The No. 6 Auburn Tigers defeated the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday in Week 13, 26-14. Here are the three biggest takeaways from the Iron Bowl.
In the most anticipated game of rivalry weekend in major college football, the Iron Bowl between the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide and the No. 6 Auburn Tigers did not disappoint. Auburn has caught fire, beating its arch rival 26-14 to improve to 10-2 (7-1) and win the SEC West.
This was Alabama’s only loss of the season, as the Crimson Tide fall to 11-1 (7-1) on the year. Auburn has won the SEC West and will play the No. 7 Georgia Bulldogs (11-1) in the 2017 SEC Championship Game in Atlanta next weekend. It will be the first time that the SEC Championship Game will be at Mercedes-Benz Stadium and the first time cross-divisional rivals Auburn and Georgia will play for a conference championship.
Jalen Hurts’ limitations as a passer were finally exposed, while Jarrett Stidham will play on Sundays. It finally happened. Mobile, game-managing quarterback Jalen Hurts of the Crimson Tide was exposed. He did not play with any precision in the passing game and it cost Alabama dearly. He completed only 12 of 22 passes for 112 yards and a touchdown. 36 of those yards came on a beautiful strike to Jerry Jeudy.
Hurts pretty much scrambled for his life or tried to run the football to move the chains. That was not going to work against the formidable Auburn front-seven of Kevin Steele. The Tigers had Hurts eating out of the palm of their hand all day. Why didn’t Alabama offensive coordinator Brian Daboll use his running backs? Damien Harris and Bo Scarbrough only had six carries apiece. Come on!
Now for Auburn, it was so obvious that Jarrett Stidham was the best player on the field Saturday. He carved up the Alabama defense by completing 21 of 28 passes for 237 yards. Stidham even used his legs, rushing for 51 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries. Simply put, Stidham is playing on Sundays and Hurts will have to make a position change to do so.
Can Auburn carry on without Kerryon Johnson? The bell-cow back down on The Plains has been Kerryon Johnson for most of the season. Once Kamryn Pettway succumbed to injury earlier in the year, Johnson had taken this vaunted Auburn rushing attack and got the team to the SEC Championship.
He was outstanding on Saturday in the Iron Bowl, rushing for 104 yards and a touchdown on 30 carries, but he got beat up horrendously in this game. Johnson looks to have busted possibly both of his shoulders. He nearly fumbled on the goal line and straight up fell to the ground on another play before exiting the game.
Johnson could not move his right arm and this could be very problematic for Auburn next week. Pettway is out, Johnson could be out and third-stringer Kam Martin suffered a bad ankle sprain in relief of Johnson. At least Stidham should be in good shape for the SEC Championship Game next week.
Auburn might have won the Iron Bowl and the SEC West, but this team might be too banged up for Georgia in Atlanta next week. At this stage of this season, college football is about two things: momentum and health. While the Tigers certainly have all momentum, having beaten two No. 1 ranked teams in a three-week span, they do not have health on their side.
Auburn might have beaten the brakes off of Georgia earlier in the season, but this game will be at a neutral site. No more home-field advantage for the Tigers at Jordan-Hare. They might also be looking at their fourth-string running back. That’s not good when going up against a fired up Georgia defense.
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Georgia could potentially be without defensive tackle Trent Thompson next Saturday, who suffered an injury against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets earlier in the day. However, it will be hard for Auburn to beat Georgia twice in a season if they do not have a healthy stable of running backs. Then again, this Auburn defense is filthy and Stidham is legit running this Gus Malzahn offense.