Iron Bowl Myths For This Time Of Year

[BamaInBham]

Perkins was an excellent RECRUITER.
For that matter, so was Curry. Remember - Bill Curry put the pieces in place for not one but TWO national champions (1990 Ga Tech, 1992 Alabama). So it's not like he couldn't recruit.

Fran, well, I never liked him anyway.

For the record: There is much room for disagreement re: Curry's contribution to Bama's NC, though I'm not going to beat that dead horse again .

 

[Crimson1967]

The two worst coaches in the post-Bryant era had zero head coaching experience.

 

[BamaBoySince89]

Oh yes they were both fantastic recruiters.

I do give Stallings some recruiting credit as well. The core of the 1994 12-1 team, which also played a big role during the 1992 team, was recruited by him. But he couldn't sustain it in the face of the Spurrier Revolution.

I may be wrong, but to me Stallings undoing was he was too stubborn to recruit better offensive players as well as opening the passing game up more, thus Spurrier and Phatimus beating us constantly. Granted Stallings got us back to a respectable position nationally, winning 17-10, 20-10, 21-13 almost every game wasn’t necessary gratifying

 

[bamaga]

Both games had serious injuries on Alabama. Yes we can argue that the better team didn’t win, but really we are talking about more equal teams. This year these teams are nowhere near equal. If Auburn wins then it will be a huge upset

No, someone will figure out a way to spin it that Auburn was the better team.

BTW, 2017 Auburn was a 4 loss team. and Alabama was the National Champion. But Auburn was better Than Alabama

 

[81usaf92]

No, someone will figure out a way to spin it that Auburn was the better team.

BTW, 2017 Auburn was a 4 loss team. and Alabama was the National Champion. But Auburn was better Than Alabama

Auburn was also the #4 team in the country entering the Iron Bowl that year after blowing the barn doors off of #2 Georgia. So saying "Well actually they were a 4 loss team" isnt really telling the whole story. They were a really good team in 2017 and with the injury and quarterback situation at Alabama they were a better team THAT day.

 

[TideEngineer08]

I may be wrong, but to me Stallings undoing was he was too stubborn to recruit better offensive players as well as opening the passing game up more, thus Spurrier and Phatimus beating us constantly. Granted Stallings got us back to a respectable position nationally, winning 17-10, 20-10, 21-13 almost every game wasn’t necessary gratifying

His recruiting was on point the first half of his tenure here. The game was still about defense, running, and ball control. Of course the upper class men of the 1992 team were brought in by Curry. However there were several prominent guys that Stallings signed. Willie Gaston, Tommy Johnson, Michael Rogers, Tarrant Lynch, Jay Barker, and David Palmer to name a few.

But the game changed right under his feet. The frustrating part is that right when it was time to pivot, he had the perfect OC to do it - Homer Smith. But outside a few moments, notably the Georgia game in 1994, he never let Homer run with his own offense.

So yes, Florida took over the SEC with the fun and gun. Fulmer recruited NFL style offensive guys and turned the series against us around with Manning and elite WRs. By that time, Stallings had had enough of our bumbling administration but he wasn’t going to change.

Still, I love that era of Alabama football. It’s what I cut my teeth on. “The fun is in the winning.” - Coach Stallings.

 

[TideEngineer08]

Auburn was also the #4 team in the country entering the Iron Bowl that year after blowing the barn doors off of #2 Georgia. So saying "Well actually they were a 4 loss team" isnt really telling the whole story. They were a really good team in 2017 and with the injury and quarterback situation at Alabama they were a better team THAT day.

If Malzahn hadn’t have run the wheels off Kerryon Johnson, they might’ve competed against Georgia in the rematch. They only lost to UCF because they didn’t want to be there. We ought to know after some of our Sugar Bowl letdowns.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

No, someone will figure out a way to spin it that Auburn was the better team.

Not this year. If Auburn wins this year - it's a 1984 job all over again.

BTW, 2017 Auburn was a 4 loss team. and Alabama was the National Champion. But Auburn was better Than Alabama

Yes....and who were those four losses?
1) a one-score loss on the road at the #1 playoff seed, Clemson
2) a one quarter choke job that blew a 20-0 lead against LSU
3) an SEC title game rematch loss without their best running back to a team they'd beaten by 23 points three weeks earlier
4) an undefeated UCF "National champions" team

Say what you want, but Auburn had an easier time than we did with Texas A/M, Georgia (the first time), and Mississippi State, and in all honesty, should have beaten LSU. (They somehow had a much tougher time than we did with Mercer, and while their game with Ole Miss wasn't the beatdown we administered, it's not like that game was ever in any doubt).

I won't argue Auburn was better than Alabama in 2017. But us losing wasn't some colossal upset. We were only 3 1/2 point favorites.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

I may be wrong, but to me Stallings undoing was he was too stubborn to recruit better offensive players as well as opening the passing game up more, thus Spurrier and Phatimus beating us constantly. Granted Stallings got us back to a respectable position nationally, winning 17-10, 20-10, 21-13 almost every game wasn’t necessary gratifying

I think Stallings was afraid he'd be Bobby Bowden - the guy who builds an explosive offense and loses to Miami's good defense every time it matters. Stallings himself said he was not going to install an offense that won a bunch of 41-40 games, but he would keep a defense that won a lot of 17-13 ones.

 

[STONECOLDSABAN]

No, someone will figure out a way to spin it that Auburn was the better team.

BTW, 2017 Auburn was a 4 loss team. and Alabama was the National Champion. But Auburn was better Than Alabama

Auburn was a 2 loss team going into the game. They lost to 4 teams that’s finished the season ranked. 2 of them were in the playoffs and one made it to the national title game. They also lost to UCF. Who as much as we crack jokes about them they went undefeated that year. I feel like we are arguing semantics now. Ok sure upsets in the technical term happen but let’s not pretend that a 5-7 auburn team in BDs is scary like a 9-2 auburn team in JH.

