Saturday night’s win over Auburn was a bit of a throwback game for Alabama – even if that just meant throwing it back as far as late September.
Alabama’s 27-20 win over the Tigers resembled the games in the middle of Alabama’s unlikely run back into the national spotlight, albeit with slightly less offensive output. What was present, though, was once again a tough defense, a big win in regard to the turnover battle, and a functional running game.
Alabama jumped out to a 17-0 lead and if the Crimson Tide had found a way to score on a drive in the second quarter to extend that lead, it’s likely Bama could have spent the later moments of the second half getting a jump start on its celebration. Instead, Alabama ultimately found itself once again in a tight game in the fourth quarter in Jordan-Hare Stadium, but just like the last two trips here, found enough resiliency to hold on for the victory and punch a ticket to Atlanta for the SEC Championship Game.
Alabama will face Georgia in that contest, which seems like an annual event now for those two programs. Unfortunately for Alabama, an unfriendly college playoff committee has dropped strong hints that it will require Alabama to win its way into the eventual playoff field. It shouldn’t be that way, but that’s what it looks like from here.
Before Alabama gets to that point, though, it ought to stop and admire what it managed to pull off in Auburn. Winning at Jordan-Hare is never a given for Alabama, no matter how wide the gulf between the two programs at the time of the game. This now marks the third straight trip to Auburn where Alabama leaves in charge of the Iron Bowl Trophy, and has performed similar heroics at the end of each of those games in order to get the job done.
Auburn came into this game trying to decide which of three quarterbacks it should use against Alabama. Arguably, they chose the worst option. Auburn has been stymied by bad quarterback play several times in 2025, but Ashton Daniels’ resume to this point was based almost solely off what he did in an overtime loss to Vanderbilt, probably the second-worst FBS secondary Auburn played this year. Against Alabama, Daniels’ issues with accuracy – especially throwing behind receivers rather than leading them into their breaks – was a key factor in stalling several Auburn drives.
Alabama then just needed to make sure it took care of the football and made enough plays while waiting for Auburn to inevitably self-destruct.
Where things go from here, no one can say. It would be incredibly disappointing to lose to Georgia in the SEC Championship Game and then also miss the College Football Playoff. Many Alabama fans would call that a failed season. But 10 wins, with the possibility of an 11th in a bowl, plus wins over all three of Alabama’s primary rivals (Auburn, Tennessee, LSU) has to count for something.
So really, nothing has changed. Alabama is still in survive-and-advance mode. And Saturday night in Jordan-Hare Stadium, Alabama survived for the third time in a row. That, too, has to count for something – even if it just winds up being incremental improvement over the 2024 season, and the extension of one very nice winning streak in the Auburn-Alabama series.
Here’s the Five-Point Breakdown for Alabama-Auburn:
1. Bama’s running game got out of the doldrums, Jam Miller leading the way. We’ve mentioned this dozens of times over the years, but it isn’t necessary to be able to both run and pass at a high level to win championships, or even just be competitive in the SEC. Teams need to do one thing very well and the other thing competently, nothing more. For the balance of 2025, Alabama has been very good throwing the football and marginal running the ball. For the first time since before his concussion against Missouri, Jam Miller took steps to get Bama back to running the ball competently. Miller had 15 carries for 83 yards (5.5 avg.) – not the stuff of legends, but more than good enough to keep Auburn’s defense honest. Miller added 2 receptions for 12 yards. Daniel Hill and Ty Simpson combined to add 70 more yards – including a bunch from Hill on Alabama’s eventual game-winning drive in the fourth quarter – with Alabama putting up a total of 158 on the ground. What made it even better was that Alabama managed to run even though its offensive line had its hands full, as predicted, with Auburn’s quality defensive front. Alabama ended up out-rushing Auburn by 6 yards on the night. This is the kind of thing we need to see more of – starting with the next game, against Georgia – if Alabama is going to make a serious title run.
