🏈 Iron Bowl Beatdown?

[bamatommy]

It happened in 2008. It happened again in 2011 and 2012. Is it going to happen again in less than two weeks?

Is Alabama going to get revenge for a close loss to Auburn by administering another Iron Bowl beatdown?

All signs are pointing in that direction.

Alabama continues to gain strength and should be ranked No. 1 by the College Football Playoff committee after its 25-20 win over previous No. 1 Mississippi State. The final score wasn't that close.

Alabama rolled out to a 19-0 lead, and Mississippi State, despite showing some toughness in not getting blown out from there, never had the ball in the second half with a chance to tie or take the lead.

Auburn has lost all the momentum it built after rising to No. 3 in the playoff rankings by giving away a game to Texas A&M and responding with the most thorough defeat of the Gus Malzahn era at Georgia.

Malzahn's offense was at least as bad as Ellis Johnson's defense in that 34-7 embarrassment in Athens, and the special teams may have been worst of all, but this is Malzahn's team, and this two-week collapse is his responsibility.

After disposing of Samford this weekend, is he capable of getting his team ready to knock Alabama out of the playoff picture Nov. 29 in Tuscaloosa? Can the Tigers even push the Tide for four quarters?

That's how bad this slide has become. Auburn has gone from contender to potential spoiler in two weeks.

Recent history suggests Alabama will roll because when Nick Saban's Crimson Tide has won the Iron Bowl - especially as a revenge game - it's usually done so in dominating fashion. See 36-0 in 2008, 42-14 in 2011 and 49-0 in 2012. Meanwhile, Auburn has needed historic performances to come from behind to win the game. See 28-27 in 2010 and 34-28 last year.

The only exception of late: Alabama's 2009 national champions needed a late touchdown drive to escape Auburn's upset bid 26-21.

This one smells a lot more like 2008, 2011 and 2012 than it does 2009, 2010 or 2013.

Unlike 2008 with Tommy Tuberville and 2012 with Gene Chizik, Malzahn will not walk into Bryant-Denny Stadium 60 minutes away from getting fired, but the next two weeks will tell us something about this Auburn coach.

How will he and his team respond to the greatest adversity of his young head coaching career? The answer will be found on the scoreboard. It's the only salvation Auburn has left in this season gone terribly wrong.

 

[jlabit]

"How will he and his team respond to the greatest adversity of his young head coaching career? The answer will be found on the scoreboard. It's the only salvation Auburn has left in this season gone terribly wrong."

That's the only thing that scares me about the Iron Bowl this year. Beating Bama would turn their year from a complete bust to one they considered successful. I hope Saban has posters all over the locker room reminding players of the last few seconds of the 2013 Iron Bowl.

 

[rammerjammer]

"How will he and his team respond to the greatest adversity of his young head coaching career? The answer will be found on the scoreboard. It's the only salvation Auburn has left in this season gone terribly wrong."

That's the only thing that scares me about the Iron Bowl this year. Beating Bama would turn their year from a complete bust to one they considered successful. I hope Saban has posters all over the locker room reminding players of the last few seconds of the 2013 Iron Bowl.

I am Dougefresh and I approve the message.

EXACTLY!!!! All the talking heads are saying we are going to beat them. We better not look past them. This would make their century if they beat us.

 

[PhillyGirl]

Gimmie another 49-0 beat down.

 

['65 Cobra]

I hope for a comprehensive beat down. HOWEVER, never underestimate our opponent in the Iron Bowl. Records and rankings go out the window for this game. I do have full confidence, however, that CNS will have this team pumped up for this game - a karmic payback for last year.

 

[psychojoe]

Records and rankings go out the window for this game.

Next week I will go into my annual rant mode about this. For now, suffice it to say that if you look over the history of this game, heavy favorites nearly always win this game, frequently by the expected large amount.

 

['65 Cobra]

Next week I will go into my annual rant mode about this. For now, suffice it to say that if you look over the history of this game, heavy favorites nearly always win this game, frequently by the expected large amount.

I'll be interested to read that. I know last year we were a two score favorite and lost. And doesn't Aubbie have an overall winning record in Tuscaloosa?

