Alabama football WR Isaiah Horton earns Iron Bowl hero honors | Goodbread
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AUBURN − Alabama football clinched a berth in the SEC Championship Game on Saturday, Nov. 29, with a 27-20 win over archrival Auburn at Jordan-Hare Stadium. The Crimson Tide closed the regular season at 10-2 with a stout defensive effort and a big night from transfer wide receiver Isaiah Horton, who reeled in three touchdown passes.
Here are some quick thoughts on the UA victory:
Talking points
1) The Alabama running game has a pulse. After struggling all season, UA ran for 158 yards against one of the best defensive fronts in the SEC. It wasn’t a dominant effort, but it was a highly effective one. Senior Jam Miller ran 15 times for 83 yards for his best outing since sustaining a concussion against Missouri. Daniel Hill chipped in with some tough runs as well. The Crimson Tide had 98 yards on 19 carries at the half and did its part to keep the Auburn defense honest.
2) The Alabama offense benefitted from Auburn penalties all night, and several of them were very costly. None were more painful for the Tigers than a personal foul for roughing the passer in the fourth quarter that put UA in field goal range with the score tied at 20. Earlier in the drive, AU was hit with a pass interference call. Auburn finished with 10 total flags, seven on its defense. And the UA offense needed every one of them.
3) Throughout the first quarter, Alabama QB Ty Simpson had multiple chances to scramble for rushing yards on the perimeter but chose instead to throw, usually for incompletions. When he finally did tuck one, on a designed quarterback run, he sprung a 26-yard gain around left end to key the Crimson Tide’s first touchdown drive. He later scrambled for a critical gain of 8 to convert a third-quarter third down in Auburn territory, which set up Conor Talty’s second field goal. With Alabama’s offense struggling more late in the season, Simpson needs to be willing to take an easy 5-10 yards on the ground when defenses offer it, and make smart give/keep decisions on option reads.
4) Horton was the Iron Bowl hero with a trio of touchdown catches, representing all three of Alabama’s paydirt plays. It came at an opportune moment for the transfer from Miami, as Auburn held Crimson Tide WR Ryan Williams without a catch and largely contained Germie Bernard (3 catches, 24 yards).
Turning point
Coach Kalen DeBoer’s decision to eschew a field goal attempt with the score tied 20-20 in the final minutes and instead go for a fourth-and-2 play from the Auburn 6-yard line was a gutsy, game-changing move. Simpson connected with Horton for a touchdown pass, which put pressure on Auburn’s offense to drive the length of the field.
By the numbers
6 – Auburn brought a six-man blitz on Simpson’s first-quarter touchdown pass to Horton. Simpson struggled against the blitz in UA’s loss to Oklahoma, but on this play, he layered a pass with perfect touch over a defensive back’s reach to find Horton.
What I liked
Alabama’s postseason hopes hinge in part on Talty finding a groove when it comes to field goal accuracy. And by booting home a 46-yarder to open the scoring in the most hostile of environments, he couldn’t have picked a better way to ignite that groove. He converted another field goal in the second half that extended UA’s lead to 20-13.
What I didn’t like
The UA offense plainly misses Josh Cuevas. Prior to an injury that kept him out of the Iron Bowl, the senior had become an increasingly important presence in the UA passing attack. Without him, Simpson had to lean on his wide receivers more heavily, with mixed results.
Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23. Reach him at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on X.com @chasegoodbread.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama football WR Isaiah Horton earns Iron Bowl hero honors
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