Alabama nose tackle Tim Keenan took pleasure in rubbing a little bit of salt in the gaping Iron Bowl wound Alabama left on Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday night.
Alabama's 27-20 win over Auburn was the Crimson Tide's sixth consecutive win in the series, and the third straight in the so-called "haunted mansion" on the Plains. It's the longest win streak in the Iron Bowl for Alabama since the 1970s when Coach Bryant reeled off nine in a row against the Tigers.
For Keenan, he'll leave Tuscaloosa at a perfect 5-0 in the Iron Bowl, a fact he was happy to talk about on Monday.
“It’s always a great time going against little bro, having some fun," Keenan said, via 247's Mike Rodak. "Going 5-0 in my time here. I feel like that’s gonna be the new trend, to go undefeated against little bro.”
Alabama has seen numerous players now go undefeated against Auburn in their careers. Anyone from the 2021 recruiting class and on has never lost to the Tigers. Keenan joins the likes of Malachi Moore and Deontae Lawson, among others, to finish a perfect 5-0 in the Iron Bowl.
Tim Keenan celebrates a perfect Iron Bowl record
For those of us in the Millennial generation, too young to have experienced those nine straight Iron Bowl wins engineered by Coach Bryant, this is a "golden age" of Iron Bowl dominance by Alabama.
Most of us grew up during the ugly times at the turn of the century, when Auburn reeled off its own six-game winning streak from 2002-2007. The image of Tommy Tuberville walking off the field at Bryant-Denny Stadium with all five of his fingers on one hand extended in celebration is burned into our brains as a core memory.
"Fear the Thumb" bumper stickers and t-shirts were prevalent in orange and blue color schemes.
Two decades later and Alabama has matched that streak with the potential to extend it even further next year in Tuscaloosa. Kalen DeBoer is building the program in his own image, and the Crimson Tide remains in the upper echelon of college football.
Auburn, on the other hand, is now on its fourth coach in the last six years. Perhaps the third time is the charm with a coaching hire post-Gus Malzahn, but Alex Golesh has a lot of work to do to avoid the "Comrade Harsin" nickname.