Difference between Tide, Tigers easy to see

TUSCALOOSA — It’s often the little things which make the difference in a championship contender and, well, a 5-7 team.

Alabama does the little things right. Auburn never seemed to do much of anything right this season.

Nothing changed Saturday — absolutely nothing.

Because of it, Alabama is one win away from playing for a national championship, while Auburn seems light years away from such.

So how did this role reversal of state dominance between Alabama and Auburn happen in what seems like a blink of the eye?

One can examine Alabama’s 36-0 thumping of Auburn in Saturday’s Iron Bowl to get a fine illustration.

It’s really rather simple.

Start with Alabama head coach supreme Nick Saban, making the right calls at the right times.

Case in point, the final play of the first half.

When it appeared Auburn had pulled within 10-3 as Morgan Hull kicked through a 39-yarder, we quickly learned Saban had signaled for a timeout right before the snap.

Alert coaching. Always thinking ahead, never taking anything for granted.

Saban decided to use a timeout to ice Hull, who hadn’t tried a field goal all season. He was seeing action in place of Wes Byrum, who has been nursing a leg injury and has struggled all season.

When play resumed, Hull’s second try was slapped back by Tide defensive end Bobby Greenwood.

Any momentum Auburn may have gained was gone just like that.

It’s the difference in a coach on top of the world seemingly doing no wrong, and one hanging on to his job from a thread.

I really don’t know if Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville will rebound from this one. It will be an interesting week to see if the Auburn hierarchy comes out in support of their coach, or begins a search for another one.

From hiring Tony Franklin to implement the spread offense, to firing him because it wasn’t working out, Tuberville has had one of those years that seems to be jinxed. Still, he’s the one who has to be held accountable.

As for Saban, you don’t need me to tell you he was worth every dime Alabama spent to get him.

His teams are so well prepared, and this particular group seems to take advantage of every mistake another team makes.

Like in the second half, when any chance Auburn had vanished in a snap — or two to be precise.

When Auburn fumbled the ball its first two possessions of the third quarter, Alabama, as good teams do, capitalized on both with touchdowns.

The first of those scores came right after Tiger running back Brad Lester coughed up the ball in the backfield.

On the next play, Tide quarterback John Parker Wilson drifted to his right and found Nikita Stover for a 39-yard touchdown pass.

Wilson, the poised senior, made the plays when called on.

In contrast, Auburn quarterback-in-training Kodi Burns looked lost once things started going sour.

It was then that the Tide, hungry for some revenge from six years of losing to their arch rival, really began teeing off on Burns and the helpless Auburn offense.

The score stood at 29-0 at the end of the third quarter. Auburn was demoralized. Alabama was having a grand time.

It all ended with back-up quarterback Greg McElroy throwing a 34-yard touchdown pass to Marquis Maze, perhaps rubbing a little salt in the wound.
Saban could have done it, too. Nobody would have blamed him for raising a finger high in the air as he left the field.

Tuberville certainly had his fun during Auburn’s winning streak, and I really don’t hold that against him.

It’s the kind of stuff that makes this game so intriguing.

But Saban doesn’t seem to get as caught up in this Iron Bowl hoopla.

That’s not to say he doesn’t understand the importance. It just appears that Saban stays so focused on every opponent, Auburn truly is considered just another team on the schedule he prepares for.

Next up is Florida.

Can the Tide keep the magic going?

I don’t know. But I do know his team will be well-coached, well-prepared and certainly a worthy opponent.

Auburn wasn’t much of an opponent for Alabama on Saturday.

My how things have changed.