Bonus notes, observations from another look at Iron Bowl classic

Just when the Iron Bowl looked like a dud … that happened.

Six-win Auburn pushed No. 3 Alabama about as far as a team can go without breaking in the first overtime game in rivalry history. It took four frames before the Crimson Tide celebrated a 24-22 victory in front of the Auburn student section Saturday night.

It was a marathon so the Sunday rewind is all the more necessary. Let’s take a second look at this classic with a little more context as Alabama moved to 11-1 and ended a two-game Jordan-Hare Stadium losing streak.

-- Let’s start out by noting the defensive performance that was lost in the wash of the comeback. Alabama held Auburn to 159 yards, its fewest since 2017 when the Tigers managed just 117 in a loss at Clemson. Auburn didn’t have a drive longer than 44 yards and the two scoring drives covered 39 and 5 yards, respectively.

-- Will Anderson was again active in the backfield, recording a drive-ending sack to open the game. It was the first of three tackles for loss to extend his national-best total to 29.5 this season. The No. 2 player on the list has 7.5 fewer. He also leads the nation in sacks with 14.5.

-- That first-drive sack came on a play where Anderson broke to the inside instead of testing the tackle out wide. Twisting into the gap, the outside LB ran practically untouched for the first of Alabama’s 6.0 sacks, second only to the 7.0 it had at Mississippi State.

-- The 15.0 tackles for loss recorded by the Alabama defense were the most in a game since at least 2009.

-- The first sign of rivalry chippiness came after Auburn’s punt 2 minutes into the game when Tide WR/RB Christian Leary got tied up with a block that ran through the whistle. It only cranked up from there.

-- Alabama started three drives inside its own 10-yard line (two in the final five minutes of the game) while Auburn was pinned in there once. Tide punter James Burnip had a career-high seven punts on the first seven drives. He averaged 37.6 a try with a long of 46. Auburn had the most methodical 44-yard drive after Burnip’s first punt left the Tigers at the 2-yard line. They took 5:56 off the clock to move those 44 yards -- ultimately its longest drive that spanned 12 plays.

-- Auburn had just three plays of 20-plus yards with a 29-yard pass to Demetrius Robertson set up the Tigers’ lone touchdown a play later. It came on third-and-15 following the Jameson Williams targeting ejection on a play that Josh Jobe covered well but Robertson made a great play on the ball.

-- Before that, Williams had a 34-yard catch that would have seemed like the early slump-buster that got Alabama’s sleepy offense started. Nope. That one play represented exactly half the of the first-half offensive yardage as the Tide went to halftime with all of 68 yards.

-- There’s a lot to unpack from this one before Alabama faces Georgia’s top-ranked defense but the fact it allowed a season-high seven sacks to Auburn isn’t close to sustainable against the Bulldogs. Kirby Smart’s group is No. 4 nationally in sacks with 41 (behind Alabama’s 43) while the Tide protection is No. 108 of 130 in sacks allowed with a whopping 35.0. For context, last year Alabama allowed 1.46 sacks a game. That number is 2.91 this fall.

-- Brian Robinson was stuffed for no gain on an early third-and-one in a familiar scenario. Later, Trey Sanders was stopped without a gain on fourth-and-one on a play that could’ve ended the game if Auburn picked up a first down on the next drive.

-- Alabama has 31 runs on third downs needing 1-3 yards for the first down. It converted 16 times (51.6%) and is 4-for-10 picking up first downs on fourth down runs. It was 31 of 42 (73.8%) on third-and-short a year ago.

-- For the TV heads out there, if you were curious about how CBS got some of its high-angle shots, it flew a drone over the stadium that hovered behind one of the end zones when not going live. They provide some cool low angle, overhead shots.

-- Freshman LB Dallas Turner, a five-star prospect, has 4.5 sacks in the past four games after getting 1.5 at Auburn. He’s active off the end, presumably helping take some of the pressure off Will Anderson coming off the other end. Turner solidified his starting job after replacing Drew Sanders when he injured his hand against Ole Miss.

