Iron Bowl Memories: Looking Back at Twenty Years

This was my first Iron Bowl to attend in person.  I will always remember Byron Holbrooks bursting through the line and swallowing Stan White on the first play from scrimmage.  After four years of hell, Alabama broke the streak and won 16-7 in Gene Stalling's first year.

4.  1999

At the time, going to Auburn officially struck fear into Alabama fans.  We had blown games there, and we had started to wonder if some supernatural force would keep us from winning at Jordan-Hare. 

Shuan Alexander made sure that didn't happen.  Behind the blocking of Chris Samuels, Alexander punished the Auburn defense in the second half, and Alabama got the monkey off its back, winning in Auburn, 28-17.

3.  1996

I will always wonder why Auburn refused to defend the screen pass.  Down 23-17 late in the fourth, Freddie Kitchens drove Alabama the length of the field, never throwing the ball over the line of scrimmage.  Dennis Riddle caught the pass to cap the drive, cutting back to the middle of the field and scoring untouched for a 24-23 victory.

2.  1992 

The buildup was eerily similar to the buildup of Saturday's game.  Alabama was undefeated, Auburn was mediocre at best.  The defense played well all day, but the offense was stagnant as the game went to the half scoreless. 

In the third, Auburn drove the ball to midfield, and we wondered if this was going to be 1989 all over again.  But Antonio Langham stepped in front of a Stan White pass and took it the distance to break the tie.  Alabama went on to win 17-0 and notch the third win in a row in the series on the way to national title No. 12.

1.  2001 

To this point, this is the best.  An underdog Alabama team went into Auburn and dominated every facet of the game.  The lasting image would be Andrew Zow throwing off of his back foot to a wide-open receiver for a score.  Alabama went on to win the most lopsided Iron Bowl of the past 25 years, 31-7. 

I remember being impressed with the pride of the Auburn fans, who formed a human shield in front of the tree at Toomer's Corner after the game.  Unfortunately for us, the best memory was also the last good one.

I hope this brings back some memories for the fans of the greatest rivalry in college football.  Now let's see if we can't go get another monkey off of our back, this time in Tuscaloosa.

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