabama posted only a field goal in the first quarter, Coffee added the first touchdown on a 41-yard scamper. He rushed for 144 yards and a score while averaging 7.2 yards per carry. Coffee is often forgotten when discussing Saban-era running backs, but he was one of the best.
Greg McElroy, 2009
Looking back on it, Alabama’s 2009 was filled with close calls, and the Iron Bowl was no different. Down on the road late in the game, Alabama needed a drive, and quarterback McElroy delivered in the 26-21 victory. Auburn had done a nice job of containing eventual Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram, so Saban put the game in McElroy’s hands.
Amari Cooper, 2014
Cooper put together the best single season for a receiver in school history in 2014. He torched pretty much everyone on his way to being a Heisman finalist, and he did some of his best work in his final Iron Bowl. Cooper had 224 receiving yards and 3 touchdowns in the 2014 Iron Bowl as Alabama won a 55-44 shootout in Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Derrick Henry, 2015
As far as individual workloads go, it’ll be hard for anyone to top what Henry did in the 2015 Iron Bowl and the 2015 season.
Henry, who won the Heisman that season, carried the ball 46 times for 271 yards and a touchdown in the 29-13 win. Think about that for a second. In the 2017 Iron Bowl, Alabama’s top three rushers combined for fewer than 20 carries. In one game, Henry nearly carried the ball 50 times. He was a machine that season, which is exactly what Alabama’s offense needed.
Veteran Alabama beat reporter Marq Burnett covers the Crimson Tide for Saturday Down South.
