Alabama stays strong in the difficult Iron Bowl and keeps its faint College Football Playoff hopes alive

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – It wasn’t pretty, but nothing about this Alabama season was. In the 89th edition of the Iron Bowl, Alabama edged Auburn with a 28-14 victory that kept critics of the shaky Kalen DeBoer regime at bay and dimmed hopes of a spot in the College Football Playoff held life.

To reduce a rivalry game to the question of how it will impact the College Football Playoff, as the announcers did at Friday night’s Georgia-Georgia Tech game, is to completely miss the point of a rivalry game. Alabama and Auburn have been battling for more than a century, and no newly created playoff structure will dampen the rage, anger and loathing that animates this perfect rivalry.

Whatever happens to the CFP selection committee, it happens. The Iron Bowl is about far more provincial concerns – like who gets to brag in offices, grocery stores, churches, barbecue restaurants and golf courses in the state of Alabama next year.

Nevertheless, playoff possibilities were actually at stake on Saturday – weak, but still possible. When South Carolina beat Clemson just before kickoff, Alabama effectively moved into the “first team left out” spot in the playoff round, meaning a loss by a higher seed might have opened the door for the Tide .

Auburn, meanwhile, was fighting for bowl eligibility and self-respect after a season that didn’t even reach “disappointing” status. Pride was on the line for the Tigers, and pride can go a long way in a rivalry game.

Alabama had to make a statement to the CFP selection committee, and in the first half the Tide made the exact same statement they had made all season: one drive it roared, the next it burped. Alabama committed three turnovers in the first half – two fumbles and an overthrow that turned into an interception – while also scoring two touchdowns from Jalen Milroe.

The Tigers were able to move the ball at will between the 20 – a throwback to Alabama’s difficulty stopping the run last week against Oklahoma – but Auburn managed just two field goals in the first half and the halftime score was 14-6.

Alabama scored on its first two possessions of the third quarter, both on rushes, one by Justice Haynes and a third by Milroe. Even though the game appeared to be firmly under control at 28-6, Alabama and Auburn continued to fight, resulting in a brief rout on the sideline:

Late in the third quarter, Auburn showed the faintest hint of what could have been this season when quarterback Payton Thorne led the Tigers with a 10-play, 87-yard drive that culminated in a clean 29-yard touchdown to Cam Coleman . Milroe, continuing his season-long inconsistent play, fumbled, giving Auburn a chance to get within one possession. But a lofted pass from Jarquez Hunter on a trick play was intercepted by the Alabama 4, and the Tide were able to play out the rest of the game.