Alabama football seeks vengeance in Iron Bowl vs. Auburn in Week 13

Alabama football hopes to avenge its lone loss from last season against Auburn as the Tide look to finish the regular season undefeated.

Alabama is 33-1 in their last 34 regular season games, the one coming last season in an ambush on The Plains that saw the Crimson Tide turn in a miserable performance in a 26-14 loss to Auburn that snapped their three game Iron Bowl winning streak.

The loss last season knocked Alabama out of the SEC Championship Game, with the Tigers taking the West instead. Alabama still managed to get a berth into the College Football Playoff, and made the most of it by beating Clemson and Georgia to win their fifth national championship in the last nine years.

Outside of bragging rights, this 83rd edition of the Iron Bowl doesn’t have much consequence nationally. At 11-1, with a spot in next week’s SEC Championship Game already secured, the only thing this could affect for the Crimson Tide is playoff seeding. A loss this week and a win over Georgia next week would still put Alabama into the playoff.

Nick Saban has fielded his most dominant team to date, with leading Heisman candidate Tua Tagovailoa keying an offense that has set an SEC record with seven 50-plus point performances. Alabama has yet to be seriously challenged, winning all 11 of their games so far by 22 points or more.

Auburn entered the season with hopes of a second straight SEC West crown, with the dream of finishing the job this time around and earning the program’s first playoff berth. An early season loss to LSU, and then back-to-back October losses to Mississippi State and Tennessee, derailed those plans early in the season.

Tigers fans have bemoaned the amount of money owed to Gus Malzhan to buy out the remainder of his contract, but Malzhan will be back in the good graces of the faithful if he can get the better of Saban for the second year in a row.

Here’s how you can watch the Iron Bowl on Saturday afternoon:

Date: Saturday, Nov. 24
Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
Location: Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Venue: Bryant-Denny Stadium
TV: CBS
Live Stream: CBS Sports Live | FuboTV

Keys to Victory

Can Alabama maintain offensive balance by establishing the run against a stout Auburn front-seven? After running the ball effectively early against Mississippi State a couple of weeks ago, the Crimson Tide struggled up front, which allowed the Bulldogs to tee off on Tua in the second half. Starting left guard Deonte Brown is expected to play, and he has been key to Alabama’s resurgence running the football. With Damien Harris clearing concussion protocol, Alabama will hope to get him, Josh Jacobs, and Najee Harris going to prevent Auburn from consistently sending the house and getting hits on Tua.

For Auburn, continuing their redzone stinginess defensively will be key against one of the most explosive offenses in the nation. On the season, Auburn has allowed only nine touchdowns on 31 opposing redzone possessions. If they can force Alabama to trot out their adventurous field goal unit inside-the-20, instead of watching Tua celebrate a touchdown throw, then Auburn might have a shot to keep this game competitive and steal a win in Tuscaloosa.

Joseph Bulovas missed two more extra points last week, bringing Alabama’s total up to eight for the season. As maligned as Alabama’s kicking game has been over the years, it has never been worse than it is right now. If Auburn can force some field goal attempts, a few misses could allow the Tigers to keep the game close into the fourth quarter.

Betting Odds

Odds courtesy of oddsshark.com

Point Spread: Alabama -24
Over/Under: 52.5

Prediction

Auburn has the talent defensively, particularly up front, to make life tough on Alabama’s offense. I just don’t see Jarrett Stidham and company putting enough points on the board offensively to keep this game competitive for too long. You can’t keep Tua and the Tide offense down for long, with talented receivers like Jerry Jeudy, Henry Ruggs, and Jaylen Waddle causing numerous matchup issues on the outside for the Auburn secondary. Look for Alabama’s defense to continue its resurgence, harassing Stidham from the opening whistle, and for some big plays from Tua as he makes another Heisman statement.

Final Score: Alabama 41, Auburn 13