Women’s basketball: Alabama suffers first loss of season. 7C
Sports
S A T U R D A Y , N O V E M B E R 27 , 2010
SECTION C
WWW.TUSCALOOSANEWS.COM
Unstoppable, for a half Julio Jones and Greg McElroy shut down after big first half | 4C
Second-half letdown Miscues and mistakes lead to Tide’s collapse | 4C
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Getting it done Newton can’t run on Tide, but able to pass Tigers to victory | 4C
Alabama notebook
Fairly good
Saban says McElroy should be OK after suffering concussion | 5C
Auburn’s Nick Fairley makes big impact for Tigers with two big sacks and forced fumble | 6C
Quarter glance Breakdown of each quarter | 5C
Stats Complete stats from Friday’s game | 5C
Historic comeback Auburn stages its biggest comeback of the season against in-state rival in the 75th Iron Bowl | 6C
IRON COLLAPSE Alabama unable to finish; Auburn storms back to win By Cecil Hurt Sports Editor
TUSCALOOSA | It was unprecendented — and at the same time, familiar. The Auburn Tigers made a comeback for the ages on Friday, rallying from a 24-point deficit to edge Alabama 2827 in a classic game in the in-state rivalry. But while that comeback will go down as the greatest in Auburn history, it was just another example of Alabama’s 2010 team being able to play a half of good football — but not a full 60 minutes. “These kinds of teams don’t go away,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “There are a lot of lessons to be learned out there about how important finishing is and continuing to do things correctly.” Even in its spectacular first half, Alabama didn’t do everything correctly. If it had, the Crimson Tide’s halftime lead might have been insurmountable. Instead, Alabama left the door unlocked and Auburn was able to shove it open in the second half. SEE FINISH | 6C
Auburn tight end Philip Lutzenkirchen (43) celebrates with teammates following his fourth-quarter touchdown catch from Cam Newton (2) against Alabama at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Friday. The score gave Auburn a 28-27 lead. STAFF PHOTO | ROBERT SUTTON
For Alabama coach Nick Saban’s postgame press conference and Alabma player interviews, visit www.tidesports.com
“I’m pleased with the progress that we made, but we didn’t finish the game today. When you play against good teams you’re going to have to play for 60 minutes. We knew that we were going to have to do that in the second half.”
This is not a tough Alabama football team
TUSCALOOSA he University of Alabama had its chance to do something about Auburn on Friday, and couldn’t. So there is no sense in Alabama fans worrying about that any more. Auburn will probably go on and play for the BCS Championship, and quite possibly win it. If so, the Tigers will have earned it. There is nothing else Alabama can do about that. The only thing Alabama can do, in its bowl game in Orlando, Tampa, Dallas or Atlanta, and its offseason, is get better. Or, more specifically, get tougher. The Crimson Tide, which prided itself on being tougher than the opposition a year ago, has to return to that persona. It CECIL is probably too much to say Alabama quit HURT in its 28-27 loss, although it certainly lost all momentum for the entire second half. But it didn’t make the other team quit, for sure. That mantra for 2009 — “make their (expletive) quit” — simply never rang true in 2010. SEE HURT | 6C
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Alabama coach Nick Saban
CLASS 2A SEMIFINALS | LEROY 34, AMERICAN CHRISTIAN ACADEMY 16 American Christian Academy quarterback Austin Grammer (15) attempts to elude Leroy defensive tackle Thomas Gilpin in the fourth quarter of a Class 2A semifinal game at ACA. The Patriots lost, 34-16.
PHOTO | T.G. PASCHAL
Bears ground Patriots’ offense By Barr y Allen Special to The Tuscaloosa News
TUSCALOOSA | The American Christian Academy football team played catch-up all night and in the end dropped a 34-16 decision to rival Leroy in the Alabama High School Athletic Association Class 2A semifinals Friday night. ACA (12-2) had its season and 12game winning streak ended by the Bears, who used speed and strength on defense to slow down the high-powered Patriots offense. “Leroy is a really good football team,” ACA coach Mitch Grissett said after the game. “They played hard and
INSIDE ■ Special team miscues costly for Linden against Sweet Water | 3C ■ Forsythe runs for 234 yards as Leeds downs Gordo | 3C ■ Bibb County topped by No. 1 Thomasville in 4A semifinals | 3C ■ Semifinal scores, Super Six schedule | 3C
our kids played hard. It was a good ballgame. They were able to pull away with some big plays in the second half. Our hats are off to Leroy. They are a fine football team and we wish them
well in the state championship game.” ACA struggled at times to move the football against the Bears’ defensive front. The Patriots managed only 106 rushing yards on 39 attempts. The Patriots fumbled four times, but retained possession each time. Junior quarterback Austin Grammer was hurried a dozen times in the game and was sacked seven times for minus 49 yards. He completed 19 of 30 passes for 172 yards with one touchdown and one interception. “They were the best defense we played against all year,” Grammar said. “They out-sized us up front.” SEE PATRIOTS | 3C