Alabama escapes Auburn with a win

AUBURN — Auburn unveiled a Vegas-worthy magic show of formations, gadgets and explosive plays, but Alabama performed a great escape of its own in Friday’s Iron Bowl.

Backup running back Roy Upchurch caught Greg McElroy’s 4-yard pass in the end zone with 1:24 remaining, lifting the second-ranked Crimson Tide past Auburn 26-21.

Alabama finished the regular season 12-0 for the second straight year and will play top-ranked Florida in the SEC Championship Game next Saturday in Atlanta.

While the Tide’s plans for a league crown and national title remain intact, they were tested for 60 minutes to win the state championship on Friday at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

“First off, both teams played really well,” Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban said. “Auburn’s team played extremely well, played with great tenacity. But I’ve never been more proud of my football team.

“I said it would be our most significant and our greatest accomplishment if we came down here and won this game.”

With Auburn determined to shut down Heisman Trophy candidate Mark Ingram, the Crimson Tide was forced to lean on first-year starter Greg McElroy and the passing game.

The junior responded with a 21-for-31 passing effort for 218 yards and two touchdowns. Nine of those completions went to Julio Jones, who gained 83 yards through the air.

But those are just the numbers. Alabama showed tremendous poise as it executed a 15-play, 79-yard drive that took more than seven minutes off the clock. That came as Jordan-Hare was going crazy with the Tigers leading 21-20.

Auburn built that lead with a bold start that took the fight to the heavily favored Crimson Tide.

Terrell Zachery scored on an end around that went for 67 yards up the left sideline.

The Tigers next recovered the ensuing onsides kick. They immediately drove 58 yards in 12 plays and took a 14-0 lead when Chris Todd found Eric Smith in the left flat on a 1-yard touchdown pass with 5:42 left in the first quarter.

“I just felt like we had to be aggressive in this football game,” Auburn coach Gene Chizik said. “The onsides kick ... that was the best way to get everybody into the game and ... get some positive things happening early.”

Alabama battled back to forge a halftime tie at 14-all. Trent Richardson, who led the Tide with 51 rushing yards on 15 carries, scored on a 2-yard run.
Tight end Colin Peek scored on a fine pass from McElroy that covered 33 yards.

But Auburn regained momentum with another big play early in the third quarter. Chris Todd hit Darvin Adams in stride along the right sideline. Adams beat Mark Barron with a hitch-and-go route, and the Tigers led 21-14 with 11:05 left in the third quarter.

A charged-up Auburn defense then stuffed Ingram on third-and-1 and fourth-and-1 plays at the Alabama 45.

At that point, the Crimson Tide defense came together.

“We just huddled up, said we’ve got to step this up, no more big plays, no more touchdowns and we’ve got to get the ball back for the offense,” linebacker Eryk Anders said.

The Tide forced a three-and-out, and Javier Arenas ignited the team with a 56-yard punt return to the Auburn 33.

Alabama got three points on a 27-yard field goal with 5:32 on the clock.

A turnover set up Alabama’s next points. Barron made a nice catch on Todd’s overthrown pass for Adams at the Auburn 43.

Again, the Tide couldn’t take full advantage. McElroy hit Jones for 18 yards a first down at the 25. But Alabama was forced to pull within one on Leigh Tiffin’s 31-yard field goal with 24 seconds left in the third.

Clinton Durst’s 43-yard punt pinned to the 3-yard line. Back-to-back penalties pushed the Tide to its one. Alabama punted it back to Auburn, which started on the Alabama 44.

One of the bigger sequences of the game followed. Alabama’s defense stopped Ben Tate for a gain of one yard, Kareem Jackson nailed him for a loss of seven on the second down, and Rolando McClain sacked Todd for a 10-yard loss to the Auburn 40. Durst punted the ball back to Alabama, which took over at its 21 with 8:27 remaining in the game.