2. Simpson was put in game-manager mode and responded. Play design helped. It’s been no secret that Simpson, whether it due to the culmination of several minor injuries or simply because opponents get more and more tape of him each week – hasn’t been playing at the level he was earlier in the year. Against Auburn, Alabama’s play designers helped him out with more variety, especially on shorter routes. Isaiah Horton’s second touchdown was a blackboard masterpiece, with Horton coming in motion to become a fullback for a split second, which allowed him to isolate on a much slower defender. Alabama also seemed to take advantage of the one silver lining to TE Josh Cuevas’ absence; Cuevas is a major threat in the passing game but is just on the borderline of what Alabama would like to have as a blocker at the spot. With Cuevas out, Kaleb Edwards and Jay Lindsey spent most of the time at the Y position, although Brody Dalton got some work there as well. It’s quite possible that some of Miller’s success in the running game was due to the changes, because it appeared that Alabama was able to execute better on edge containment in the running game. In the end, Simpson’s stats aren’t going to wow anyone, but 3 touchdowns means something. Simpson finished the day with a better QB rating than Auburn’s Daniels, even though Daniels threw for more than twice as many yards.
3. Going 2-0 in the turnover category meant a lot after a couple of weeks struggling with those figures. Bray Hubbard’s interception in the last minute of the third quarter was huge in a lot of ways, as Auburn was working on a good drive and had momentum. The late fumble recovery by Deontae Lawson needs no sales pitch to make anyone understand how important it was. The big news here is the “0” on Alabama’s side of the turnover ledger. Simpson didn’t throw a pick, and the running backs and receivers did their jobs relating to ball security. In its second year, Alabama’s 4-2-5 Swarm scheme, which promised to come up with big plays and force timely turnovers, is more than doing its job. If you’re looking for the one thing that probably titled this otherwise break-even game to Alabama’s side, here it is.
4. Alabama’s special teams answered the bell when it absolutely had to be done. PK Conor Talty responded in a huge way to criticism incurred in recent weeks, hitting from 45 yards early in the game and then again on a short field goal later. Punter Blake Doud didn’t have his best day by any measure but was still able to pin Auburn inside its 20-yard line 3 times. And Kalen DeBoer proved he’ll make any call at any time not just by going for a touchdown on fourth down late in the fourth quarter, but for subbing in his third long-snapper of the season in a critical rivalry game on the road. Jay Williams handled PATs and field goals in this game after only snapping at the end of blowouts up to this point. David Bird continues to snap for punts. We’re not ready to call Talty “Mr. Reliable” just yet, but he gets his flowers tonight for doing the job he needed to do, against Auburn on the road.
5. Alabama’s linebackers and defensive backs were too much for Daniels, who looked frustrated and was forced to abandon his downfield passing game. Aside from two long plays to WR Malcolm Simmons, both of which were somewhat coverage busts, Alabama made the Auburn passing game non-functional. Cam Coleman had 5 inconsequential catches for 43 yards, and fumbled one of those with the game on the line. Eric Singleton, as we profiled in the preview, wasn’t able to establish a presence more than 5 or so yards downfield. Other than Simmons’ 3 catches for 143 total yards, the only other throw of note was to TE Brandon Frazier, and that was on an 8-yard route that developed into something more. We talked in the preview about how Auburn’s Xavier Atkins was the best linebacker on the field, but that Alabama was better as a unit – that’s exactly what we got. Justin Jefferson, in a low-key way, ended up having one of the best games of his Alabama career. Yhonzae Pierre made an impact especially in run defense, even while losing snaps to Qua Russaw in his first significant action since a return from injury, and Deontae Lawson once again found himself around a loose football in a key situation, recovering Coleman’s fumble. The secondary played a solid game, with Alabama getting especially good performances from CB Zabien Brown and safeties Red Morgan and Bray Hubbard. Hubbard and Jefferson combined to force the Coleman fumble. Auburn may have run up 411 total yards, but it felt like only half of them proved functional. This was a solid performance from the Alabama defense as a whole.
Follow Jess Nicholas on X at @TideFansJessN