Alabama Football: Ranking the 5 best Iron Bowl games of the Saban era

2. 2014

Alabama 55, Auburn 44

This game had just about everything you could want in an Iron Bowl. It was high-stakes, fun to watch, and ultimately ended with the Crimson Tide being victorious. The victory was not a guarantee, however. Auburn had complete control of this game for most of the first half.

Alabama got hot early with two touchdowns in the first quarter, but Auburn bounced back. They scored 10 points in less than a minute thanks to a Blake Sims interception. The half ended with Auburn holding a slight lead, and Alabama needed to hope for things to change. They did not on their first drive of the third quarter, with Sims throwing his third interception of the game. At this point, Sims was aware that he only had one more shot before Jake Coker was going to replace him. Coker even was warming up on the sidelines. That’s when Sims had one of the best second-half performances Alabama has ever seen. He led five straight touchdown drives and scored himself on four of them. He ended the game with four passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown, accumulating 335 total yards.

Auburn tried to keep up shot for shot in the second half, but a few minor mistakes inevitably gave the Tide the victory. Auburn had to settle for a field goal, thew an interception, and had a turnover on downs all in the second half. With all of that happening, it was still only an 11-point win for Alabama football.

This game was also the one where Dixieland Delight was played for what all thought would be the last time. Tide fans added some extracurriculars to the lyrics, and they pulled the song for the next season.