The Good and the Bad in Alabama’s Iron Bowl Win over Auburn: Crimson Tide Film Study

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – It was the biggest question all week: Which Alabama team would face Auburn? The dominant team that has flashed at times this season, or the flat team that is prone to insane losses like Oklahoma did last week.

The answer was somewhere in between with the 28-14 win in the Iron Bowl, but most importantly, Alabama extended its winning streak over the Tigers to five in a row. Then a few surprises opened the door a little more to a possible bid for the College Football Playoff.

“It’s not this crazy party (in the locker room),” coach Kalen DeBoer said. “It’s just about love and caring for each other and smiling. That’s what it’s about: coming together every week, the ups and downs. It was a great ride in many ways. Of course there are times when you would like a few things to go a little better.”

DeBoer’s sentiments summed up Alabama’s season and Saturday’s game. Alabama and Auburn were the teams they played all season. Alabama had great moments and really bad moments, but its talent prevailed, as it has most times this season. Auburn played a good game on paper (25 first downs on offense, four forced turnovers on defense), but poor situational football and poor turnovers negated the good stats.

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Now Alabama waits to find out its postseason fate. The final Alabama film study of the regular season is here. This week’s edition breaks down the pros and cons of Saturday, and there was plenty of both to make up the story of this season.

Good: The running game

The lack of a running game against Oklahoma (70 yards) was a catalyst for the 24-3 loss. Outside of that game, Alabama finished the season on the ground as follows: Missouri (271 yards), LSU (311), Mercer (189) and Auburn (201). The result on Saturday was a 13-minute possession advantage and mostly manageable third downs (Alabama converted 12 of 18 attempts).

Alabama’s defense held Auburn running back Jarquez Hunter (27) to 56 yards on Saturday. (Jake Crandall/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)

The most pleasant surprise was the intent to give Jam Miller the ball. The junior running back rushed a career-high 28 times for 84 yards. That’s not an overwhelming run, but 25 of Miller’s 28 runs were positive and he had some important moments as the game progressed.

This run on first down was the first touchdown of the game. Kadyn Proctor and Danny Lewis did good work at the rim, and Miller showed athleticism in making the defender miss for a 14-yard gain.

Jalen Milroe returned to the ground attack with 17 carries for 104 yards and three touchdowns. Unlike last week in Oklahoma, the offensive line played much more synchronized in the running game and received a constant boost. This play design by offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan was good, with misdirection to shut down the defense, good blocks on the perimeter and Milroe escaping the defense to score. Milroe’s 20 rushing touchdowns this year puts him in a rare class of SEC quarterbacks to do that: Johnny Manziel, Cam Newton and Tim Tebow.

Bad: ball security

This has been a difficult situation over the last two weeks. There were seven turnovers, and Milroe was responsible for six of them (three interceptions, three fumbles). What hurt most about the four turnovers against Auburn was that each one came at a time when Alabama could have opened the game. Here is an example of the first half:

Alabama scored a touchdown on the previous drive, forced a three-and-out and got the ball back with a chance to score again before halftime. But on the first play of the series, Proctor was badly beaten on the sidelines. Milroe never felt the pressure and the result was a strip sack. Auburn converted that mistake into a field goal before halftime.

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Ball security errors included a fumble by Ryan Williams on the first possession of the game, him dropping a touchdown pass, and CJ Dippre dropping a touchdown pass in the first half.

Good: The defense set the tone

Alabama’s defense had a lot of good things going for it, especially the fact that it only allowed six points on four turnovers. What led to this success? The Tide forced Auburn into long-yardage situations by playing well on first and second downs.

Auburn running back Jarquez Hunter led the SEC in yards per carry (6.4) entering the game. Auburn didn’t have a run of more than 10 yards after the first quarter. Hunter posted his second-lowest rushing total of the year (56 yards), thanks to a physical effort from the defense.

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This play came at a critical time: Auburn was trying to drive and take an early lead. Qua Russaw did his job poorly and made the tackle. Auburn then missed a field goal.

Overall, Auburn’s average third-down distance was 7.9 yards and he converted just 4 of 12 attempts.

My pregame prediction emphasized that Alabama had to earn the right to rush the passer through good play on early downs. This was demonstrated on Saturday with strong results. That crucial third down was a slam dunk by defensive coordinator Kane Wommack. Auburn’s Payton Thorne was forced to get the ball out quickly and Malachi Moore delivered a big hit to force the incompletion.

Alabama masked that pressure. It looked like the above, but this time two defenders went into coverage and Moore blitzed out of the secondary. Thorne rolled right into the pressure, resulting in an incompletion.

Bad: Explosive plays allowed

Most of Auburn’s yards (281 of 399) came from passes of more than 15 yards and runs of more than 10 yards. Alabama’s defense held firm when it needed to, but allowing so many chunk plays (14 total) made the game more difficult than necessary.

Once again, tackling in the open field was Alabama’s nemesis. On this play, a potential second-and-short turned into an explosive play as DeVonta Smith missed the tackle and Auburn’s KeAndre Lambert-Smith spun up for a good lead.

After a fumble by Milroe in the fourth quarter, Auburn put itself in scoring position with another pass to Lambert-Smith when he missed a defender and turned it into an explosive play.

But a few plays later, Bray Hubbard intercepted Thorne and put the game back in Alabama’s favor.

Good: Bernard

This route from Bernard came at an important time. Leading 28-14 midway through the fourth quarter, Alabama looked to run out the clock. Bernard ran a nice route, keeping the defender guessing until he gained a 10-yard gain.

On the very next play, Bernard made a nice block on the perimeter to give Dippre an explosive lead and more free play time. This two-game snapshot shows who Bernard has been all season.

He finished his career with a career-high 111 yards on seven catches. He’s not the flashiest player on the team, but Bernard has been one of the most reliable in almost every way. On Saturday, three of his seven catches came at third. He was a good security blanket all season, finishing the regular season with 46 catches for 714 yards and two touchdowns.

He and Williams will have a strong one-two finish next season.

(Top photo by Jaeden Roberts: Jason Clark / Getty Images)