TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama got to win No. 10, even if title No. 7 with Nick Saban as coach isn't in the cards.
Bryce Young passed for 343 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another score in perhaps his final home game for No. 8 Alabama, leading the Crimson Tide past Auburn, 49-27, in Saturday's Iron Bowl rivalry matchup to close the regular season.
Alabama improved to 10-2 overall and 6-2 in the Southeastern Conference, reaching double-digit wins for a 15th consecutive season under Saban, who took over in Tuscaloosa in 2007. But at just seventh in the most recent College Football Playoff rankings and without the opportunity to play in next weekend's SEC title game, the Tide are all but certain to fall short of those ever-present national title aspirations.
The Tigers (5-7, 2-6) were trying to ensure bowl eligibility and salvage a disappointing campaign that included the Oct. 31 firing of coach Bryan Harsin.
Saban said criticism after his team's two last-play losses — 52-49 at Tennessee on Oct. 15 and 32-31 in overtime at LSU two weeks after that — "really united the players" in recent weeks.
"I think one of the things I'm most proud of is the fact that when everybody thought they were out of it — when there were a lot of naysayers out there — this team didn't give up on themselves, didn't give up on each other and won some tough games to finish the season," said Saban, whose group also posted one-score wins at Texas, against Texas A&M and at Ole Miss.
Young, a junior, completed 20 of 30 passes with an interception and ran for 48 yards. The 2021 Heisman Trophy winner, whose season was affected by a shoulder injury, is projected as a high NFL draft pick next spring if he leaves early. So is All-America linebacker Will Anderson Jr., who had a couple of fourth-quarter sacks.
Both talked about their time at Alabama without shedding light on their plans.
"It's been a pleasure," Anderson said. "I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world."
Said Young: "It's meant the world to me."
Auburn ran for 318 yards, its most against Alabama since gaining 355 in 1983, but the Tigers' passing game was pretty much nonexistent. Quarterback Robby Ashford became the first Tiger to run for two touchdowns in the Iron Bowl since running back Carnell Williams — now the program's interim coach — in 2003.
Ashford gained 121 yards on the ground but passed for just 77, though that included a pretty much perfect 20-yard touchdown pass to J'aVarrious Johnson in the right corner of the end zone.
"He was trying to will us to that win," Williams said.
Jarquez Hunter ran 11 times for 134 yards but also lost a fumble. It was his third straight 100-yard game.
"We stressed all week that they were going to fight and give us everything they've got," Williams said. "They believed. They knew these coaches believed in them."
Auburn settled for two field goals in the fourth quarter and gave up a late touchdown run by Jahmyr Gibbs, who led Alabama's ground game with 76 yards on 17 carries.
For Auburn, the week ahead of the game was dominated by speculation about which coach athletic director John Cohen would hire to replace Harsin. The candidate who drew the most headlines and buzz, third-year Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin, said he's not leaving Oxford.
"Same as I said last week: I'm staying here and we have a lot of work left to do," Kiffin told AP on Saturday in a voice message, adding that he has not signed a contract extension with the school.
The 47-year-old Kiffin is 23-12 as coach of the Rebels, who were 20th in the most recent AP Top 25 but finished the regular season 8-4, losing four of their final five games, including 24-22 to Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl on Thanksgiving night.
Liberty's Hugh Freeze said after his team's regular-season finale Saturday that he hadn't been offered the job but confirmed his interest.
"I've communicated with (Liberty AD) Ian (McCaw) that if someone ever wanted to talk to us that interests us, I would always tell him. Is the job that everyone's talking about one that I would have an interest in of talking with? Sure," Freeze told reporters after the game. "That doesn't mean they have offered me a job. Who knows where that's headed."
Freeze coached at Ole Miss for five seasons before leaving in disgrace in 2017 after the school discovered he used a university cellphone to call an escort service. He has gone 34-14 in four seasons with the Flames.
"I'm happy here, but I'm not going to sit and say to our kids or somebody that's just absolutely false, there's no interest in it," Freeze said. "The part that's false is there's been no offer made to me, nor have I accepted anything. I think that's what our kids came in the locker room kind of feeling."