“It was just one of those things where we had to have it,” Alabama guard Mike Johnson said. “Everybody was just looking at each other, saying you’ve got to dig a little deeper. There was nowhere to go. We either had to put points up or lose the game.”

McElroy missed his first pass on the drive, but then hit seven in a row. He completed four passes to Jones — two of those were third-down conversions.

“I think Julio played his best game today because he made big plays in critical times of the game,” Saban said. “Not big plays in terms of yards, but big catches that kept drives alive.”

A big 17-yard pass completion to Trent Richardson gave Alabama a first down on the Auburn 11.

The freshman then carried twice to the Auburn 4-yard line with 1:29 left.

Alabama called a running play, but Saban didn’t like it.

“I didn’t just want to play for a field goal,” the coach said. “We got out there and lined up, I wanted to throw a pass.”

The Tide took a timeout.

McElroy made a good play-action fake to Richardson and hit Upchurch in the end zone for the touchdown and a 26-21 lead.

The two-point try failed as McElroy’s pass was picked off by Jake Ricks.

Auburn took over at its 25 with 1:13 left. The Tigers got to the Alabama 37 with one second remaining. Todd’s pass to Kodi Burns was batted away by Justin Woodall as time expired — and Alabama exhaled.

Chizik said he was proud of his team’s effort.

“Nobody has to like the outcome of this game, but everybody in that locker room who plyaed did what we asked them to do,” the coach said.

First quarter
11:40 Auburn 7, Alabama 0: Terrell Zachery 67-yard run. (Wes Byrum kick.) 4 plays, 80 yards, 1:42. Key play: On third-and-2, Onterio McCalebb took a handoff 5 yards for a first down. The next play, Zachery went the distance from the Tigers’ 33-yard line.

5:42 Auburn 14, Alabama 0: Eric Smith 1-yard pass from Chris Todd. (Byrum kick.) 12 plays, 58 yards, 5:58. Key play: On third-and-6 from the Tide 11, Wildcat QB Kodi Burns threw an interception to Justin Woodall, who would have taken the pick for a touchdown. However, the play was whistled dead after AU tackle Lee Ziemba was called for a false start. After the play was over, Woodall threw the ball, drawing a 9-yard unsportsman-like penalty, setting up the Tigers inside the 7.

Second quarter
13:26 Auburn 14, Alabama 7: Trent Richardson 2-yard run. (Leigh Tiffin kick.) 10 plays, 58 yards, 4:11. Key play: Richardson got all four touches to start the second quarter, gaining 26 yards on three carries and one catch.

5:31 Auburn 14, Alabama 14: Colin Peek 33-yard pass from Greg McElroy. (Tiffin kick.) 5 plays, 45 yards, 2:18. Key play: Alabama got good field position after its defense forced Auburn to punt from its own 5-yard line.

Third quarter
11:05 Auburn 21, Alabama 14: Darvin Adams 72-yard pass Chris Todd. (Byrum kick.) 2 plays, 76 yards, 0:40. Key play: Todd got Alabama safety Mark Barron to bite on a pump fake and Adams was all alone for the catch and run.

5:32 Auburn 21, Alabama 17: Leigh Tiffin 27-yard field goal. 5 plays, 23 yards, 1:25. Key play: Javier Arenas’ 56-yard punt return put Alabama at the AU 33-yard line, setting up the field goal.

0:24 Auburn 21, Alabama 20: Leigh Tiffin 31-yard field goal. 7 plays, 30 yards, 4:24. Key play: Alabama safety Mark Barron intercepted a Chris Todd pass and returned it 14 yards to the Tigers’ 43-yard line.

Fourth quarter
1:24 Alabama 26, Auburn 21: Roy Upchurch 4-yard pass from Greg McElroy. (Conversion failed.) 15 plays, 79 yards, 7:03. Key play: It was a championship drive by an undefeated football team ranked No. 2 in the country. When Alabama needed to score and run clock, it did just that.