Will Auburn be able to run against Alabama’s top-ranked rush defense?

They are the only unbeaten team of any effect left as other would be undefeated teams fell by the wayside. There was a military helicopter flyover before the game against Mississippi State, while last week against Chattanooga, paratroopers were part of the pre-game ritual.

“He’s a good back, bruiser”, Alabama linebacker Ryan Anderson said. Alabama averages about five touchdowns per game this season, with a high of seven against Southern California, Arkansas and Tennessee – so eight might be a stretch.

Alabama is still undefeated and will remain so after this week.

As a run-heavy team, the Tigers’ success on the ground likely will dictate its chances of pulling an upset against the top-ranked Crimson Tide. True freshman Jalen Hurts took over the starting job after the opener and has emerged as one of the SEC’s top quarterbacks. Consider this: No team has rushed for more than 115 yards against the Crimson Tide in 2016. Even Pettway himself said on a television broadcast that people “didn’t want to tackle me’. We just think he’s a fantastic player”.

Alabama enters this game with an advantage in talent. “I (told him), ‘We’re going to use you in the game if we need you, ‘ which to me meant that if one of the other guys got hurt and we needed another runner in the game, we would have played him”. Or will Auburn’s defense prevent Alabama’s passing game from finding its rhythm?

Center Bradley Bozeman called the performance “kind of a wake-up call for us”.

With a trip to the first-ever College Football Playoff on the line, #1 Alabama first needed to defeat #15 Auburn a year after the painful “Kick-Six” kept the team out of the BCS Title Game. But will it be Johnson at the helm against Alabama or will soph starter Sean White return from an injury to his throwing shoulder? He said both will play. For all these reasons, the sports analysis website SB Nation dubbed the game “College Football’s Perfect Rivalry”. Johnson eventually came out of the game for good late in the second quarter, but with Kamryn Pettway (left leg), Stanton Truitt (ankle) and H-back Chandler Cox (ankle) all uncertain for the Iron Bowl, giving Johnson a little less work on Saturday would have been beneficial considering how much the Tigers might have to lean on him in Tuscaloosa.

Kerryon Johnson is arguably Auburn’s most talented skill position player, and he was clearly the most talented one the Tigers had dressed on Saturday. First-year Auburn defensive coordinator Kevin Steele worked on Alabama’s staff two years ago in Lane Kiffin’s first season running the Tide offense. Alabama, which is 4-0 in the event, will play Florida State next season in Atlanta to open the season. “But we’re looking forward to going there, we’re looking forward to going there with this year’s team and looking forward to playing”. For the past six years, the victor of the game has gone on to represent the SEC in BCS National Championship or the College Football playoff – a run unprecedented for a single state. LSU’s Kendall Beckwith, Vanderbilt’s Zach Cunningham, Florida’s Jarrad Davis, and Iowa’s Josey Jewell are the other finalists. None of those three Tiger signal callers are great, but have the physical tools to potentially thwart the Alabama defense.

Special reports also were included in this story.