Evaluating Alabama football’s Iron Bowl win over Auburn

Alabama football took care of business in Tuscaloosa on Saturday, defeating Auburn 28-14 at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The Tigers held on and the game got rocky at times, but the heavily favored Crimson Tide did what it needed to, giving Kalen DeBoer a win in his first Iron Bowl.

What comes next is uncertain for Alabama. DeBoer and his players lined up as a College Football Playoff team after the game, but three losses could keep the Tide from announcing the final field after next weekend’s conference championship games.

As UA awaits its CFP fate, here are our grades from Saturday’s win.

Offense: B-

Sales hurt. The Crimson Tide gave the ball to Auburn four times, three times through a fumble and once through an interception by Jalen Milroe.

Against a stronger opponent that would have seriously hurt. However, Auburn lacked the ability to take full advantage, leaving Alabama to struggle another day.

Milroe’s rushing ability was a bright spot after he was completely out of action against Oklahoma. As a group, the Alabama offense made some good plays and would have had a dominant performance if not for the turnovers.

It was enough for a passing grade, but wasn’t particularly impressive.

Defense: A-

Alabama’s defense did its job. Payton Thorne certainly wasn’t good enough to make the Crimson Tide pay for any mistakes, but there really weren’t many.

If there is a ringing sound, it is due to a problem that is stopping the run. However, Auburn didn’t run the ball enough for this to be a major problem.

Alabama got the stops it needed and managed two takeaways, an interception each from Thorne and Hunter, who made a trick play. Holding an opponent to 14 points should be a recipe for success for Alabama in any game.

Special Teams: A-

In this case there are no major problems. The Tigers missed a field goal, which improved the grade for Alabama.

James Burnip hit a brilliant punt to put Auburn deep late in the game. It’s business as usual for the Crimson Tide across the board.

Overall – B

Alabama won the Iron Bowl. It wasn’t always pretty, but in this rivalry it often isn’t.

It wasn’t a performance that would single-handedly propel the Crimson Tide into the playoffs without help coming from elsewhere. But it was enough to successfully complete the task and send some of the UA seniors off the field without a single loss to the Tigers.