Examining Saban’s 9-7 Record Against the Barn

The main reason I get really miffed about losing to the Barn, is that it puts our play off position in jeopardy. I thought Herbstreet would blow his top last year when Bama was placed #4. I don't like the uncertainty. Plus, the world goes on a tilt when Bama loses to the Barn

BIZARRE thing is that if the Ricardo Louis TD never happens that way......we use the Kick Six as motivation to blow out Mizzou and FSU; that was the more important play because without it, the Kick Six doesn't even matter

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I know it sounds like sour grapes but Auburn has the best home field advantage of all teams in college football.
I've said it for a long time. When it's very electric due to their fans it influences the players and officials on the field. It is what it is.
Heck last years game worked in our favor. The '10 game was the one that I wanted to ruin their chances, but our team didn't have that killer "gotta beat aubren to spoil it" and 13 was two emotionally different games and plenty of home field advantage.

IMALOYAL1 said:

I know it sounds like sour grapes but Auburn has the best home field advantage of all teams in college football.
I've said it for a long time. When it's very electric due to their fans it influences the players and officials on the field. It is what it is.
Heck last years game worked in our favor. The '10 game was the one that I wanted to ruin their chances, but our team didn't have that killer "gotta beat aubren to spoil it" and 13 was two emotionally different games and plenty of home field advantage.

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They did a study on this a few years back and La Tech actually got it based on performance.

K-State was second.
Colorado third.

Auburn? 47th.


I don't believe any of that.

S.N.A.S.S.

I have said it before on here and I am going to say it again...and I am old school raised on Coach Bryant and his philosophies. I don’t like Auburn and I hate we lose to them at anything even if it was tiddly winks. I hate to lose to anyone period but especially them. You would have to have lived through the late 60’s and Punt Bama Punt to understand. I still cannot watch that game nor the 2010 or 2013 game. And there is some voodoo at JHS. I am that much Bama and proud of it.

I'm honest to God NOT trying to make excuses but Auburn tends to get us at a GOOD time, too.

Look at last year.

Every damn year, LSU is an absolute war. It doesn't matter.

Miss St blasted LSU and even lowly little Troy beat them. We beat them and the outcome was never in doubt, but I was there and could see some of the problems developing.

Then we go ON THE ROAD to Miss St, and face off with a team that hadn't had a tough game since Auburn six weeks earlier and those damned cowbells.

Go look at MSU against us every year when it follows the LSU game. Many times it's a struggle for us....if they're good.


In 2011, we won (24-7), but it wasn't pretty. That was a week after that epic 1 vs 2 in BDS.
In 2012....oh we routed their unbeaten team because we played them BEFORE LSU. I think we win anyway but look at what happened
the week after LSU in 2012 (for those who forgot.....we lost to JF2).
In 2013, we DID beat MSU in StarkVegas but we struggled up to the end. Hell, they hurt themselves.
In 2014 - granted, that was the best MSU team maybe ever and we DID win and it wasn't as close as the score.......but it's like we never really
recover from the LSU game.

And in 2017 - well, we know what happened.

I'm not trying to whine and let's be clear......Auburn flat out beat us, outplayed us last year in JHS. There's no sugar coating it. And yes, their fans will rightly point to the UGA game......although I don't think it any coincidence them having a week off between UGA and us helped them in 10 and 13. If nothing else, it helps you heal and the team playing the cupcake runs the risk of losing a player for the rest of the year.

My issue with the losses to AU is that 2 of them have been the most heartbreaking and emotional games that I've seen. Obviously, in 2010 when we had the chance to block them out of the NC picture and then the other obvious game in 2013. It's not that we loss those games - it's the manner in which we lost and to add on top of that it was to our biggest rival. Not only did we lose in such an unbelievable fashion in both games but both losses allowed for AU to make the NC game. That's the rub for me. For all the highs that we've had under Saban (and there's been a ton of them) we've also had some of our most gut wrenching losses to our biggest rival..

B1GTide said:

I am throwing out the LSU years and 2007 - those games simply are not relevant as they were not Saban's Alabama teams.

