Not 8 The 2023 edition of Alabama vs. Auburn, the annual in-state Iron Bowl rivalry game, will take place on Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium. The Crimson Tide are hoping to finish the SEC regular season undefeated and carry a chance to make the College Football Playoffs into the SEC Championship Game. Alabama’s resume includes a nonconference loss to one-loss Texas, therefore it’s critical that the Tide defeat Auburn in the Iron Bowl to earn some style points the selection committee could take into account.
Conversely, Auburn is coming off one of its most humiliating defeats in the modern era. Last Saturday, the Tigers suffered a 31-10 loss against New Mexico State at home, which dropped their record to 6-5 and probably sent them to a lower division bowl. After an unpredictable first season as coach Hugh Freeze took the Plains by storm, an upset victory over the Tigers’ in-state foe would help ease the dissatisfied fan base.
On Saturday afternoon, what can you anticipate? Now that the rivalry has been broken down, let’s make straight up and against the spread selections.
Watch live updates from the Alabama vs. Auburn match.
How to watch Alabama vs. Auburn in real time
Date: November 25, Saturday Time: 3:30 PM Eastern Time
Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Alabama is the location.
TV: CBS; live stream available via CBSSports.com and the free CBS Sports app
Showtime streaming on Paramount+ (Try It Free)
Need to know about Auburn vs. Alabama
Jalen Milroe is hot: Observing Milroe’s development in his first season as the starting quarterback has been amazing. Since being benched against South Florida in Week 3, he has gradually developed into one of the best signal-callers in the country. Milroe ranks second in the country in yards per attempt (10.6), just behind LSU’s Jayden Daniels, and is tied for second in the league in running touchdowns (12). Since the beginning of October, Milroe has only thrown three interceptions and has accounted for 13 touchdowns.
“I think he’s been pretty effective in his choices of when to step up in the pocket, when to run, when he has an opportunity to make a play, when he doesn’t,” Saban said on Monday. However, I believe that he has improved in his ability to play the passing game and maintain eye contact downfield, especially in situations when the pocket collapses. When we’ve got perimeter plays where he has to read to get to the outside, I believe he has been a productive runner for us. In terms of what the opposition has to defend, I believe both of those things benefit us offensively overall.”
As the season has gone on, offensive coordinator Tommy Rees—who was chosen as a semifinalist for the Broyles Award—has done an outstanding job of collaborating with Milroe and highlighting his advantages. The two have merged to make the Alabama offensive one of the most potent teams in the league instead of being a burden.
How will Auburn approach this? After Auburn defeated the Razorbacks 48-10 on November 11, everything seemed to be going well. However, last week’s crushing loss to New Mexico State put an end to that momentum. Where are the coaches and players of Auburn going to be? Saying they’ve moved on is one thing, but really doing so is quite another, particularly for young men between the ages of 18 and 22.
Freeze is aware that this is among the Tide’s most crucial game-week preparations.
We all know how important the Iron Bowl is to a lot of people, so we need to move on and put it behind us right now. And if you play well in that game, you can really heal your emotions a lot,” he said on Monday.
Could Auburn have put more effort into preparing for Alabama last week and ignored New Mexico State? It would partially explain the loss from last week. When they emerge from the tunnel on Saturday afternoon at Jordan-Hare Stadium, we’ll find out.
Ground and pound: Payton Thorne, the starting quarterback for Auburn, hasn’t exactly made an impact in his first season after transferring from Michigan State, so it’s doubtful that Alabama would feel intimidated by their passing attack. Defenses have been keying on Auburn’s rushing game the whole season, but despite being forced to be one-dimensional, the offense has managed to succeed. With 194.27 yards per game in rushing offense, it is third in the SEC, and in three of Auburn’s previous four games, running back Jarquez Hunter has surpassed the 100-yard mark.
“No one is running too much on that defensive front,” Freeze said. We’ll be well-prepared. We have talented running backs, good tight ends, and a competitive offensive line, but we still need to establish the run game. If you have to step back and toss everything down, it won’t be enjoyable. Dallas Turner at number 15 and Chris Braswell at number 41 are both quite strong off the edge. We must maintain equilibrium and force them to respect the run game.”
In five of the previous six games, the Crimson Tide’s running defense has limited opponents to less than four yards per play. Thorne and the Tigers won’t be able to stay around in this game if they can stop Auburn’s rushing onslaught.
Prediction and picks for Auburn vs. Alabama
odds by consensus from SportsLine
Jordan-Hare Stadium is known for strange events; ten years ago, the Tigers surprised the Crimson Tide in the “Kick Six.” But Auburn won’t find that magic this week against the Crimson Tide, just as it couldn’t find it against the Aggies last week. The stingy Tide defense will establish a base of operations in the Tigers backfield, stifle Auburn’s running threat, and force numerous game-changing errors out of Thorne. The Tide will reverse the tide in the second half on route to an easy cover, even if it is tight for a few quarters.
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