Isaiah Horton caught three touchdown passes from Ty Simpson to help No. 10 Alabama survive blowing a 17-point lead to escape with a 27-20 win over rival and host Auburn in the Iron Bowl on Saturday night.
The Crimson Tide (10-2, 7-1 Southeastern Conference) clinched a spot in the SEC championship game vs. Georgia with the dramatic victory, and also likely locked up a spot in the College Football Playoff.
“These guys are unbelievable,” Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said of his team in the ESPN postgame interview. “They’ve had their backs to the wall and been competing for a long time. These guys, they give you everything they’ve got every single day. It’s been a long road, but we get to continue on. I can’t wait to go do more with them next weekend.”
After the Tigers tied the game with 11:43 left, Alabama responded with a 15-play, 75-yard drive which took nearly eight minutes off the clock. It ended with a fourth-and-2 conversion when Simpson found Horton once again for what became the game-winning 6-yard touchdown catch.
Auburn’s ensuing drive moved well across midfield before Cam Coleman fumbled at the Crimson Tide 20 and Alabama’s Deontae Lawson recovered.
Horton had just five catches for 35 yards, but three of them were touchdowns. Simpson had a season-low 122 yards, completing 19 of 35 passes. Jam Miller had 83 rushing yards on 15 carries before leaving the game with a leg injury.
Ashton Daniels was 18-of-39 passing for 259 yards, a touchdown and an interception for Auburn (5-7, 1-7), which finishes a win shy of bowl eligibility. He also ran for 108 of the Tigers’ 152 rushing yards. Malcolm Simmons had three catches for 143 yards.
After a slow start, Auburn outgained Alabama 411-280.
The Tigers appeared destined for an uncompetitive loss when they dug themselves a 17-0 hole early in the second quarter with just 1 net yard on their first three offensive possessions.
Alabama opened the scoring on a 45-yard field goal by Conor Talty and made it 10-0 on Simpson’s first connection with Horton, a 6-yard completion with 1:14 left in the first quarter.
The pair connected again for a 3-yard touchdown to make it 17-0 Crimson Tide less than five minutes later.
However, Auburn came through with a pair of Alex McPherson field goals in the final 4:06 of the first half to cut the halftime deficit to 17-6. Then, the Tigers finally found the end zone on the third play of the third quarter when Daniels found Simmons wide open for a 64-yard touchdown.
After an Alabama 29-yard field goal that made it 20-13, Auburn again hit an explosive pass to Simmons, this one a 66-yard gain down to the Alabama 4. Two plays later, Jeremiah Cobb punched in a 2-yard touchdown to level the game at 20 with 11:43 left.
–Field Level Media
