AUBURN, Ala. - If college football's looming four-team playoff could be staged at Jordan-Hare Stadium, the Auburn Tigers would certainly like their chances.
For the second time in three weeks, they whipped the No. 1 team in the playoff rankings there before a frenzied crowd of 87,451. Saturday's 26-14 defeat of Alabama may not have been as resounding as their 40-17 hammering of Georgia on Nov. 11, but the ramifications are stunning and substantial.
Nick Saban's Crimson Tide were denied the chance to win a fourth straight Southeastern Conference title, with Gus Malzahn's Tigers now taking the role of Western Division champions as a result of Saturday's outcome. No. 6 Auburn (10-2, 7-1) will face No. 7 Georgia (11-1, 7-1) this week in the 26th league championship and the first rematch of the Tigers and Bulldogs, who have met 121 previous times in the Deep South's oldest rivalry.
"We're going to Atlanta to play for the SEC championship," Malzahn said after his second Iron Bowl win in five tries. "At the beginning of the season, we put ourselves out there and said it was our goal, and now we're one game away from reality. Our crowd was unbelievable.
"That's two big games in a row that they've helped us win."
This week's scene will be very different from the inaugural encounter, because Mercedes-Benz Stadium is expected to have an abundance of Georgia red given that the Bulldogs have known since their 24-10 win over South Carolina on Nov. 4 they would be representing the East for the first time since 2012.
The winner of the SEC championship game is sure to be among the four teams selected in the playoff, which in its fourth edition could be held without Alabama for the first time. Alabama finished its regular season 11-1 overall and 7-1 in league play, just like in 2013, when the "Kick Six" at Jordan-Hare stunned the Tide as time expired.
"I think this team deserves the opportunity to get in the playoff by what they've been able to accomplish and what they've been able to do," Saban said. "We've won 11 games, and not many teams in the country have been able to do that. I don't know what all the scenarios might be to where we would have an opportunity, but I would certainly like to see this team get one."
Said Alabama center Bradley Bozeman: "That's kind of out of our control now. We need to go prepare like we are going to go to the playoffs, continue to get better, and we'll see where we end up. Whatever chance we get, we'll take full advantage of it."
Auburn quarterback Jarrett Stidham completed 21 of 28 passes for 237 yards, with receiver Ryan Davis amassing 11 catches for 139 yards. Kerryon Johnson had 30 rushes for 104 yards and a touchdown but left with 6:21 remaining with what Malzahn would only describe as a "shoulder issue."
The Tigers had a 100-yard rusher and a 100-yard receiver in the same Iron Bowl for the first time since their 30-20 win in 1989, which was the first one held in Auburn.
Auburn had 408 yards to Alabama's 314, kept the ball for more than 36 minute, and went 9-of-18 on third downs compared to Alabama's 3-of-11 clip.
"I think one of the biggest differences in the game was third down," Saban said. "We could not get off the field on third down, and that allowed them to extend drives and led to several scoring opportunities for them. We didn't do a very good job on third down, so we didn't sustain drives because of that, which affects time of possession and a whole lot of other things.
"That was probably the biggest difference in the game."
Alabama was brilliant out of the gate in the second half, grabbing its first lead at 14-10 after a five-play, 79-yard drive that was highlighted by a 31-yard Damien Harris run around right end to Auburn's 36-yard line. After a 1-yard run by Harris to the 35, Bo Scarbrough entered and powered through the Tigers for gains of 14 and 21 yards.
"We came out with a little more fire and a little more intensity right out of halftime and had a great drive that got us ahead in the game," Saban said, "but we just couldn't sustain it. One of the big points in this game was having to do a great job of executing and sustaining it, because it was going to be this kind of game.
"It was going to be a street fight, because that's how these games always are, and we weren't able to sustain any consistency in how we played."
The Tigers countered with a nine-play, 52-yard drive but stalled due to Alabama's pass rush and settled on a 44-yard Daniel Carlson field goal that made it 14-13.
Auburn regained the lead at 20-14 with a 12-play, 69-yard drive that consumed five minutes and three seconds and culminated with a 1-yard run by Johnson. Stidham had a third-and-7 scramble for 9 yards to Alabama's 27-yard line and a 13-yard run up the middle to the 12.
In the final minute of the third quarter, officials ruled Tide tight end Hale Hentges caught a tipped 17-yard touchdown pass from Jalen Hurts but overturned that call by saying it was an incomplete pass. That set up a field-goal attempt by Andy Pappanastos, who never got to kick the ball due to holder JK Scott bobbling the snap.
A Stidham 16-yard keeper with 12:49 remaining put Auburn up 26-14, and the Tide never seriously threatened again.
"The important thing about this game is for our players to remember all the lessons that they can learn from all the things that they didn't do well," Saban said. "I'm still very proud of what this team has been able to accomplish this year in winning 11 games.
"I don't think we played our best game today, but you've got to give credit to Auburn, because they played very well."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.