A basic rule in baseball is that the only team with the potential to score is the one at the plate.
Football isn’t as confined, as both Alabama and Auburn continue to prove entering Saturday afternoon’s Iron Bowl showdown inside Bryant-Denny Stadium. Gus Malzahn’s No. 22 Tigers have collected defensive touchdowns in each of their last two games, while Nick Saban’s top-ranked Crimson Tide have tallied defensive scores in three consecutive contests.
“They’re very impactful,” Alabama junior cornerback Patrick Surtain II said this week on a Zoom call. “They change the momentum of the game, and they build confidence for the defense. Going into a game, you know you’ve got to make plays like that, especially in these highly anticipated games.”
Surtain had a 25-yard interception return for a touchdown during the fourth quarter of a 41-0 whipping of Mississippi State on Halloween, which followed a 28-yard fumble return for a score by Malachi Moore the week before in the 48-17 win at Tennessee. Alabama had a pair of open dates following the rout of Mississippi State but picked right up last Saturday, when Jordan Battle’s 45-yard interception return early in the third quarter gave the Crimson Tide a 35-3 lead in their eventual 63-3 shellacking of Kentucky.
Several hours after Battle’s score, Auburn junior safety Smoke Monday snagged a Jarrett Guarantano pass late in the third quarter and raced 100 yards for a touchdown that turned a shaky 13-10 Tigers advantage into a more comfortable 20-10 lead in an eventual 30-17 win.