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Alabama football: 2 biggest reasons Alabama fans shouldn’t be worried about Iron Bowl
By Marq Burnett
Published:
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – You never want to say a team doesn’t have a chance, but it’s hard to envision a scenario where Auburn has a chance to beat Alabama in the Iron Bowl this coming Saturday.
Alabama is better in every statistical category both offensively and defensively, they have better coaching and they have better players from top to bottom.
But there are two major factors working against Auburn, reasons why Alabama fans shouldn’t worry much.
No. 1, Auburn doesn’t have that overwhelming run game we’ve seen in the years they were a really good team under Gus Malzahn. In the two years Auburn beat Alabama under Malzahn (2013, 2017), the Tigers had a true workhorse at tailback.
Everyone remembers the 2013 game for the “Kick 6,” and rightfully so, but Auburn ran all over Alabama that year. Then-Auburn running back Tre Mason and quarterback Nick Marshall combined for 263 yards and 2 touchdowns on the ground.
Mason was tough between the tackles and on the perimeter. He gashed Alabama for 164 yards and a score while averaging 5.7 yards per carry on 29 touches. Marshall made big plays with his feet and kept the chains moving on scrambles, racking up 99 yards and a score while averaging 5.8 yards per carry.
Last season, Kerryon Johnson powered Auburn’s rushing game with 104 yards and a touchdown on 30 carries. Johnson averaged only 3.5 yards per carry, but he consistently picked up tough yards.
Quarterback Jarrett Stidham added 51 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
This year, Stidham is back, but Auburn doesn’t have a featured running back.
Johnson led the SEC in rushing yards per game last season with 116. Auburn’s top rusher, freshman JaTarvious Whitlow, is averaging less than 66 yards per game. Auburn’s offense isn’t as intimidating when it doesn’t have that go-to tailback.
The second, and arguably biggest, reason is that Alabama gets Auburn at home. Both of Malzahn’s wins over Alabama have come in Jordan-Hare Stadium.
LSU may be the loudest place to play in the SEC (arguably the country), but Auburn may be the toughest. The atmosphere is just different on the Plains when Alabama is in town. It feels like the fans are right on top of you. Given how big the upsets have been, Auburn fans have rushed the field twice (2013, 2017) after wins over Alabama under Malzahn.
It’s typically Auburn’s biggest game of the year. The Tigers want nothing more than to spoil a potential undefeated season of Alabama’s, and they’ve had success in Jordan-Hare.
Alabama won’t have to worry about that this season, and for that, among other things, they should have the edge in the Iron Bowl on Saturday.
Look for Bryant-Denny Stadium to be as loud as we’ve heard it all season when the Crimson Tide and Tigers meet at 2:30 p.m. CT on CBS.
Veteran Alabama beat reporter Marq Burnett covers the Crimson Tide for Saturday Down South.
