After taking an early lead Auburn was unable to keep up with Alabama in the 2022 Iron Bowl, falling 49-27 to the Crimson Tide Saturday.
Auburn has now lost its last six games inside Bryant-Denny Stadium and none of them were decided by less than double digits. With the loss, Auburn failed to automatically qualify for a bowl game and will need help to keep playing.
Auburn (5-7, 2-6 SEC) took an early 7-0 lead thanks to two big runs by [autotag]Robby Ashford[/autotag]. He scrambled for 25 yards early in the drive and took a designed carry 24 yards around the right side of the line for his first touchdown.
He finished with 121 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries. Auburn’s ground game had another strong performance, the Tigers averaged 7.4 yards per carry and finished with 318 yards rushing.
[autotag]Jarquez Hunter[/autotag] rushed for over 100 yards for the third consecutive game, finishing with 134 yards on just 11 carries.
Auburn may have opened the scoring but Alabama quickly took command of the game, they scored on their next three possessions to take a 21-7 lead at the start of the second quarter.
The Tigers were unable to get pressure on Bryce Young and the reigning Heisman winner picked apart Auburn’s defense. He completed 20-of-30 passes for 343 yards and three touchdowns. He added 48 yards and one score with his legs.
Auburn did not fold though, the Tigers responded with a 10-play, 76-yard drive to stop the bleeding. Ashford capped it off with a beautiful 20-yard pass to [autotag]Ja’Varrius Johnson[/autotag] to make it a 21-14 deficit.
Despite averaging 6.2 yards per play, Auburn’s two turnovers prevented the Tigers from keeping up with Alabama, who scored touchdowns on five of their seven drives to start the game and averaged 8.1 yards per play.
Auburn held Alabama to 14 points in the second half but was unable to take advantage of the opportunity. They scored on their first two drives of the second half but it was too little too late as that made it a 42-24 game with 12 minutes to play.
The Tigers had one last chance when [autotag]Owen Pappoe[/autotag] picked off Young with 6:36 left to play and Auburn trailing 42-24. They once again showed their fight, converting on fourth down, and [autotag]Alex McPherson[/autotag] made a 39-yard field goal to cut it to a 42-27 game with 2:08 to play.
Auburn’s 27 points are the most they have scored in Tuscaloosa since scoring 44 in 2014. The Tigers were unable to recover the ensuing onside kick and Alabama added on one last touchdown to make it a 49-27 game.
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