That leaves Saban 7-3 against Auburn. 2 of those losses were very close games, with Auburn going on to play in the BCSNC game - so both were against very, very good Auburn teams. You tip your cap. The third loss - we all understand how that one happened.

IMO, you can't really talk about W/L records across 10 years and draw larger conclusions. Every game has a life of its own, and its own story to tell. No streaks here - just a bunch of games played between very good programs, each with its own outcome. The only lesson to be learned is that you have to take Auburn seriously (as a fan). They are a lot better than most Alabama fans would like to admit.

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Eh eh! Good post and great assessments! But I have been around a long time and can remember EVERY single Iron Bowl we have lost since 1961. No one has to remind me how serious Awbun is in this game. AU has had more consistency issues than any from a talent based nature. They are typically tough and determined with underrated talent. But I do agree that some of the weirdest things have happened in this series. Things that affected the outcome of lots of games. We have benefitted at times. A few times....they just lined up and beat us. Like 2005. But if there is one explosive fluke play in Bama's future? Seems to come on that day. Sometimes one fluke phenom like in 1972. Not a fluke when you get a punt blocked for a TD. But when you have 2 punts blocked for TDs by the same players and scored by the same guy? When does that happen? In the Iron Bowl. I respect Awbun (Auburn unless you are from East Georgia) on that day.

bamamick said:

Auburn is a very tough place to play. In my humble opinion it is the best home field advantage in the SEC right now. So when they are good it is VERY difficult to beat them over there. The day they beat us this past season they would have beaten any team in the country, not a doubt in my mind.

I don't like a lot of their fan base, but I can accept it when someone has kicked our butts, and this past season that's exactly what they did.

rtr

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Agreed Auburn is a tough place to play. A few things I'll throw out about the series. Their field has the biggest crown on it I have ever seen on a field so much so you can't see the ball on the far hash many times. This is an incredible advantage for the team who plays and practices on it. The other thing is that the barn has gotten away with murder with the officials down there. There have been numerous illegal man downfield, procedure(not being set), and holding calls that have gone uncalled in Jerdan hell stadium. The 2013 game comes to mind when Nick Marshall had men 5 and ten yards down field constantly when he'd throw off a RPO.

On top of all that their entire self worth as a University rests upon beating us. Our goals are the NC or bust, but they consider a successful season beating Bama. For most of Alabama's players, it is just another game, especially for the kids from out of state. For them, it is life or death.

selmaborntidefan said:

I'm honest to God NOT trying to make excuses but Auburn tends to get us at a GOOD time, too.

Look at last year.

Every damn year, LSU is an absolute war. It doesn't matter.

Miss St blasted LSU and even lowly little Troy beat them. We beat them and the outcome was never in doubt, but I was there and could see some of the problems developing.

Then we go ON THE ROAD to Miss St, and face off with a team that hadn't had a tough game since Auburn six weeks earlier and those damned cowbells.

Go look at MSU against us every year when it follows the LSU game. Many times it's a struggle for us....if they're good.


In 2011, we won (24-7), but it wasn't pretty. That was a week after that epic 1 vs 2 in BDS.
In 2012....oh we routed their unbeaten team because we played them BEFORE LSU. I think we win anyway but look at what happened
the week after LSU in 2012 (for those who forgot.....we lost to JF2).
In 2013, we DID beat MSU in StarkVegas but we struggled up to the end. Hell, they hurt themselves.
In 2014 - granted, that was the best MSU team maybe ever and we DID win and it wasn't as close as the score.......but it's like we never really
recover from the LSU game.

And in 2017 - well, we know what happened.

I'm not trying to whine and let's be clear......Auburn flat out beat us, outplayed us last year in JHS. There's no sugar coating it. And yes, their fans will rightly point to the UGA game......although I don't think it any coincidence them having a week off between UGA and us helped them in 10 and 13. If nothing else, it helps you heal and the team playing the cupcake runs the risk of losing a player for the rest of the year.

