Alabama Football Downs Auburn, 49-27, for Third-Straight Iron Bowl Victory

Quarterback Bryce Young’s 343 yards passing on the night moved him into second place on the career passing yards list with more than 8,000 at Alabama

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The No. 7/8/7 Alabama football team claimed its third-consecutive Iron Bowl victory by a score 49-27 over instate rival Auburn Saturday inside Bryant-Denny Stadium. The contest was the regular-season finale for both squads.

Quarterback Bryce Young combined for 391 total yards and four touchdowns on the night, including 343 yards on 20-of-30 passing through the air, moving past John Parker Wilson (7,924 yards) into second on Alabama’s career passing yards list with 8,035. Young now trails only AJ McCarron who finished with a record 9,019 career yards passing during his UA career.

Young’s 20 completions were spread to nine different receivers on the night, six of which had at least two catches. Ja’Corey Brooks (4-76-1) and Isaiah Bond (4-36) topped the Tide with four receptions, while Jermaine Burton finished with a team-leading 87 yards on three catches.

In all, Alabama (10-2) had four rushing touchdowns, as Jahmyr Gibbs, Jase McClellan, Roydell Williams and Young all found paydirt to lead a balanced ground attack. Gibbs led the team with 76 yards on 17 rushes while Young rushed five times for 48 yards and McClellan went for 44 yards on 11 totes.

Defensively, Deontae Lawson had nine total tackles including seven solo stops to lead UA in both categories. Henry To’oTo’o and Brian Branch each recorded eight tackles, with Will Anderson Jr. finishing with five tackles including three for loss.

Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban Said

“I’m really proud of our team, this whole season actually. To win 10 games, to go through a rough patch when Bryce was hurt. Now that he’s healthy again, it makes us a different kind of team, I think. It’s great to win the Iron Bowl for our players, it’s great that they won 10 games. But I think one of the things that I’m most proud of is the fact that when everybody thought they were out of it – there were a lot of naysayers out there – this team didn’t give up on themselves. They didn’t give up on each other. They kept fighting and won some tough games to finish the season. So, I’m really proud of the fact that everybody hung in there, stayed together and continued to try to get better. We’ve had a lot of injuries, had a lot of guys miss some time, so that gave other people opportunities. I’m proud of the way that we think.”

Notes

• The Crimson Tide has now won 10-games-or-more in a season 44 times, including last 15-consecutive seasons under Nick Saban
• Alabama secured its third-consecutive win in the series vs. Auburn with Saturday’s 49-27 victory, and has now won 11 of the last 15 games over the Tigers
• Head coach Nick Saban improved to 11-5 in Iron Bowl games as Alabama’s head coach
• Quarterback Bryce Young threw for 343 yards in the contest, moving past former standout John Parker Wilson (7,924 yards) into second on the school’s all-time list with 8,035 passing yards in his career
• Young and AJ McCarron (9,019 yards) are the only two quarterbacks in program history to throw for 8,000-or-more yards in a career
• With the victory, Alabama finished the 2022 home slate with a 7-0 record inside Bryant-Denny Stadium
• the Crimson Tide owns a 103-8 (.928) in home contests under head coach Nick Saban, which includes a mark of 99-5 (.952)
• With his sack in the fourth quarter, Will Anderson Jr. has totaled 61.0 tackles for loss over his career which moves him past Wallace Gilberry into second all-time at Alabama, trailing only Derrick Thomas (68.0)
• The 35 points scored by the Crimson Tide in the first half were the most scored in a half since also posting 35 points in the first two quarters of the ULM contest on Sept. 3
• Alabama racked up 516 yards of total offense which stands as the 55^th time in the last 111 games (dating to the start of the 2015 season) that the Tide has totaled 500-or-more yards of offense and it’s the seventh time in 12 games UA has reached the mark this year

How It Happened

FIRST QUARTER

• 08:31 – AU | Auburn found paydirt first when it took its second drive of the game 80 yards in six plays, closing with a 24-yard run by Robby Ashford to put the Tigers on the board
• 06:25 – UA | The Crimson Tide responded on its very next drive when Bryce Young rushed is in from five yards away to close out a five play, 62-yard drive that took 2:01 off the clock
• 01:37 – UA | Alabama scored for the second time in the opening quarter when Jase McClellan was on the receiving end of a 10-yard pass from Young to finish off an eight-play, 65-yard drive that lasted 2:52

SECOND QUARTER

• 14:56 – UA | The Tide scored on its third-consecutive drive after taking advantage of an Auburn turnover, moving 48 yards on four plays in a minute, with Roydell Williams going five yards for the rushing touchdown
• 09:34 – AU | The Tigers responded by marching 75 yards down the field on 10 plays in 5:22 when Ashford found Ja’Varrius Johnson in the back corner for a 20-yard touchdown catch
• 05:39 – UA | Ja’Corey Brooks was on the receiving end of a 32-yard TD pass from Young to finish a 92-yard drive that took eight plays and 3:48
• 00:54 – UA | The Tide went up three touchdowns at the half as Traeshon Holden caught a short pass from Young and took it 27 yards to the house to close out a four-play, 37-yard drive

THIRD QUARTER

• 09:57 – UA | McClellan scored his second touchdown of the game when he plunged in from two yards out to end a nine-play, 72-yard drive that took 4:54 off the clock
• 06:38 – AU | Auburn immediately answered with a seven play, 75-yard drive of their own that took 3:19 and was capped with Ashford’s second rushing touchdown, this one coming from 14 yards out

FOURTH QUARTER

• 12:18 – AU | Alex McPherson converted a 32-yard field goal to conclude a 15-play drive that went 64 yards with 2:42 coming off the clock
• 02:08 – AU | McPherson kicked a 39-yard field goal through the uprights to finish a 10-play, 60-yard drive
• 01:48 – UA | After Auburn turned it over on downs to give the Tide a short field, Jahmyr Gibbs finished off the scoring when he took the first play and scampered 23 yards to paydirt