Alabama Shows It Has Championship Stuff In Iron Bowl

     Early in the first quarter, Auburn burned Alabama for two touchdowns before the Tide knew what had hit them. Mark Ingram couldn't get past the line of scrimmage, and Greg McElroy had defenders in his face on every play, as Auburn used trickery, reverse passes and such to move the football at will.

     As the second quarter began, the Tide offense tossed short passes and powered the football with talented freshman Trent Richardson as they began to move the chains.  Richardson had a 13-yard reception in the red zone and then dove into the end zone for a 3-yard score.  Shortly afterward, McElroy took a shot deep and hit Colin Peek for a 33-yard touchdown.

     After halftime, Auburn Receiver Darvin Adams burned Mark Barron on a double move as the Tide coverage broke down. Quarterback Chris Todd sent the ball sailing into wide-open Adams' hands, and and Auburn led once again at 21-14.  The defense shook off the long touchdown they had given up and shut down the AU offense for the rest of the game, and, while Mark Ingram was virtually non-existent, the Alabama offense kept going and going, moving the chains over and over.  Leigh Tiffin chipped in two field goals to make the score 21-20.  Seven minutes into the 4th quarter, Alabama had the ball and needed to score to win the game. It was on this drive that Alabama proved they had what it takes to go all the way to the national championship game.

     McElroy completed all seven pass attempts on the drive, four of which went to Julio Jones, who finished with 83 yards, 33 of which came on this last drive.  Jones coverted two key third-downs and Richardson moved piles and broke tackles as Alabama worked its way to the red zone, where they consequently faced third down on the 4.  Most fans in crowded Jordan-Hare stadium thought that Alabama would run it to the left behind Terrence Cody, not convert, and kick a chip-shot field goal to take the lead. Thousands held their breath as McElroy took the snap, rolled to the right, and passed the ball to RB Roy Upchurch for the winning touchdown.

   In this game, Alabama came back from two scores, battled all game against an Auburn who was playing all-out, in a stadium with thousands of hostile fans, and won the game in the last minutes.  They stayed cool and calm while Alabama fans were passing out, and figured out what they needed to do to win.  If that doesn't spell C-H-A-M-P-I-O-N, I don't know what does.