The Alabama Crimson Tide has won its sixth consecutive Iron Bowl over the Auburn Tigers, and as has been the case just about every time the game is played at Jordan-Hare Stadium, it took everything the team had.

Facing his first road Iron Bowl, head coach Kalen DeBoer was adamant about the fact that past history on The Plains did not matter and his team needed to focus on this one game.

With outside factors including keeping a bid to the College Football Playoff alive as well as next week’s SEC title game in Atlanta, it seemed early DeBoer’s team had their eye on the ball.

Midway through the second quarter, Alabama took a 17-0 lead after two Isaiah Horton touchdowns opened up the game:

The Tigers would make two field goals before the halftime break arrived to cut it to 17-6, but things got very interesting just a minute into the third quarter when a long Malcolm Simmons touchdown cut the lead to 17-13.

On the ensuing possession, Alabama went down and kicked a field goal to go back up by seven, a lead which they would have to try to cling to as an elite Auburn defense buckled down and showed its class through huge portions of the second half.

Early in the fourth quarter, it was Simmons getting loose again to get the Tigers back into the red zone before Jeremiah Cobb found the promised land to officially tie up the game at 20 and send an electrifying jolt of energy through the stadium:

What DeBoer, Ty Simpson, and the entire Alabama offense did to follow this up will go down in Iron Bowl lore for the rest of time. Stringing together the drive of the season with a 15-play, 75-yard masterclass, things were punctuated by a decision by DeBoer which had it not worked out would have had fans ready with their pitchforks to send him out of town.

The Tide entered the red zone and faced a short fourth down from inside the ten yard line, leaving most to assume it would be a chip shot field goal to take the lead.

Instead, DeBoer chose to trust Simpson and the offense by going for it on fourth down, and it paid off with the third touchdown of the night for Horton and put Alabama on the brink of victory.

Instead of kicking what would have been a virtually guaranteed lead, DeBoer put his faith in the offense that has gotten him to this point, and allowed Simpson to do what he’s done all year and lead this offense to the promise land. By forcing Auburn to need a touchdown to tie instead of just a field goal, things were made much easier on the defense.

Needing one stop to win the game, Bray Hubbard was able to force a Cam Coleman fumble while the Tigers were on the move and knocking on the door of the red zone with less than a minute left to seal the victory:

Next up for the Tide is a rematch with Georgia once again in the SEC Championship game in Atlanta next weekend. A spot in the College Football Playoff should be close to already locked up, but Alabama will have the chance to win their first post-Nick Saban SEC title, not to mention a first round bye.

It will be a quick turnaround from what was no doubt a very satisfactory victory against Auburn to finish off a 10-2 regular season.

But regardless of what happens from here this season, fans will no doubt remember another classic Iron Bowl and DeBoer’s bold decision to get Alabama the win.