I see you (Auburn) hiding in the weeds. Thoughts on Iron Bowl 2023

[Tideflyer]

The silver lining is Auburn has to prepare for a legitimate threat in NMST who is playing decent football right now. They can’t just devote the next two weeks on Alabama.

" They can`t just devote the next two weeks on Alabama. " Sure they can.

 

[JohnD]

My Georgia DIL has scheduled her daughter's birthday party in the middle of the Iron Bowl. In her defense she had no idea they were playing. I'll go...and watch it later. Easier on my heart...RTR

That's nice of them to record the birthday party for you!

 

[JohnD]

AU has looked better over the last month. But look how much we have improved in the same month. If we come out ready to play and focused on the task at hand winning won't be a problem. Come out sloppy and looking ahead to UGA and we will struggle.

Yes. They are steadily getting their players used to the coke and the voodoo rituals.

 

[BamaInBham]

Auburn's record in Jordan-Hare vs P5 teams in the last 5 years is 11-10, it is 2-10 vs P5 teams with a winning record. Alabama should win again.

AU is 11-18 vs P5 teams with winning records in the last 10 years.

 

[BamaMoon]

As much as it pains me to say so, the barners looked pretty good against bacon bits the other day. I know that the transitive properties of football teams/games are nothing but a myth, but I still have to acknowledge that they did a number on them. Maybe Arkie has given up on life or their HC has mailed it in. Regardless, Auburn is a better team than they were a month ago and throw in the JH hoodoo, and anything can happen. I'll be breaking the seal on a bottle of Wild Turkey 101 for this one.

A little secret for the barnies but we are a different football team than we were a month ago too.

I'm sure they don't like what they are seeing Bama become!

 

[BamaMoon]

Barn D will make Milroe uncomfortable. Seeing how he reacts and how the offense reacts will be a good tell on how things might go vs Georgia.

This will be the "game-plan" for Auburn and Georgia.

It might work to limit his running ability, but then he'll have time to do the deep shots.

CTR introducing the running concepts has become a big, big problem for opposing teams!

 

[GboyBama]

Auburn's record in Jordan-Hare vs P5 teams in the last 5 years is 11-10, it is 2-10 vs P5 teams with a winning record. Alabama should win again.

AU is 11-18 vs P5 teams with winning records in the last 10 years.

Rat poison. Get thee behind me Satan. 😉

Experience has taught me we take AU less seriously than they do us at our peril. We had best give this game our utmost concern or the game in Atlanta will be Bama just trying to spoil Georgia's three-peat.

 

[BamaFlum]

Hasn’t their schedule also gotten easier the past few games which coincides with their resurgence?

 

[BamaMoon]

Hasn’t their schedule also gotten easier the past few games which coincides with their resurgence?

YES, IIRC, they were set to play for straight games that were very winnable even with their mediocre play this season.

 

[Highway59]

You know some early prep is going on. Might as well discuss it.

Expect the water meters to be spinning on Black Friday night…lol

 

[CrimsonNagus]

You guys are giving AU why too much credit. They have looked "better" in the last month because they have played about as easy an SEC schedule as you can in that run. Vandy, Miss. St. and Ark. are a combined 2-19 in conference games this year (combined 9-22 overall). Of course a mediocre AU is going to beat those teams, everyone beats them.

Let's dig a little deeper. AU has 6 wins. Guess how many teams that have played that are .500 or worse. That's right, 6. They have not beaten a single team with a winning record. Their 3 non-conference wins are a combined 12-18. Their non-conference opponents are actually slightly better than their 3 conference wins. Which is why they have looked better recently. They are beating crap teams.


Yes, Bama has struggled some this year against teams they should not have but, Bama has improved and turned a corner recently. The Iron Bowl this year should not be close. I see a 36-0, 36-10 type of beat down coming.

 

[davefrat]

IF we play our game, don't turn the ball over, and play solid defense we should win comfortably.

 

[bamaslammer]

I'm sure Auburn will play way above their head like they always do and I don't think Alabama under Saban has played well at all in the iron bowl, especially down on the farm. Having said that, Freeze's offense is fairly lethal given a certain type of QB. He doesn't have that QB yet.

 

[JustNeedMe81]

Exactly. They'll want to run, so hit a couple of big plays and get up 17-20 points early and our defense wins this game.

You know they struggle to get to 15 points?

