Since the Kick Six Game, outside of 2015, Jordan-Hare Stadium has been an absolute house of horrors for Alabama. This, of course, is Kalen DeBoer's first experience in this game in Lee County, and it will be interesting to see how he fares in this setting. Even the great Nick Saban had his struggles on the Plains, even in victory, surprisingly even when the Tigers team he was going up against was not nearly as good.
That is where we find ourselves on Saturday, where on paper it should be an easy win for the Tide. They are the better team, and if they play a clean game, there won't be drama. Alabama fans know all too well that what would make the most sense rarely happens in this game at Auburn.
It will be interesting to see how DeBoer comes into this game, considering all the pressure that is on the Tide. A win, of course, keeps them alive for the playoff and qualifies them for another SEC Championship Game appearance. The Tigers, though, have nothing to lose as they look to play spoiler, and their interim coach DJ Durkin may be auditioning to remove the interim tag if they do pull the upset. Coach DeBoer has done a good job getting his team ready for big games coming off a bye week since arriving at the Capstone, and this basically qualifies as this after last week's game against Eastern Illinois
The most important thing for this Alabama team is to come into this game loose and end every series with a kick of some sort. Ty Simpson is going to need to get back to playing the mistake-free football that got him into the Heisman conversation, and the defense just needs to play how they have as of late. They should have no problems containing Auburn's offense, but it will be important that we give them no favors with good field positions to start series. Mistake-free football will allow Alabama to win a sixth straight over Auburn with little drama, which will go a long way to help cement Kalen DeBoer's legacy in the best rivalry in college football.