-- The targeting ejection of Williams is an example of the risk when using star players on special teams. Injuries are the obvious risk but it’s hard to remember the last time a skill-position offensive player was tossed for targeting on a special teams play. By the rule, it was the right call and a bleak offensive situation got a little darker with Williams on the bench.

-- Auburn’s Kobe Hudson caught a 15-yard touchdown pass and struck a pose that became a talking point the rest of the game.

-- Coming out of halftime, a colleague noted Alabama didn’t seem to have the same fire jogging from the locker room. The nightmare continued on the first snap with an illegal formation on the first snap, a six-yard loss that allowed Auburn to decline the flag. The Tigers accepted 11 flags for 129 yards, the most for a Crimson Tide team in at least 20 years.

-- Alabama was in a real danger zone after the first third-quarter drive went backward and James Burnip’s 35-yard punt was returned to the Alabama 21-yard line. Brian Branch made a key open-field tackle on second down before DeMarcco Hellams broke up a third-and-five pass to force a field goal.

-- It’s 10-0 Auburn early in the third quarter, and even knowing how this game ends, it still feels like Alabama’s got no shot with the offensive issues.

-- Even when the Tide had a positive play, like a 15-yard run for Brian Robinson, Emil Ekiyor was called for a 15-yard flag after continuing to block after his helmet came off. If it could go wrong, it did. Two plays later, Young’s first interception in 225 passes gave Auburn the ball at the Tide 45-yard line. Hard to imagine a 10-point deficit feeling much bigger than this one.

-- Saban previously said he’ll ask the offense to play up-tempo when it’s struggling and that’s what it did in the third quarter.

-- Mark down 4:57 in the third quarter as a key moment. It was the exact time when Brian Robinson carried a run over the 50-yard line, the second such incursion of the game for Alabama and the first since the opening drive began at the Auburn 48.

-- Bryce Young had to call timeout with 2:34 left in the third quarter facing a second-and-11 at the Auburn 19 in a play you knew would be significant.

-- Rock bottom probably came with 2:23 left in the third when a field goal snap was dropped by holder Paul Tyson. There were low snap issues earlier this year but that ball was right on the money to Tyson. It was a disaster that looked eerily like a botched field goal from the 2017 Iron Bowl when JK Scott dropped a snap before throwing a pass for a loss. (Watch that here). Punter James Burnip replaced Tyson as the holder for the rest of the game.

-- An under-rated play was the swing pass Auburn’s Hunter took 43 yards inside the Alabama 45 before it was called back for holding. The Tigers were primed for a knockout punch but that flag put that on hold.

-- Kool-Aid McKinstry ultimately made a huge defensive play in overtime but his block in the back flag early in the fourth quarter pushed Alabama back to the 26 just when it appeared the Tide would have decent field position.

-- Another rock-bottom candidate: the fourth-and-two dropped shotgun snap for Young with 11:54 left inside Auburn territory as Alabama’s 279-game streak without being shut out was entering the danger zone but an interception from Josh Jobe on the next snap changed everything again.

-- Robinson broke into the clear for a 37-yard run, the third-longest rushing play in Alabama’s season, on a costly play. He got up clutching his hamstring and didn’t return. Saban on Sunday said he pulled a muscle and it was unclear if he’ll be ready for Georgia on Saturday.

-- Just dominated up front on that fourth-and-one stuff from the Auburn defense on the Trey Sanders run with 2:00 left. It looked all but over before a tactical mistake stopped the clock when Tank Bigsby stepped out of bounds following a second-down run with 1:47 left. It bailed Alabama out for taking a third-quarter timeout after the third-down stop forced a 10th Auburn punt.

-- As I wrote here, that final regulation drive felt a lot like the 2014 LSU game-tying drive after the Tide looked dead in the closing moments. Everything had to go right without a timeout and it did, with Bryce Young scrambling for a few big yards (like Blake Sims did seven years ago) while hitting lightly used receivers (like Sims did).

-- This Iron Bowl didn’t get a name like the Kick Six but Ja’Corey Brooks’ 28-yard tying touchdown was as close as it got to a singular iconic moment.

-- That wouldn’t have been possible if not for Jahleel Billingsley’s 14-yard catch on fourth-and-seven when Young had time to throw.

Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.