A new era of the Iron Bowl began in Tuscaloosa Saturday afternoon.
In Kalen DeBoer's first taste of the Alabama football vs. Auburn rivalry , the Crimson Tide did enough, responding to its road loss to Oklahoma with a 28-14 home victory against the Tigers to cap off the 2024 regular season.
With the win, DeBoer becomes the first Alabama football coach to beat Auburn in his first try since Dennis Franchione in 2001, something neither Nick Saban nor Bear Bryant could do.
But the Crimson Tide 's Iron Bowl performance against Auburn was by no means perfect.
Here's how Alabama graded out in Saturday's 14-point win against the Tigers:
The Alabama offense was a hodgepodge of ups and downs against Auburn throughout the first half, one that saw the high highs of Jalen Milroe touchdown runs, of staying relatively untouched in the backfield, and the low lows of a Milroe interception, a Ryan Williams fumble, a dropped touchdown connection between Milroe and Williams.
From the second half on, it was smooth sailing for the Crimson Tide. Alabama easily drove down the field to start the third quarter to set up a 2-yard touchdown run by Justice Haynes , beginning a half where the offense was balanced and the Tide did whatever it wanted against the Tigers defense. That is, until a Jalen Milroe fumble gave Auburn possession again early in the fourth quarter.
It was a game where Alabama showed glimpses of the efficiency and production that made it shine against LSU — and the turnovers and struggles that led to the Oklahoma loss.
All in all, it proved to be enough.
Auburn moved the ball against Alabama in the first half, but at the moments the Crimson Tide desperately needed a stop, a stop is what the Crimson Tide got, holding strong on most third-down opportunities and limiting the Tigers to two field goals in three first-half red-zone trips.
It was a defense seemingly fueled by the fire of a player like Malachi Moore , playing on his senior day and exploding for multiple pass deflections and third-down stops.
For an offense that gave Auburn chances with four turnovers, the Alabama defense did not miss a beat, answering with interceptions from Bray Hubbard and Zabien Brown .
Early on against Auburn, James Burnip did his job.
On his only punt of the first half, the Alabama redshirt senior pinned the Tigers on a 49-yard punt landing on the 9-yard line. He added another in the fourth quarter, pinning the Tigers back into their own 3-yard line.
And while special teams did not play a large role moving forward, Burnip's two punts were enough to secure Alabama's defensive momentum early, enough to establish a lead the Crimson Tide wouldn't lose.
All momentum built over the 2024 season could have been lost for good after the loss in Norman. Instead, Alabama looked refueled and rejuvenated as the Iron Bowl went on, a performance that was by no means perfect but enough for Kalen DeBoer to secure his first Iron Bowl win on his first try.
The 2024 Iron Bowl may not have been to secure an Alabama College Football Playoff position, but the Crimson Tide began a new era of the Iron Bowl with intensity, making up for the lack of perfection, especially after the program's collapse against Oklahoma. Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama football grades in Iron Bowl win vs Auburn
