Alabama vs Auburn 2025 Iron Bowl: 2nd Half Discussion Thread

Well, Alabama survived a first half in Lee County, managing to make it to halftime with a 17-6 lead. The Tide settled for a field goal on the second drive after a facemask penalty got them into good field position, then put together two of their better offensive drives of the season to go up 17-0 with a couple of redzone passes to Isaiah Horton and a whole lot of impressive rushes from Jam Miller and Ty Simpson.

Meanwhile, the Alabama defense totally blanked the Auburn offense, holding them only a handful of yards and a single first down through the first five drives of the game.

Then OC Ryan Grubb decided to go for the kill shot. However, instead of calling a play action like any normal OC, he called a WR reverse that turned into an awkward flea flicker. The whole process took about 5 seconds, and it got Ty Simpson lit up and ruined the drive. After that, the Tide just went three and out and shanked a punt, giving Auburn a short field and a free field goal.

The Tide then went three and out again, and this time Auburn managed to get 48 yards in 10 plays, mostly all driven by QB scrambles on 3rd down, and kicked a field goal to go into halftime.

There was some encouraging things from the Bama run game there, and when the Tide got up 17-0, it looked like this could turn into a blowout. However, the Tide is allergic to getting big leads this season, and promptly screwed up most everything they could over the final 9 minutes of the half. The defense is still playing lights out, but the rapid-fire scrambles on the final drive looked to finally be getting them a bit winded. And the offense looks totally lost on how to deal with the house blitzes that Auburn is gambling with.

The Tide still holds an advantage with the 11 point lead, but Auburn gets the ball out of halftime. So cross your fingers and hold on tight. Roll Tide.