It wasn't always pretty, but Alabama football made the plays it had to make down the stretch to knock off Auburn in Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday night to clinch a sixth-consecutive Iron Bowl win.
Alabama blew a 17-0 lead and found themselves in a tied game in the fourth quarter, but Ty Simpson engineered a 15-play, 75-yard touchdown drive capped off by a gutsy 4th-and-2 play-call by Kalen DeBoer that led to the go-ahead score.
Alabama won 27-20 to clinch a spot in the SEC Championship Game against Georgia and - hopefully - regardless of the result, did enough to secure a spot in the College Football Playoff.
Here's what we learned.
The most important observations from Alabama's 27-20 win over Auburn
1. Isaiah Horton's hat trick
It wasn't a banner night for the Alabama passing game, but the Ty Simpson-to-Isaiah Horton connection was pivotal, particularly in the redzone. The former 7-on-7 teammates in high school connected on three redzone touchdown scores.
On a third-and-4 at the Auburn 6-yard line in the first quarter, Simpson hit Horton for a touchdown off his back foot in the back of the endzone. Horton caught a second touchdown in the second quarter to put Alabama up 17-0 on a nifty play call on first-and-goal.
And then the most important score came in the fourth quarter with under four minutes to play. On a 4th-and-2 from the six, DeBoer rolled the dice in a time game and went for it instead of kicking a field goal. Simpson found Horton again for a touchdown that proved to be the game-winning score.
Horton only produced 33 receiving yards on five receptions, but three of them came in the endzone.
2. Alabama found a rushing attack
On a night where Simpson and the passing offense struggled, Alabama got rare production out of its running game.
The Crimson Tide produced 158 rushing yards against an elite Auburn run defense. The much-maligned Jam Miller led the charge, rushing for 83 yards on 15 attempts. Miller has had a rough year, but the senior RB produced when it mattered the most.
Daniel Hill added 39 yards on 11 carries and may see an even bigger workload next week with Miller leaving the game in the fourth quarter and being seen later on crutches.
Alabama's offensive line got a push, and the running backs hit the holes to produce the kind of running game that has been missing from the offense for most of the season.
3. Where was Ryan Williams?
Ryan Williams saw shockingly few snaps, standing on the sideline for many of the game's pivotal moments as Alabama seemed to prefer relying on the three-man group of Germie Bernard, Horton, and freshman Lotzeir Brooks.
Williams saw some snaps, but didn't receive a single target. It was odd not to see him as part of the game plan, and while the sophomore has had his struggles this season, he's still one of the most explosive players in the country.
Williams has been battling an injury most of the year, but he's been healthy enough to play, so you would figure the ball would have come his way at some point.
4. Bray Hubbard forced a couple of critical turnovers
Alabama didn't play a perfect game. Far from it. But what it did do was avoid turnovers and force two on Auburn. Star safety Bray Hubbard, overcoming an illness this week, made the plays on both.
Alabama didn't produce points on the first one, but Hubbard intercepted Auburn QB Ashton Daniels in the third quarter with the Crimson Tide leading 20-13.
The second effectively sealed the game. Leading 27-20, Auburn was putting together a drive to try and tie the game. Daniels hit star WR Cam Coleman on a screen pass, and after Coleman shook off a tackle, Hubbard came in and knocked the ball loose. Deontae Lawson recovered to effectively seal the Iron Bowl for Alabama.
5. Alabama will need more from Ty Simpson moving forward
If Alabama is going to have a chance to beat Georgia next week in Atlanta - or advance far in the College Football Playoff - it is going to need more from QB Ty Simpson.
While he avoided a turnover for the first time in seven games, Simpson was once again not sharp. He was just 19-of-35 for 122 yards in the game. He hit Horton for three touchdowns - and he added some key runs - but this version of Simpson simply isn't good enough for the Crimson Tide to have a legitimate chance of winning the National Championship.
Things need to be better around him, no doubt, but Alabama needs the Simpson we've seen numerous times this season to show up in Atlanta next week against Georgia.