Can Alabama and Auburn Play Again

Alabama has no excuses for Iron Basin loss to Auburn — only adjacent season to prepare for

Alabama tin can blame whoever and whatever it wants for its 48-45 loss to Auburn on Saturday.

It can blame the fact its defense force — ravaged by injuries all flavour and down four key contributors confronting the Tigers — is the youngest and most inexperienced ever under Nick Saban. It can blame the fact it was without star quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who was lost for the season confronting Mississippi Country. It can arraign a controversial final-second Auburn field goal earlier halftime, which proved the final difference in a wild Iron Bowl.

Ultimately, no excuses will practice for an Alabama team that was notwithstanding talented enough to beat Auburn. The Tigers earned the win, though the Atomic number 26 Bowl serves as a microcosm for a frustrating, cocky-defeating season for the Ruby Tide — i that volition come across them miss the Higher Football Playoff for the outset time ever. That might seem hyperbole for a squad that went 10-ii in the regular season, but Alabama doesn't agree to the same criteria for success as most other teams.

More than: How Alabama loss to Auburn affects Playoff race

"I know our fans are disappointed, only I can promise y'all that our players are disappointed, and we're all very, very disappointed," Saban told reporters after the game. "It's my responsibleness to get our team to do these things better, and that certainly will be the goal in the future."

It must be, later Auburn capitalized on Alabama's many miscues in every phase of the game.

On criminal offence, backup quarterback Mac Jones — who may lead the Tide next year — faced a Herculean task against a seemingly indomitable Tigers defense force at Jordan-Hare Stadium, on the short list of college football's about intimidating venues.

To his credit, Jones completed 26 of 39 passes for 335 yards and four touchdowns. He also didn't have a unmarried sack. Just he threw two selection-sixes, the first a simple overthrow of Jerry Jeudy and the 2nd from first-and-goal at the Auburn 2. That's a potential 28-point swing that can't exist discounted in a rivalry as cruel and unpredictable as the Iron Bowl.

On special teams, it'south piece of cake to point to kicker Joseph Bulavos' missed field goal that would take tied the game with two minutes remaining. That connected the Ruby-red Tide'due south kicking struggles this flavour, which has seen them consummate 12 of 18 attempts. But Auburn defensive dorsum Christian Tutt returned the Reddish Tide'due south first punt of the game to the Tide 32. Auburn scored iii plays later on the short field.

Speaking of defense, Alabama immune true freshman quarterback Bo Nix and sophomore running back JaTarvious Whitlow to extend drives and brand big play after large play after large play. Those two combined for 331 of Auburn'due south 354 yards on Sat, which is actually well below their flavour boilerplate of 427 yards per game.

But nothing cost Alabama more than than its thirteen penalties against Auburn. Those not only resulted in 96 negative yards, but also were a record for a Saban-coached Alabama squad. Nowhere was that more than evident than when Auburn lined upward fourth-and-4 to punt the brawl back for one terminal potential game-winning drive for Alabama. The Carmine Tide's punt team was called for commutation infraction, giving Auburn a game-winning get-go downwardly with 1:06 remaining.

Saban said that was office of an unfair move by Gus Malzahn, simply it's on him to brand certain his team has the right personnel on the field. Never before has Saban's team been more than vulnerable to self-inflicted wounds, and that showed more than than always on Saturday.

MORE: Scores, highlights from wild Iron Bowl

So what's next for Alabama? A berth in either the Orange Basin or Carbohydrate Bowl is most probable, but it'd be a surprise if the Crimson Tide fielded a full-strength team in either scenario. The Tide tin utilise that as a springboard into the 2022 season like its 2010 team did against Michigan State in the Capital letter One Bowl. Or excuses tin be the dominant storyline again, much similar the Tide's 2008 team that lost to Utah in the Sugar Bowl.

The real question is what moves Saban makes this offseason, either voluntarily or necessitated by an exodus of coaching and player talent. Saban doesn't residuum on his laurels later seeing so many correctable mistakes, and he saw plenty in an undisciplined flavor in which his team commited more than any of his previous teams, perhaps since 2007. His 2022 team was talented enough to overcome those errors in its 10 wins, just they price the Tide dearly in single-possession losses to LSU and Auburn.

Some of that, of course, isn't Saban's fault. Injuries are an unfortunate part of the game. Young, inexperienced players will inexorably brand mistakes in high-pressure situations (of which Jordan-Hare definitely qualifies). That they occurred so prominently this late in the season, however, is an issue that must be addressed.

In that sense, Alabama'due south loss to Auburn was only a symptom of the Tide's flavor-long woes.

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Source: https://www.sportingnews.com/us/ncaa-football/news/alabama-no-excuses-iron-bowl-loss-auburn/kgvh6uhtm4uv19ilnhzqp0esw

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