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Could it be that CNS views the LSU game like we view the auburn game? If so, it could answer some of the questions why we sometimes don't seem to play inspired against auburn. I do agree that the LSU game the past decade has pretty much been a war and then we win, but really struggle against MSU.

GrayTide said:

Could it be that CNS views the LSU game like we view the auburn game? If so, it could answer some of the questions why we sometimes don't seem to play inspired against auburn. I do agree that the LSU game the past decade has pretty much been a war and then we win, but really struggle against MSU.

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I think he views every big game as having equal value, and that's the way to go. He can't afford to really put all the focus on one game in particular, because that's how you end up dropping a couple others on the way. I think it's more that the most difficult games take the most out of the team, and the result of that is an Alabama team that is sometimes worn out.

Remember, it's not just physical, but mental exhausting. Saban said a team can only get up for so many big games a year. Truth be told, from an Alabama perspective, the biggest issue with the Auburn game is probably when it was played. If Alabama played them early every year they'd have another win or two for sure. In the case of a game like Miss. State, they had a good coach more than capable of being a nuisance. Alabama has beaten them consistently, but hasn't been afforded the luxury of playing them when they can afford to really put that much energy into the game.

GrayTide said:

Could it be that CNS views the LSU game like we view the auburn game? If so, it could answer some of the questions why we sometimes don't seem to play inspired against auburn. I do agree that the LSU game the past decade has pretty much been a war and then we win, but really struggle against MSU.

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I think it's that LSU views the game that way - and we get harder hits and more adrenaline from them.

selmaborntidefan said:

I think it's that LSU views the game that way - and we get harder hits and more adrenaline from them.

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Well... I kinda see the LSU game like the Steelers-Ravens game in that it’s just a crowbar type game. But I think the issue is that LSU has become too ultra conservative on offense and too inept at the qb since 2014 to win those games.

Malzahn isn’t as stupid as many Bama fans try to make him out to be. I think while the common notion is to say Kirby or Mullen is #2 in the SEC I think I would say Malzahn is actually better. Take the Bama-MSU and Bama-UGA games last year. Both Mullen and Kirby had Bama dead to rights but became ultra conservative. Atleast Malzahn understands that you can’t beat Bama standing still and allowing CNS ample time to adjust. Malzahn lives and dies off aggression vs Bama, but produces more wins over us than anyone else.

I think Malzahn needs a capable RPO qb to be successful, but he also needs good defensive recruiters. I think hiring Mushpuppy did him wonders in recruiting a defense. And Steele is an upgrade over Roof and Johnson.

CHATTBRIT said:

The main reason I get really miffed about losing to the Barn, is that it puts our play off position in jeopardy. I thought Herbstreet would blow his top last year when Bama was placed #4. I don't like the uncertainty. Plus, the world goes on a tilt when Bama loses to the Barn

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Yep. And it's why I've said for YEARS that we should move this game to September. Open SEC play with aub every year. It will still be a "big deal" - but it will end this phenomenon where the game's importance is blown out of proportion, by giving the boogs (in effect) almost a VETO on our post season expectations.

Say what you want - we only got "IN" last year due to three VERY LUCKY BREAKS.
(1) Aub already had TWO losses when we placed;
(2) Aub loses in the SECC game;
AND - (perhaps the BIGGEST BREAK OF ALL):
(3) there was NO OTHER ONE LOSS P-5 Champion (or even a 2 loss ND) out there.

Take away ANY One of those, and we MIGHT have watched the whole thing on TV, due to the TIMING of our loss.

BUT - if we played the boogs in September, they no longer have that (near) Veto power. "IMO"

CHATTBRIT said:

The main reason I get really miffed about losing to the Barn, is that it puts our play off position in jeopardy. I thought Herbstreet would blow his top last year when Bama was placed #4. I don't like the uncertainty. Plus, the world goes on a tilt when Bama loses to the Barn

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Herbstreit was on our side....

TomFromBama said:

Yep. And it's why I've said for YEARS that we should move this game to September. Open SEC play with aub every year. It will still be a "big deal" - but it will end this phenomenon where the game's importance is blown out of proportion, by giving the boogs (in effect) almost a VETO on our post season expectations.

