The Iron Bowl. Auburn took their talents to Tuscaloosa to play their in-state rival, facing them for the first time in 17 years without Nick Saban roaming the sidelines as head coach of the Tide.
Saban was placed by Kalen Deboer, who earned his first Iron Bowl victory on Saturday, a feat that Hugh Freeze is still chasing.
Alabama entered this one with their playoff hopes still narrowly alive and win 28-14, while Auburn was playing for bragging rights and a chance to be eligible for a bowl game.
Unfortunately, Auburn lost the last game of their season, so we start with the bad….
The Bad…
1. Offensive Line:
It wasn’t overly unexpected, but it’s still frustrating to lose the battle on the line of scrimmage so mightily.
Auburn was whipped up front. Point blank. They couldn’t move the Alabama defensive line, and failed to create holes in the running game.
Auburn struggled on the ground all game and never got into a rhythm with their rushing attack.
The Tigers ultimately finished the game with 98 yards on the ground, a number that is slightly inflated due to Quarterback scrambles as running back Jarquez Hunter only managed 56 yards on 13 carries.
Mix in the false start penalties, and it was a less than banner day for the big guys on Auburn’s offensive line.
2. Play calling:
The play calling and game plan were baffling in this one. After leaning on a strong rushing performance versus Kentucky, and boasting an efficient passing attack against the Aggies last week (both teams albeit with less talent than Alabama), Auburn failed to establish a threatening passing game or efficient ground game in this one.
Auburn found themselves in the red zone on offence with a goal to go sequence, and were unable to find pay dirt. Whether that was due to poor play calling or poor execution, needless to say they failed to score a touchdown. Very frustrating.
The Auburn defence (we’ll talk more about them later) managed 4 turnovers in this one, which in theory should help set their offence up with good field position. Didn’t matter.
Auburn finished 4/12 on 3rd down, and 0/1 on 4th. Not winning numbers.
The cherry on top was the double pass play call which had Jarquez Hunter throwing the ball into double coverage when Auburn was finally starting to create some rhythm on offence. The aforementioned play was ultimately picked off by Alabama, essentially ending the game.
3. Defending the Quarterback run/scramble:
I know Auburn forced a Jalen Milroe fumble on a 3rd down quarterback keeper, however that was the lone bright spot in a poor effort by the Auburn defence in defending the quarterback running game.
Alabama Quarterback Jalen Milroe finished the game with a total of 3 touchdowns on the ground, using his legs all afternoon to torch the Auburn defence.
Very frustrating.
Would have been nice to have a plan ahaginst a Quarterback you should be familiar with, and that you know is much stronger using his legs than his arm.
No answer for the QB running game in this one.
The Good…
1. Turnovers forced:
Auburn ultimately finished with 4 total turnovers in this one. Really good to see from a defence that hasn’t been overly opportunistic throughout this season.
For the most part this season, they’ve come out on the losing end of the turnover battle, but not on Saturday against the Tide.
The defense forced Jalen Milroe into throwing an interception, and they also faced 3 fumbles, doing their best to assist their offence with solid field position.
It was good to see the defence flying around, making plays, and taking advantage of opportunities by forcing Alabama to turn the ball over.
Nice to see.
2. KLS:
I feel like the transfer wide receiver has been a staple in the “Good” category this season, and for good reason.
He ends up having one of the best wide-receiver seasons in Auburn history, falling just 19 yards short of the 1000 yard mark on the season.
In this one, KeAndre Lambert Smith led the team in receiving, as he caught 8 balls for a total of 116 yards.
He didn’t find the end zone in this one, but he averaged just under 15 yards a catch, becoming a lone bright spot for an underwhelming Auburn offence on Saturday.
KLS proved to be a steady and reliable threat through the air, acting as a safety net for Payton Thorne who was under duress for most of the game.
Awesome year for KLS, said to see him go. He’ll make an NFL team very happy if he ends up getting drafted in the Spring.
3. Young players:
For better or worse, Auburn had to lean on a bunch of freshman and young players throughout this season. They got their first taste of the Iron Bowl intensity, and hopefully that’ll make them better players moving forward.
Cam Coleman, Demarcus Riddick, and Malcolm Simmons (although Simmons had an underwhelming Iron Bowl) all come to mind as players that had profound impacts on this season, and it was good to see Coleman catch a touchdown in this one.
Auburn is going to need to lean on these young players to change the culture of their program and return the orange and blue to their winning ways which we haven’t seen in some time on the Plains.
Luckily, the recruits look promising. Good to see some young players constitute greatly in this one. Sure they took some licks, but that’s expected. It’ll make them better moving forward.
Throw them into the fire and see who fights.
Another season come and gone.
The Tigers entered this season with some loftier expectations, as their coach and quarterback would both be heading into year two in the program.
After some close, hard fought losses last season, Auburn fans were hoping the team could take a step forward on the field this season with a remodelled receiving corps and some exciting young freshmen slated to see early playing time.
Unfortunately, Auburn ends the season with a 5-7 record and fail to reach a bowl game. The stats on paper don’t look terrible for Auburn this season. They boasted the 33rd best offence statistically this season, amassing just under 430 yards a game, while finishing ranked 32nd in scoring defense in 2024.
Special shoutout to Payton Thorne, Jarquez Hunter, and KeAndre Lambert Smith, who along with the rest of the Auburn seniors, now move on and will hopefully pursue fruitful careers whether on, or off, the football field. True Auburn men.
Time to look to the future. The Transfer Portal opens up shortly so we’ll see who decides to join, and leave the Program.
See you again once the Transfer Portal window has closed, both Early Signing Day and National Signing Day have come and gone, and both the new and returning Tigers are ready to take the field for spring workouts.
See you in 2025.
As always…. War Eagle!
