Hurts, No. 1 Alabama race past No. 16 Auburn, 30-12

Pass defenses are similarly frightful, which might see the balance of the game hinge on whick young quarterback, Ole Miss freshman Shea Patterson and MSU sophomore Nick Fitzgerald, puts up the best video-game stats. I think that points to the conference being down this year, and also with the parity in the conference.

Thomas pitched the ball to Searcy, who looked as though he wanted to throw the ball back across the field to Thomas drifting into the left flat.

Subscribe to the FREE Auburn Undercover newsletter for the best Tigers coverage on the planet – it only takes five seconds to sign up! That rhythm did not last long as Alabama failed to take care of the ball.

The sophomore is going to play in the Iron Bowl, but he’s still not 100 percent according to head coach Gus Malazhan. “We worked at the same facility and he got better every day we were there”. They didn’t have a lot of explosive runs.

“We had some really, really challenging field position situations in this game, and our players responded really well to it”, Alabama coach Nick Saban said. Calvin Ridley led in receiving with 94 yards and a touchdown in seven receptions while Cam Sims had 34 yards in four receptions. Just behind him are Alabama’s Tim Williams (8.0), Jonathan Allen (7.0) and Ryan Anderson (6.5).

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Kyle Shurmur threw for a career-high 416 yards, and the Vanderbilt Commodores scored the final 21 points in an upset of No. 24 Tennessee that erased any doubts they belong in a bowl.

“I think this is one of the greatest rivalry games in the country”, Saban said. “They’ve got several very good pass rushers”. “We started Jeremy but our plan was to play John more”.

But the only poll that has any real bearing on where Auburn might go bowling is the College Football Playoff ranking, which will be updated Tuesday. The Tigers and LSU finished tied for second in the SEC West behind Alabama.

Hurts has had a sensational season with 2,168 passing yards and 19 touchdowns while rushing for 803 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Imagine how important that same defense will be in the Tide’s remaining games, which include Florida and, likely, some combination of Ohio State, Clemson or Washington. “You have trust and you have some deep roots and integrity there”, said Hayden Pugh, an Auburn fan.

Alabama remains loaded with defensive stars.

He’s as sure of a thing as there is in college football, and without the Groza Award finalist, the Tigers would be in a much bigger hole than they now are. Leading tackler Reuben Foster is a Butkus Award finalist as the nation’s top linebacker. Rather than the discombobulated snafu of fumbled jet sweeps, broken options, and ugly interceptions, the Tide offense went back to its roots and handed the ball off to a 240 pound running back and let him eat. The defense has even scored nine TDs.

The Iron Bowl, one of college football’s most heated rivalries, was pretty one-sided on Saturday afternoon in Tuscaloosa. The Tigers trail only Florida nationally in red zone defense, allowing opponents to score just 67 percent of the time after penetrating the Tigers’ 20-yard line. They were also 2-for-13 on third and fourth down combined.

The game gives former colleagues a chance to match wits. Despite the home field advantage, Alabama’s quarterback Jalen Hurts will have to show-up in a big way against Auburn’s stout defense. “Auburn presents some tough issues and challenges with personnel groups, motions, and formation adjustments, so I thought our guys did a really good job for the most part adjusting to those”, Saban said. “He’s very quick and creative”.