Report Card: Grading Alabama’s 49-27 win over the Auburn Tigers
The Alabama Crimson Tide coasted past the Auburn Tigers on Saturday in the 87th edition of the rivalry matchup known as the Iron Bowl.
Even Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban suffered a battle wound during the contest which he cleverly remarked in the postgame “you should see the other guy”.
Bryce Young played fantastic in what was most likely his final performance inside Bryant-Denny Stadium, throwing for nearly 350 yards and three touchdowns. Young would also add another 48 yards rushing and an additional touchdown on the ground.
Defensively Alabama had a tough time stopping the run throughout the contest, especially from Tiger quarterback Robby Ashford who rushed for 121 yards and two touchdowns.
Let’s look at how the Crimson Tide graded out in its final regular season performance of the 2022 season.
First…the offense…
Gary Cosby Jr.-USA TODAY Sports
Grade: A-
This was one of Alabama’s best performances of the season on offense. The Tide had tremendous balance and attacked the Auburn defense at all three levels. The receivers put together what I believe to be their best performance as a unit. The RPO game returned as did the downfield shots and the Crimson Tide took advantage of it to put up 49 points on their in-state rival.
Next…the defense…
Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports
Grade: C+
You have to give Auburn some credit here, their game plan to attack Alabama on the edges obviously worked like a charm and coach Saban mentioned in his postgame press conference that they ran a lot of stuff he hasn’t seen since his pee-wee days. Still, Alabama could not seem to adjust and even struggled to tackle throughout the contest. The backend of the Alabama defense played well though, allowing just 77 passing yards. Untimely penalties on defense also plagued the Tide on Saturday.
Finally…special teams…
Gary Cosby Jr.-USA TODAY Sports
Grade: A-
Alabama’s special teams also put together a really strong performance on Saturday against Auburn. Will Reichard connected on all seven of his extra points and even made a great one-on-one tackle in the open field on a kickoff. Alabama was also able to put together several solid kick returns and even recovered a muffed punt by the Tigers.
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