 

[teamplayer]

When we are supposed to win big, we do:

Iron Bowl point spread since 2007

• 2020: Alabama by 24 (opening spread)
• 2019: Alabama by 3.5 (48-45 loss)
• 2018: Alabama by 25.5 (52-21 win)
• 2017: Alabama by 6 (26-14 loss)
• 2016: Alabama by 20.5 (30-12 win)
• 2015: Alabama by 13.5 (29-13 win)
• 2014: Alabama by 9.5 (55-44 win)
• 2013: Alabama by 10 (34-28 loss)
• 2012: Alabama by 34 (49-0 win)
• 2011: Alabama by 21.5 (42-14 win)
• 2010: Alabama by 4.5 (28-27 loss)
• 2009: Alabama by 10 (26-21 win)
• 2008: Alabama by 14.5 (36-0 win)
• 2007: Auburn by 6 (17-10 loss)

This, to me, shows that the rivalry is often full of upsets. I know some like to say that "the better team usually wins" (Guess what, the better team usually wins every game in every sport.) and that upsets are rare and talk about things that happened after the game, but from 2008 to 2009, a 12 game span, we were favored each year. However, we lost four of those games. That is four upsets in just 12 years. Were those games "massive" upsets? No. Were they upsets? Yep. The truth is that this is almost always a hard fought game that provides a huge challenge, and if it is played in Jerkin Hare, Bama has to be at least six points better to have a chance. Fortunately, we play in Tuscaloosa on Saturday. Roll Tide!

 

[Bamaro]

This, to me, shows that the rivalry is often full of upsets. I know some like to say that "the better team usually wins" (Guess what, the better team usually wins every game in every sport.) and that upsets are rare and talk about things that happened after the game, but from 2008 to 2009, a 12 game span, we were favored each year. However, we lost four of those games. That is four upsets in just 12 years. Were those games "massive" upsets? No. Were they upsets? Yep. The truth is that this is almost always a hard fought game that provides a huge challenge, and if it is played in Jerkin Hare, Bama has to be at least six points better to have a chance. Fortunately, we play in Tuscaloosa on Saturday. Roll Tide!

Yup, in the 12 years that we were favored, we lost 4, ie. 33%.

 

[teamplayer]

Yup, in the 12 years that we were favored, we lost 4, ie. 33%.

Yes, in a situation where we were favored 100% of the time, we lost 33% of the time. Losing one out of three as a favorite equates to a lot of upsets. That 2013 game still bothers me the most because there aren't many situations where you get to go for three straight national championships because it's incredibly difficult to win two national titles. We missed a bajillion field goals it seemed. We were way to predictable at times offensively. We had an All-American receiver drop a TD pass that hit him in the hands in stride. We let a guy return a missed field goal 109 yards. It just really seemed like fate was against us. I hated it because we had a team that had won two straight titles and were working on a third, and they got overshadowed by kick six. That team was fantastic, while AU was a flash in the pan that choked away the title. Anyway, the best team usually wins, but only winning 67% of the time is far from a sure thing. I just want us to win Saturday, but I also hope we can win by about 20 so I don't have to worry about Auburn luck saving their day.

 

[DzynKingRTR]

I love that some of you are using Vegas to determine what is an "upset". Really think about that.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

This, to me, shows that the rivalry is often full of upsets.

It shows me people looking at teams aren't evaluating them correctly.

I know some like to say that "the better team usually wins" (Guess what, the better team usually wins every game in every sport.) and that upsets are rare and talk about things that happened after the game, but from 2008 to 2009, a 12 game span, we were favored each year.

"Favored" means "oddsmakers perceive that team to be better." It does NOT mean "that team is better." it does not mean "that team is MUCH BETTER than the opponent."

However, we lost four of those games. That is four upsets in just 12 years.

We lost two of those games to:
a) a national champion (with a Heisman Trophy winning QB)
b) a team that came within 12 seconds of being national champion

We lost the third one to a team that beat the two teams that played in the CFP title game by a combined 35 points.

Were those games "massive" upsets? No. Were they upsets? Yep.

There's been one MAJOR upset as I've noted - 1984.

We can call ALL the other games "mild upsets" or "surprises" or whatever. Not one example cited overturns my point, though. I'm not saying, "The better team always wins." I'm not saying, "Upsets never happen."

I'm saying this "throw out the record book" nonsense or "a one-win team can beat an unbeaten team" is ludicrous and insane.

The truth is that this is almost always a hard fought game that provides a huge challenge, and if it is played in Jerkin Hare, Bama has to be at least six points better to have a chance. Fortunately, we play in Tuscaloosa on Saturday. Roll Tide!

Almost always a hard fought game, yes.

But there's not "really" anything "magic" about Jerking Hare, either.

Alabama beat a favored Auburn team, 31-7, in Jerking Hare stadium. Is there anybody here - even at your drunkest - who would argue that Franchione with Andrew Zow at QB is better than Nick Saban with any of his QBs????? That was a 7-2 Auburn team that had beaten Florida that year.

We beat them 49-14 in 2011 with Gus Malzahn calling plays and AJ McCarron as our QB.


Our losing to them in JHS has had more to do with them fielding better teams than a lot of people here want to give credit. I'll grant last year was probably a mild upset (and a ref brain dump).

 

[selmaborntidefan]

Let me add something else since this seems to be a bone of contention: I'm NOT saying there are not times when the scrappy underdog doesn't force the winner to fight like Hell to come out on top. Good examples include: 1979, 1981, 1983, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1997, 2004, 2007, 2014, and 2015.