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55
44
SECOND TO NONE
After its national title hopes shattered in last year’s Iron Bowl, Crimson Tide responds to beat Auburn in record-setting fashion
STAFF PHOTO | ROBERT SUTTON
Alabama wide receiver Amari Cooper (9) races past Auburn’s Jonathon Mincy for a third-quarter touchdown reception in Saturday night’s Iron Bowl at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Cooper tied his own school record with 224 receiving yards and scored three touchdowns in the Crimson Tide’s 55-44 victory.
Cooper’s 224-yard effort the difference maker for Tide By Cecil Hurt Sports Editor
Last year, A labama’s national championship dreams shattered against Auburn. This year, the Tigers tried to break them again — but came up against iron. The Crimson Tide overcame a 12-point second-half deficit, scoring 28 unanswered points to rally for a 55-44 win in one of the wildest — and certainly most prolific — AlabamaAuburn games ever. UA had locked up a berth in next week’s SEC Championship Game against Missouri when Mississippi State lost earlier in the day, but heads to Atlanta with an 11-1 record and plenty of offensive momentum. Ninety-nine points. One thousand, one hundred and seventy-one yards. And not a field goal return to be found. It added up to an emotional, if not entirely overwhelming, victory. Alabama scored 34 points in the second half, slicing with ease
through a Auburn defense that had no answer for Amari Cooper’s passcatching or T.J. Yeldon’s running. The Tigers did have offensive stars of their own — notably quarterback Nick Marshall and wide receiver Sammie Coates — but stopped UA from a touchdown drive only once in the second half, when Blake Sims threw an early interception. The Crimson Tide trailed 33-21 with 11:02 remaining in the third quarter, and 36-27 with 3:30 remaining in the third quarter. But UA responded with four unanswered touchdow ns f rom that point. Cooper did the damage in an historic third quarter, catching touchdown passes of 39 and 75 yards. Alabama then applied the hammer with fourth-quarter rushing touchdowns by Sims and Derrick Henry. Down 55 -36, Auburn (8 -4, 4-4 SEC) fi nally answered with a late touchdown, but consumed nearly all of the game’s fi nal three minutes in doing so. SEE T IDE | 5C
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It wasn’t ‘Alabama style,’ but Saban will take it
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STAFF PHOTO | ROBERT SUTTON
Alabama quarterback Blake Sims celebrates after the Crimson Tide’s victory. Sims was 20 of 27 passing for 312 yards with four touchdowns and three interceptions.
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he Alabama Crimson Tide fi gured out the one sure way not to lose on a field goal return this year. Don’t kick any field goals. Don’t even try them. Score touchdowns. Lots of them. Alabama scored eight, which was enough to beat Auburn 55-44 and keep its national title hopes alive. If that seemed to be a little bit of “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em,” well, Nick Saban had no problem with that. “Teams are scoring more these days,” Saban said. “Some of the things that teams are doing offensively make it very hard to defend. So we felt like we needed CECIL to do some of those things.” HURT For much of Saban’s tenure, Alabama has won games with dominating defense. Not on Saturday night. “You’re not going to hurt my feelings by saying it,” Saban said. “I’ve got it right here on paper — 456 passing yards (out of a 630-yard total for Auburn.) We knew No. 1 and No. 18 (Duke Williams and Sammie Coates) were great downfield receivers. We worked hard on trying to keep them cut off and didn’t do a good job of it. “I kept telling Lane (Kiffi n) to take some shots down the field. They were sure doing it to us.” SEE HURT | 4C
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DISAPPOINTING FINISH:
NOT SO DOMINATING:
SUPER COOPER:
QUICK CHANGE:
FOUR DOWNS:
NOTEBOOK:
ANALYSIS:
Auburn had Tide where it wanted, but couldn’t finish the job
Tide defense gives up big yards, but makes stops when needed
Tide receiver tied own record with 224 yards, scores three TDs
Blake Sims turns game around after throwing three picks
How the Crimson Tide answered questions against Auburn
Alabama wins SEC West before start of game
Big coaching decisions the difference for Alabama offense
For video and a photo gallery of Alabama’s game against Auburn, go to www.tidesports.com