Alabama head coach Nick Saban argues with an official during their game against Western Carolina on Nov. 22, 2014, at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Alabama won 48-14.Tide, take three• 1. Alabama’s 5,333 yards and 484.8 yards per game are the top offensive totals in program history through 11 games.• 2. Since Bear Bryant’s final season in 1982, the only Iron Bowls that did not contain at least one ranked team were in 1998 and 2003.• 3. The highest-ranked team in the Iron Bowl has a 42-10 record since 1955.
A 100-yard return by Chris Davis of a short Alabama field-goal attempt on the final play of last season’s Iron Bowl propelled Auburn to a 34-28 upset of the top-ranked Crimson Tide.
Auburn coach Gus Malzahn speaks during SEC media days Monday in Hoover, Ala.Auburn defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson admits there was a time he briefly lost perspective on the Iron Bowl.
Johnson was nearing the end of his first season as Alabama’s defensive coordinator in 1997 under first-year Crimson Tide head coach Mike DuBose. Alabama had won the 1996 Iron Bowl 24-23 at Birmingham’s Legion Field, but the Tide had just endured a third consecutive loss to Peyton Manning and the Tennessee Volunteers.
“I told Mike DuBose, ‘It seems more people around here are more hyped up over the Tennessee game than the Auburn game,'” Johnson recalled Sunday night in a news conference. “He looked at me and said, ‘You haven’t lost to Auburn yet.’ I got the message really quick, and it’s obviously huge on both sides.
“Most years in this rivalry, somebody is in the national picture and obviously in the SEC picture. It’s no exception this year, and last year we both were.”