It was a good ending for head coach Kalen DeBoer’s first regular season at Alabama, defeating Auburn 28-14 in the Iron Bowl. Here is the good, the bad and the ugly for the Crimson Tide.
The good
Dual-threat Milroe. It was a welcome sight for Alabama fans to see quarterback Jalen Milroe having success throwing and running the football after he struggled with both in the 24-3 loss against Oklahoma.
Milroe completed 18 of 24 passes for 256 yards through the air and utilized his legs, running for 104 yards and three touchdowns with similar dominance to the LSU game. He accounted for 79% of the total offensive yards.
“I was just really proud of the way he played tonight and he continued to be resilient,” DeBoer said.
Alabama’s third-down offense. The Crimson Tide did a good job of converting on third downs, going 12-18 on attempts throughout the game. The offense’s continuous conversions helped Alabama win the time-of-possession battle, controlling the ball for 36:35 compared to just 23:25 for Auburn.
Part of the success on third-down was thanks to Milroe’s connection with wide receiver Germie Bernard, who had five third-down catches and four conversions. Bernard had seven catches for 111 yards overall and credited Milroe for their connection.
“He is gonna make the throw, and my job is to make the catch, and that’s what I do,” Bernard said.
The tight ends. The trio of CJ Dippre, Josh Cuevas and Robbie Ouzts was active throughout the game, combining to catch eight passes for 92 yards.
It was a good last home game for seniors Dippre and Ouzts, and 53 of their combined 61 yards came after the catch.
Defensive backs made plays. It was an active day for the Crimson Tide secondary, and both cornerback Zabien Brown and safety Bray Hubbard had interceptions. Brown, who also had a tackle for loss, got his interception late in the fourth quarter to help seal the win, while Hubbard busted Auburn’s trick-play attempt and picked off Auburn running back Jarquez Hunter.
Cornerback Domani Jackson continued his breakout season and locked down the Auburn receivers, recording two pass breakups and also recording a quarterback hit. Safety Malachi Moore had a successful senior day, recording three pass breakups and a quarterback hit while laying some big hits throughout the game.
“Malachi, that’s our guy on defense,” Jackson said. “He’s just a great leader, and he showcases it day in and day out.”
Linebackers performed well. In what might be NFL draft prospect Jihaad Campbell’s last game at Bryant-Denny Stadium, he had another busy day, leading the team with nine tackles while adding a tackle for loss and two quarterback hits.
Justin Jefferson filled in for the injured Deontae Lawson and performed well, adding six tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss.
The bad
Only one sack for the Crimson Tide defense. Despite generating pressure for much of the game, the Alabama defense could only sack Auburn quarterback Payton Thorne once.
It always seemed like the defense was just one step behind Thorne, who scrambled out of sacks several times and had 42 rushing yards on the night.
Ryan Williams made some mistakes. Despite an overall respectable line of 3 catches for 53 yards, he had some rough moments, including a fumble after a 19-yard catch that Auburn recovered.
Williams also dropped a pass from Milroe that would’ve been a 55-yard touchdown and slipped on a rushing attempt, which resulted in a 5-yard loss.
The ugly
The turnovers on offense. Despite the Crimson Tide’s success on offense, four turnovers prevented the team from blowing the game open.
Along with the Williams fumble, Milroe had three turnovers. One was an interception on a slightly overthrown pass to Bernard that went into the hands of Tigers defensive back Jerrin Thompson, and the other two were fumbles where Milroe scrambled and was stripped by Auburn defenders.
The offense was able to recover from the turnovers, but it’s an issue that has occurred in previous losses and could cause real problems in future games.
The Iron Bowl win over Auburn now marks five in a row for Alabama, which finishes the season with an undefeated 7-0 home record.