Say what you want - we only got "IN" last year due to three VERY LUCKY BREAKS.
(1) Aub already had TWO losses when we placed;
(2) Aub loses in the SECC game;
AND - (perhaps the BIGGEST BREAK OF ALL):
(3) there was NO OTHER ONE LOSS P-5 Champion (or even a 2 loss ND) out there.

Take away ANY One of those, and we MIGHT have watched the whole thing on TV, due to the TIMING of our loss.

BUT - if we played the boogs in September, they no longer have that (near) Veto power. "IMO"

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I've said this for a long time. So many good reasons for us and them.

1. We'd play when both teams are more healthy.
2. For us, we typically start stronger than Auburn.
3. A loss for either team wouldn't be so vile for the fanbase because you have to move on to next week.
4. A loss in September is not as crippling as it is in late Nov. and can typically be overcome with sustained and improving play (would actually benefit both teams in losing).
5. Would balance out both schedules a little. We have LSU and Auburn late and they have Georgia and us late.

Probably more reasons...

BamaMoon said:

I've said this for a long time. So many good reasons for us and them.

1. We'd play when both teams are more healthy.
2. For us, we typically start stronger than Auburn.
3. A loss for either team wouldn't be so vile for the fanbase because you have to move on to next week.
4. A loss in September is not as crippling as it is in late Nov. and can typically be overcome with sustained and improving play (would actually benefit both teams in losing).
5. Would balance out both schedules a little. We have LSU and Auburn late and they have Georgia and us late.

Probably more reasons...

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Agree with all that but the bolded is exactly why it won't happen.

AU will NEVER willingly relinquish the role to play the spoiler. They live and breath to do it.

That meeting room says it all.... "Beat Bama" *and ruin their season*

I can't really understand the logic here.

This might have been a sort of argument back in the day of poll selected champions or - dare I say - the BCS. But the reality is that Alabama never lost to Auburn a single time in pursuit of those poll era OR BCS titles.

Now? It must not matter too much else we wouldn't have made the game last year.

TomFromBama said:

Yep. And it's why I've said for YEARS that we should move this game to September. Open SEC play with aub every year. It will still be a "big deal" - but it will end this phenomenon where the game's importance is blown out of proportion, by giving the boogs (in effect) almost a VETO on our post season expectations.

Say what you want - we only got "IN" last year due to three VERY LUCKY BREAKS.
(1) Aub already had TWO losses when we placed;
(2) Aub loses in the SECC game;
AND - (perhaps the BIGGEST BREAK OF ALL):
(3) there was NO OTHER ONE LOSS P-5 Champion (or even a 2 loss ND) out there.

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Now.....please explain to me how this is any different than:

1) 2011
2) 2012
3) 2015

The latter is a very interesting discussion since Ole Miss would have been a two-loss SEC champion (presuming they beat Florida in the rematch) with a head-to-head road win over Alabama.


I suspect beating Florida the second time would have "erased" one of their two losses.


Every single time a team loses a game, they had HELP to get to the playoff.

We got help from the losses of Boise State-Oklahoma-Okie State in 2011 and K State and Oregon in 2012. And we benefited from the 4th and 25 fling back when Arky beat Ole Miss (seriously......that was the most Auburn play in history).

TomFromBama said:

Take away ANY One of those, and we MIGHT have watched the whole thing on TV, due to the TIMING of our loss.

BUT - if we played the boogs in September, they no longer have that (near) Veto power. "IMO"

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The timing of the loss surely doesn't mean what it did in 1978. Hell, we lost games in NOVEMBER twice and won the national title.

selmaborntidefan said:

The timing of the loss surely doesn't mean what it did in 1978. Hell, we lost games in NOVEMBER twice and won the national title.

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I'd argue that we got extremely lucky in how the BSC broke for us after the TAMU loss in Nov. of 2012. Extremely lucky with teams losing the next week (OK. State IIRC).

And then this year, we got lucky again with that stupid loss to the Barn.