 

[Bamabuzzard]

I get it is the Iron Bowl and all the voo-doo mess that seems to happen when we play there. However, it is very hard to ignore the teams they have played during their "getting better" stage. Look, they probably are getting better, most teams as they progress through the season do (barring major injuries, etc.). But, taking into consideration the teams they have played, how much "better" has Auburn really gotten? Their last three wins are against SEC teams with a combined conference record of 2-19. 🤷‍♂️

 

[BamaInBham]

I

Rat poison. Get thee behind me Satan. 😉

Experience has taught me we take AU less seriously than they do us at our peril. We had best give this game our utmost concern or the game in Atlanta will be Bama just trying to spoil Georgia's three-peat.

I agree that Alabama should take Auburn seriously. I disagree that Alabama tends to not take Auburn as seriously as AU does them, though that is impossible to measure. In fact, IMO, Saban tends to get a bit “tight” in the AU game because he wants it so bad. Of course, the team reflects that. IMO, that is the primary reason that Alabama sometimes struggles vs AU when they shouldn't, not only in JH but in BDS too. Hopefully, Bryce's heroics in '21 broke AU's spirit a little. That was about as gut-wrenching a loss as a mediocre team could suffer.

IMO, AU's overall success in JH is a myth but that "Alabama doesn't care as much as AU" is also a myth. They care for different reasons but Alabama and its players care VERY much, almost too much. In 2016 in BDS, the TO averse, incredibly jittery, "cool" Jalen Hurts threw 2 of his 9 ints and fumbled twice, both recovered by Alabama and almost fumbled a couple of other times - just had trouble catching good snaps in the shotgun he was so nervous. Bama outgained them 500-180 but won just 30-12, 13-10 at the half. In 2017 Jalen and the entire team became more than discombobulated in JH, it was embarrassing to see them implode, something Alabama almost never does. All because of nerves at the thought of losing to AU. Jalen probably reflected CNS more than any other player he's had. The light-hearted Tua never had problems with AU, he put up 50+ on them in his only game vs them. It would have been interesting to see him play in JH, which he never did. Saban couldn't affect him.

 

[BamaMoon]

AU will come out with a ton of emotion with the home crowd feeding them more.

Withstand the first 6-8 minutes of it, don't let them get a lead and get up 10-14 points and they'll fold.

They and their fan base have been very fragile this year with their very poor play.

Bama *might* be able to turn this one into an empty Tiger stadium by the 4th quarter.

EDIT: All the above is assuming we get the type of Bama offensive effort like we've seen against LSU and KY! If we revert back to what we looked like before, all bets are off. But I think we've left that version of ourselves in the past where it belongs!

 

[Cruiser]

This defense has really developed a mean streak we have not seen in years; I predict a difficult and painful day for Thorne & Co.

 

[Lifer]

I expect a slow start with a focus on the run game. Early turnovers would give Auburn a short field, something Bama dies not want.
When the game is at Auburn strange thins happen.

Game will be tight in the first half with Bama coming on strong in the third and salting the game away in the 4th.

Bama 31
Auburn 17

 

[sanjosecrimson]

I don't know about that. Given the way the team prepared this season... it's too risky, especially after how they played against USF. I won't talk about Auburn right now...

*knowing I'm lying and probably will go ahead and do it.*
*few mins later* Okay, I'll bite.

First three games were against team that wasn't very good. I won't evaluate that. I'll focus on Texas A and M, Georgia, LSU and Ole Miss. Throne was not very good in that game. What saved them from having more losses was that they played against Miss State, Vanderbilt, Arkansas.

Given how Bama played against TAMU and LSU and Ole miss... I think Bama will tighten things up on some area and make life miserable for Thorne.

They're averaging 29 points per game on offense and yet their defense is solid.. averaging 20.5 points allowed.

Auburn conversion offense on 3rd down is not pretty at all. Shoot their redzone offense isn't good either.
We should be able to get off on the field several times throughout the game. Best way to attack their offense is to put pressure on them throughout the game. Not allowing them to establish the tempo through the running game, and force them to throw more.

Auburn defense is very good. not allowing 3rd down conversion, so Bama needs to stay out of 3rd and long situations. Best way to attack them is to use Niblack/Dipree early in the game, Spread their LBs out. We should be able to wear them out toward to end of the game.

I can see Bama winning by 15-20 points if they do their job.

They should have lost to Cal. the best back for Cal was injured in the middle of the game; they couldn't stop him. Cal had multiple opportunities to win the game and just kept shooting themselves.