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The Tuscaloosa News
Alabama football defense delivers in key moments to win Iron Bowl | Goodbread
- Story byThe Tuscaloosa News
- Alabama football defense delivers in key moments to win Iron Bowl | Goodbread
There wasn't a better running back in the SEC to exploit the donut-hole problem In the middle of the Alabama football defense on Saturday than Jarquez Hunter . Auburn 's powerful, NFL-bound rusher had rumbled for 560 yards over his previous four games, and had feasted in recently-booked Iron Bowls: 96 yards against Alabama last year and a ridiculous 11-for-134 rushing day in the Iron Bowl prior.
One didn't need to be an offensive genius to concoct a wise game plan for Tigers coach Hugh Freeze: Aim Hunter straight at Justin Jefferson and fire play calls directly at the Alabama middle linebacker who had just been inserted into the starting lineup to replace Deontae Lawson , out with a season-ending injury.
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This was, after all, an Alabama run defense that had just been trounced for 257 on the ground by an Oklahoma offense that was of little threat to pass. And the loss of Lawson left Alabama without both a team captain and a defensive signal-caller. But a funny thing happened on Hunter's way to another big day against the Crimson Tide : He didn't have one.
And neither did the AU offense. Hunter managed just 56 yards rushing and was shut out as a receiver, while the Auburn offense scored just one touchdown.
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The Crimson Tide defense stuffed Auburn at most of the moments critical to securing a 28-14 win over the Tigers, UA's fifth consecutive victory in the series.
Senior safety Malachi Moore broke up two third-and-long pass attempts in the first half that forced field-goal attempts; one good, one missed. There was a fourth-down stop in the red zone, from the Alabama 19, that thwarted yet another Auburn possession. Not to be left out of the trend, it was Jefferson's turn at perhaps the biggest moment of the first half. Hunter rushed straight up the middle on a third-and-goal from the Alabama 1, and the fresh face at middle linebacker assisted in stuffing him for a loss to force yet another field-goal try.
Unable to find much room on the ground, Hunter ultimately tried his hand as a passer with a fourth-quarter trick play and was intercepted by Bray Hubbard on a play that put the win on ice for defensive coordinator Kane Wommack's crew.
All this served to bail out an Alabama offense that committed four turnovers, three in the first half alone. UA found more of an offensive rhythm in the second half, but the UA defense was a four-quarter anchor that bent at times but refused to bend when it mattered most. The Auburn offense had struggled for much of the season − this was no scoring machine that came to Tuscaloosa − but the Tigers had been hitting much more of an offensive stride of late. Texas A&M can attest to that.
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Here's what Hunter can attest to: This was one Iron Bowl where neither yardage nor points would come easy.
Tuscaloosa News sport columnist Chase Goodbread.
Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23. Reach him at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on X.com @chasegoodbread.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama football defense delivers in key moments to win Iron Bowl
