College Football Rankings 2011: Why Auburn Won't Dominate Alabama Again
In last year's edition of the Iron Bowl Auburn came back from a 24-point deficit to beat Alabama and take one more step to their ultimate goal of winning the national championship.
Cam Newton was huge in that game and was instrumental in leading the Tigers over what seemed to be an insurmountable lead.
Well, nothing was impossible for Newton and he is one of the reasons why Auburn won't continue their dominance of recent years and win the 2011 edition of the Iron Bowl.
No Cam Newton
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This is probably the most obvious to people, and is a big reason why they won't continue this domination in 2011.
In a 28-27 win for Auburn, Cam Newton led Auburn back from a 24-point deficit. In those 28 points, Newton had a hand in each point.
Newton passed for three touchdowns and had the most rushing attempts on the team with 22. In contrast, Michael Dyer (who will be the starting running back for Auburn this year), had nine carries for 27 yards.
Without Newton it will be tough for the Auburn offense to move the ball on a Alabama defense that is always a tough one to score on. Without the magic of Newton, it will be a tough task for the Tigers to put points up.
Alabama's returning almost its entire defense next year. One more year of seasoning won't hurt them in this game against a Newton-less Auburn.
Nick Saban
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Since Nick Saban took over Alabama in 2007 he is 2-2 against Auburn, overall he is 4-5 with both LSU and Alabama against Auburn.
But Saban's Alabama teams have outscored Auburn by a combined score of 99-66 since he took over, with a 36-0 victory in 2008 at Tuscaloosa.
Saban frequently brings in nice recruits and, even losing players like Mark Ingram and Julio Jones, always has more weapons to replace them with.
He's a great coach whose teams will outplay any team that Auburn puts out on the field.
The man has two national titles to his name and a career coaching record of 134-53-1. You don't get that by being a bad coach and recruiter.
He pulled in the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation according to Rivals. Saban knows how to put talent on the field and that talent will be well coached.
Returning Starters
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Alabama and Auburn have huge differences when it comes to returning starters and that will end up playing a key role in the Iron Bowl.
Alabama will be returning nine starters on defense and seven on offense. Auburn is returning five on defense and four on offense.
Trent Richardson returns for Alabama and could be a serious contender for the Heisman after splitting carries with Mark Ingram in 2010.
The nine returning defensive starters won't have to face Cam Newton again, and will be more then capable of shutting down Michael Dyer even without Marcell Dareus.
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Recruiting Class
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Nick Saban pulled in the No. 1 recruiting class according to Rivals and No. 2 according to ESPN.
Freshmen could always play a big role in their first collegiate season. Saban pulled in numerous four- and five-star prospects (like a program of Alabama's caliber should) to help replace players like Marcell Dareus, Julio Jones and Mark Ingram.
Saban pulled in top running back Dee Hart who could easily play as a freshman due to his explosiveness and offensive tackle Cyrus Kouandijo who could also play as a freshman because of his size (6'7", 300 pounds) and his upside potential. It will have to be seen though if Saban would start a freshman on the line.
These top recruits could make an impact early and in a big regular season game like the Iron Bowl.
Other Big Missing Pieces Besides Cam Newton
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Even if you add in Cam Newton to this part of the slide, Auburn has lost their leading passer, rusher and receiver. Not to mention they lost the Lombardi Award winner and the Defensive Player of the Game in the national championship, Nick Fairley.
Fairley and leading receiver Darvin Adams are huge hits to the offense and especially the defensive sides of the ball. You can bet Fairley's 56 tackles and 12 sacks will be missed by Auburn.
Losing Adams is one blow, but also losing another receiver, Terrell Zachery is another one. Adams and Zachery were the No. 1 and No. 2 leading receivers for the Auburn offense. The two combined for a total of 1,568 yards receiving and 11 touchdowns, more then half of Newton's passing yards (2,854 yards) and some of Newton's touchdowns (Newton threw 30 touchdowns).
Also another big blow is losing kicker Wes Byrum who nailed 17 of 22 and force Auburn to break in a new kicker, which isn't the biggest loss in the world, but it's a pretty good blow to break in a new one. You lose the experience and the coolness under pressure which is key for a kicker.
All in all they lose 13 starters. Pretty big loss for the returning national champs.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