Either way, I hope we take them very seriously and avenge last year's loss regardless of how much we are favored by.

 

[sean]

first, i'd like to say i've never been one that likes it when coaches run up the score on a team just because they can.

second, i'd like to say that i hope that happens a great deal in this game.

i want us to go into halftime with at least a 35-point lead and never let up coming out in the second half.

i want a complete and utter butt-whoopin' and for them to be embarrassed by what happened. i'm talking old school here. i want it to seem like we're playing a junior high school team.

i want them to have no answer for anything we throw (or run) at them.

i want Sims to throw for 300 yards. i want Cooper to have well over 150 yards receiving and at least 2 touchdowns. I want Yeldon to have well over 150 yards rushing and at least 2 touchdowns.

i want them to be sorry that they ever ran that kick back. and i want malzahn to complain in his post-game press conference about how he thinks Coach Saban was running the score up on him.

i want 49-0 to look like we took it easy on them back in 2012.

 

[bama alum]

i want them to be sorry that they ever ran that kick back. and i want malzahn to complain in his post-game press conference about how he thinks Coach Saban was running the score up on him.

^^^ THIS!!!

I really don't anticipate this being a blowout, which I want to see sooooooooooooooo badly, but Saban wants this one badly after all the crap of the last year. isn't this the team where Saban was caught telling his players on the sidelines a few years ago, "I HATE THESE GUYS!" We do, too, Coach. Bury them!

 

[TheChief]

Who was it saying, last year, that Bama would not be able to defeat the Aubs for years to come because they had Malzahn, and that because of him the Aubies owned Bama for a long time to come? It was one of the talking heads but I can't remember which.

 

[UAgrad93]

Probably Cowturd!

 

[rick4bama]

I think the talking heads should pull that head out of they.... (you know what I'm trying to say here!!)

 

[RollinInPcola]

I'll take a win. Period.

 

[jlabit]

I'll take a win. Period.

Agreed 1000%.

 

[It Takes Eleven]

I want a comfortable game. Get up three or four scores, crush their will, rest the starters, burn clock and shorten the game to limit potential injuries. Get ready for MizzUGA...

 

[TerryP]

Next week I will go into my annual rant mode about this. For now, suffice it to say that if you look over the history of this game, heavy favorites nearly always win this game, frequently by the expected large amount.

I'll be interested to read that. I know last year we were a two score favorite and lost. And doesn't Aubbie have an overall winning record in Tuscaloosa?

Either way, I hope we take them very seriously and avenge last year's loss regardless of how much we are favored by.

When I see people pointing to Auburn having a winning record in Tuscaloosa there are two questions that come to mind: when, and against whom? There is no denying the record is in Auburn's favor; 5-2 if I'm not mistaken. Is it fair to use the fact DuBose and Shula were coaching in four of those five? That's your call.

What Howard touches on here is true. You can't say "throw the record books out the window." When a team is favored, the vast majority of the time that favored team wins. That's not saying it's a blowout. Those have been very rare in this series with most of the game being hard fought contest.

When it comes to upsets? A little more than a handful have happened—six, maybe seven at the most. When one team is significantly better than the other? Perhaps one, maybe two in the series history. (1984 is the one that comes to mind this morning.) The team favored (spread) has come out as the winner something along 75-85% of the time (though that spread may not be covered.)

 

[TerryP]

There is one record I've found interesting and tends to stand true.

Over the last fifty years when Auburn is playing the Tide, and they have seasons with eight wins coming into the game, Bama leads the series 25-3. Nine wins and the record is 28-10 in favor of the Tide.

If you didn't know, AU is 7-3 to date and should be 8-3 coming into Tuscaloosa. They are staring down the barrel a .500 conference record. (In that case, the Tide leads the series 18-0.)

 

[bamaledge]

I think that the phrase"throwing the record book out the window" is an eye test kind of thing. Judging by the past, it seems like this statement rings true and there were some games on each side that should have won by the "stronger" but weren't. Everyone on this board knows it will be a fight to start with, but I think we break their will and win by at least 2 to 3 scores.