Tried not to read any of the others yet besides some early entries right after the game, but I'm sure a lot of this has already been covered since I'm late posting.
Good- A win over auburn. ALWAYS good. Always.
Isaiah Horton stepped up... what a time for his best game. He'll remember that one. Something about WR's named Isaiah that score big TD's in auburn for The Tide.
Jam Miller ran hard... still left some yards on the table, but he ran hard. That was good to see, up until his injury.
As a whole, the OL played well. Tough environment for them to communicate, but they did it well with few penalties. Brailsford played on 1 leg and held up ok. They opened some nice holes in the run game, especially early. Had a lot thrown at them in pass pro, and were not helped by some of the calls or Simpson's decisions at times. Cuevas being out hurt here a bit too, but they managed. The young TE's are having to grow up fast right now.
On defense... James Smith showed up and played hard. Lawson, Jefferson, and Nikahi Hill-Green all played well... Saab was sticking his nose in places trying to make things happen... Hubbard was good as always, dude is just an absolute menace out there... Red Morgan was good, Zabien Brown was spectacular in coverage.
Conor Freaking Talty. Dude goes out there and nails his first FG from 45 yards... then hits the other later from about 30. Good for him.
Bad- As mentioned before, he's playing through some stuff, but Ty Simpson still isn't taking some of the easier passes. He's still trying to force things instead. His touch on his passes is still lost as well. Credit where it's due... Ty's 3 TD passes were all really well thrown/placed balls. He also used his legs tonight to extend drives, knowing he was going to get pounded a time or two while doing so. Not his best game by any means, but he was out there giving it all he had. Respect for that.
A couple of busted plays/bad tackling on defense led to 14 of auburn's points.
Ugly- Up 17-0 and momentum all on Bama's side, Grubb calls his dumb trick play that blows up (predictably), immediately kills a drive with good field position, and completely flips the momentum of the game. Grubb (and this staff as a whole) do not handle prosperity very well... They are seemingly determined to take the most difficult path possible. I don't get too mad or too excited during games... that legit made me mad. Mostly because I knew it was a blow opportunity to bury auburn, and instead, we gave auburn the spark they needed to get going. So frustrating.
More on Grubb... his move to the field was supposed to help with the communication, including getting the calls in. Last night was about as bad as its been all season... having to burn through timeouts, multiple snaps getting off within 1 second of the play clock expiring. The environment/noise had a bit to do with it but they've got to get that figured out. Go with more tempo at times if need be. I love that they trust Simpson as much as they do, but taking a bit more off his pre-snap plate might not be a bad thing right now either.
Bama was just 4-17 on 3rd downs.
I say it every week. PLEASE do away with the rules analysts. And if "do away with" means make them disappear forever in a desert outside of Vegas, then yes. Do that.
Notes- DeBoer is the first UA head coach to beat auburn in his first 2 seasons since Stallings did it in 1990 & 1991.
Also on DeBoer, he just earned himself a $75,000 bonus for making the SEC Championship game. That doubles if Bama can beat UGA in Atlanta. He will also get $150,000 extra in his stocking if/when Bama makes the 12 team playoff (and more after that assuming they advance).
If my math is right, the 100th Iron Bowl, or Bama v. auburn game, or whatever you choose to call it, will be in 2035. And barring a home/away schedule disruption, it'll be played at their place. Kinda sucks, because that's a good time to commemorate the game/rivalry somehow. Hopefully though, Bama will be winning their 16th straight over them that afternoon/evening regardless.
Roll Tide.
