Ryan Fowler’s Good, Bad, & Ugly From Alabama’s Iron Bowl Win

The Crimson Tide ended its regular season with a 28-14 victory over the Auburn Tigers, solidifying a 9-3 regular season record in Kalen DeBoer's first season. We do it during every home game, so what was good, bad, and ugly from the Crimson Tide's dominating Iron Bowl win?

The Good

Alabama closed the door on the Auburn Tigers, closing out Auburn’s fourth consecutive losing season, effectively canceling their chance to go to a bowl game. Jalen Milroe had a remarkable bounce-back performance, throwing for 256 yards and rushing 17 times for 109 yards, scoring three touchdowns in the process. Germie Bernard also stood out with 111 receiving yards on seven catches, marking his highest totals in both yards and receptions while wearing a Crimson Tide jersey. Alabama’s offense was well-balanced, keeping the Tigers' defense guessing throughout the afternoon. The Crimson Tide controlled the game with a time of possession of 36 minutes and 35 seconds compared to Auburn's 23 minutes and 25 seconds, reflected in Alabama's impressive 12 of 18 on third-down conversions.

Kalen DeBoer now shares the record with Frank Thomas for the most wins by a head coach in their first season with the Crimson Tide, achieving a total of nine victories. Despite some challenges along the way, the team finishes the season undefeated at Bryant-Denny Stadium. During the post-game press conference, DeBoer took a moment to thank the fans for the supportive environments they helped create throughout the season.

At the start of the season, it was evident that Alabama's defense would rely heavily on several first-year players in key roles for success. Despite facing multiple season-ending injuries, Kane Wommack's defensive unit consistently improved weekly, indicating a promising future. Notably, Alabama’s defense limited Auburn to just 4 of 12 on third downs.

Let’s acknowledge the 19 seniors who are leaving Tuscaloosa after never losing to Auburn, contributing to the Crimson Tide's five consecutive victories over the Tigers. Thank you, Seniors, for creating unforgettable memories and exhilarating wins against Auburn.

The Bad

The Crimson Tide entered the game leading the SEC in turnover margin, while Auburn had the lowest turnover margin in the conference. Alabama’s fumbles kept the game competitive, and although Auburn only managed to score 3 points off those turnovers, it hindered the Tide's offense from increasing their score. Once again, credit goes to Alabama's defense for stepping up and preventing the Tigers from scoring.

The Ugly

This article will be my final "Good, Bad, and Ugly" piece for the 2024 season and I want to maintain a consistent message: the Southeastern Conference must improve its officiating.

College football has more parity than ever, which puts added pressure on officials to call games accurately. The conference office needs to address this issue during the offseason. While I don’t have specific solutions, I hope they can generate better results through extensive brainstorming sessions. One random thought is that adding an extra official could help alleviate some of the pressure on the current officials. How was it possible that offsetting penalties were not called during the fight on the Auburn sidelines?

Alabama experienced several critical drops in the game, which prevented them from scoring more points. A few sloppy moments made the final score more respectable than it could have been. Personally, I would have liked to see Alabama defeat Auburn by a larger margin, but I recognize that this is my bias speaking.

These are just some of my thoughts on the Iron Bowl. I'll share more tomorrow at 2 PM on "The Game with Ryan Fowler" on Tide 100.9 and online at Tide1009.com. I'm always eager to hear your opinions and analyses every Monday as we discuss the Good, Bad, and Ugly, sponsored by Daniel Moore Art, which leads to some great conversations. We even give away prizes on Mondays!