No. 16 Auburn starts Johnson at QB against No. 1 Alabama

In the second quarter of its 30-12 win over Auburn, Alabama’s offense was struggling.

That doesn’t mean there was nothing to worry about.

Carlson booted a 42-yard field goal to give Auburn a 3-0 lead with 12:31 left in the first. The passing game fell out of sync, and The Crimson Tide needed someone to step up.

“Daniel really stepped up in this game, put us in position to make plays and he’s going to be a big-time player”, defensive end Carl Lawson said.

The Alabama defense didn’t budge in a 30-12 win over the Tigers.

It really was surprising to see Daniel Carlson miss a field goal in this game.

This is the fourth straight game that the Tide defense has not allowed a touchdown. The Badgers triumphantly lifted Paul Bunyan’s Axe again, the trophy that goes to the victor in the most-played rivalry in major college football. They were not necessarily great plays by Auburn, just bad mistakes by Hurts.

Auburn was close at the half, trailing 13-9.

“Coach Saban always tells us, ‘You can’t do anything about the past, ‘ ” Hamilton said.

The next week he started against Georgia but re-injured his shoulder and was largely ineffective as the Tigers lost 13-7. We don’t know who Gus Malzahn will play at quarterback and we don’t know what the health status of running back Kamryn Pettway will be come game time. The massive battering ram of a man trucked and plowed his way to 90 yards on only 17 carries. He completed 27 of 36 passes and threw for two TDs. I’m certainly happy for our supporters, our fans and the people who support The University of Alabama that they can be happy about the victory we had today. “Look, I’m really proud of our team, but really the legacy of the team still lies ahead in terms of what they accomplish and what they can do”. “Our defense took that as a challenge”.

But the Tide defense is more than an adamantine wall for offenses to try and penetrate: It is also a safety net for its offense. Unfortunately, Auburn’s offense couldn’t sustain any drives and the defense eventually got exhausted in the second half.

Another punt after another three and out gave Alabama the ball back on their own 13, after a targeting penalty disqualified Bama’s Tony Brown and backed the Tide up half the distance to the goal.

It allowed Alabama to play worry-free, and that’s something that can’t be quantified in stats.

“Auburn has a really good team, and we knew this was going to be a tough game. Our defense played extremely well until they got worn down”. “We didn’t defend them very well”. Leading tackler Reuben Foster is a Butkus Award finalist as the nations top linebacker. Foster had four quarterback hurries, while Hamilton had an interception. Auburn could fall from the top 20 after a second straight punchless offensive performance in SEC games. The Crimson Tide didn’t have to guess about what was coming.

Hurts and Scarbrough took turns methodically moving the ball down the field and into Auburn territory.

Even with a loss, the Tide would still be a division champion with wins over highly ranked Auburn, Tennessee, and USC teams, and it’s not like there are any other undefeated Power 5 teams left anyway. “So that’s something I definitely remember and still think about every now and then”.

Auburn’s passing game – If Auburn think they’ll be able to rely exclusively on their run game to beat ‘Bama they are deluded. A combination of all those things has made them probably the most effective front weve played against all year.”.