Alabama vs. Auburn: The Iron Bowl's Golden Era

The annual slug fest between bitter rivals Alabama and Auburn has a long and storied past.  There has been drama throughout the series, but nothing quite like the early 1980s.  In that span of time, the Iron Bowl was as hotly contested as any series in the country.  Televising the game was a no-brainer.  You were almost guaranteed a photo finish. 

To set the stage, you have to get into the mindset of Auburn fans.  I know it's hard for some of us,  but legendary coach Bear Bryant had dominated Auburn for the better part of a quarter century. 

There had been a victory here and there for Auburn, but it was almost a once a decade sort of thing.  As a youngster myself during this time, I never even thought about losing to Auburn—it was like a white Christmas, more myth than reality.

In the waning weeks of the 1982 season, Bear Bryant and the Crimson Tide were showing their age.  Alabama had lost the two previous games coming into the Iron Bowl.   Much like Bobby Bowden today, teams throughout the south were whispering into recruits' ears that Bear was going to retire, you don't want to go to Alabama. 

The weakness allowed other teams to get players who normally would be bound for Tuscaloosa; most notably a young running back from McCalla, Alabama by the name of Vincent Jackson, otherwise known as Bo.

In 1982, Alabama dominated the game, racking up 507 yards to Auburn's 257.   The real star of the show was young Bo Jackson.  Alabama seemingly couldn't tackle Jackson as he racked up 144 yards, including the game-winning touchdown to give Auburn the 23-22 victory.

The Game was the final Iron Bowl for Bear Bryant and sadly it was a losing effort.   Weeks later, Alabama defeated Illinois 21-15 in the Liberty Bowl and soon after that, Bear Bryant was dead. 

Pat Dye had guided Auburn to their first victory in a very long time and kick-started the most exciting era of Tide-Tiger football. 

Just to prove that the previous victory wasn't a flash in the pan, Pat Dye whipped Alabama again in 1983.  This time, Bo Jackson destroyed the Tide, rushing for 256 yards and two touchdowns, including a 71-yard dash that gave Auburn the 23-22 victory and their first SEC title since 1957.  

Forgotten in the loss was a 142-yard rushing effort by Alabama's Kerry Goode.  The loss marked the first Iron Bowl for Alabama coach Ray Perkins, who had been named Bear Bryant's successor. 

The win was a bitter pill to swallow for Perkins, but he would get his revenge, and that revenge was not long in coming.
 
Perkins' 1984 season was a disaster.  Alabama had graduated most of its offensive talent the year before.  Alabama stumbled to a 4-6 record coming into the Iron Bowl.  

They faced a vastly superior Auburn team and nobody gave them much of a chance.  Bo Jackson once again rushed for over 100 yards with Alabama, countering with a mixed bag of players and a young quarterback named Mike Shula. 

Auburn was driving for what would have been the winning touchdown, when, on 4th-and-goal, Pat Dye dialed up running back Brent Fullwood.  Bo Jackson was supposed to block on the play.  Unfortunately for Auburn, he went the wrong way.  Fullwood was dropped for a three-yard loss by Alabama's Rory Turner to preserve the unlikely 17-15 victory. 

The 1985 game marked the 50th meeting between the Tide and Tigers and stands today as perhaps the standard by which the rest are measured.  It was possibly the most exciting back and forth game I've ever seen.

The drama of the final period began when Bo Jackson scored on a one-yard plunge to give Auburn a 17-16 lead.   Not to be outdone, Alabama's Jene Jelks broke loose on a 74-yard gallop to put the Tide back on top, 22-17.  Auburn methodically drove 70 yards once again and scored to put them back up 23-22, leaving only 57 seconds left on the board. 

At the time, Alabama and Auburn split the tickets 50/50 at Legion Field, so the Auburn half of the stadium was in full celebration while the Crimson Half sat in silent pain. 

What followed was possibly the most unlikely string of plays I could have imagined.  Alabama managed a 20-yard reverse on fourth down in which quarterback Mike Shula had to throw the key block.  

Shula then hit Alabama receiver Greg Richardson for 19 yards.  Richardson had to drag an Auburn defender from the hashmark to the sideline in order to stop the clock. 

When Richardson made that catch and got out of bounds, the Auburn half of the stadium, which had been celebrating wildly, fell silent.  It seemed time came to a halt as Alabama Kicker Van Tiffin trotted onto the field.

The Auburn fans looked on in disbelief as Tiffin calmly booted a 52-yard strike as time expired to give Alabama the 25-23 win.   

When the ball cleared the goal and the hands went up, the Alabama half of the field erupted like a volcano.  You could have heard a pin drop on the Auburn side.   There are Auburn fans today who still say that was the most painful loss they had ever suffered.

Auburn was far from dead as a program, however.  In 1986, the game featured two premier runners, as Alabama's Bobby Humprey rushed for 204 yards and Auburn's Brent Fullwood tallied 145. 

Auburn engineered two fourth-quarter touchdowns to come from behind.  The final touchdown, a seven-yard reverse by Lawyer Tillman, gave Auburn the final 21-17 victory. 
 
After the 1986 game, Alabama coach Ray Perkins took the head coaching job with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  Alabama replaced Perkins with former Georgia Tech coach, Bill Curry.  

Curry was successful in some respects, but his teams not only failed to beat Auburn, but also failed to even come close to winning the year's most important game.  That reason, more than any other, was his demise.

There have been great Iron Bowl Games since, but the series has not regained the grand luster of the competitive and unpredictable 1980s.