Alabama football expects '100,000 fans who want you to fail' at Auburn
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Ty Simpson was on the sideline during Alabama football’s fourth-and-31 “Gravedigger” play.
The Crimson Tide quarterback was consoling then-Alabama running back Jace McClellan, who had left the game with an injury.
“And then the sideline goes crazy. Like, ‘What just happened?'” Simpson said. “And I look up at the scoreboard.
“It’s rivalry week. You got to expect the unexpected.”
For those Alabama players who have taken in an Iron Bowl game at Jordan-Hare Stadium, that’s the main message as the Crimson Tide prepares for Auburn.
Alabama knows what it is going to get in the raucous atmosphere. It’s about controlling and, simply, dominating the environment.
According to Pro Football Focus, eight current Alabama players took offensive or defensive snaps in the Crimson Tide’s last road win against Auburn in 2023.
And for those who have never experienced it in person, Alabama linebacker Deontae Lawson gave teammates the low-down.
“It’s going to be electric,” Lawson said. “I mean, that’s what you can tell them. It’s going to be electric. They don’t like us, we don’t like them. Just expect 100,000 fans that want you to fail.”
To Ryan Williams, who was at the Iron Bowl game as a recruit in 2023, whose father, Ryan Williams Sr., played at Auburn, “It’s just like every other SEC away game” in terms of the Crimson Tide’s approach.
“There’s going to be a lot of energy,” Williams said. “Alabama, we’re coming in, so we’re going to get everyone’s best shot.”
But Williams knows the Iron Bowl means more. It’s his life.
“It’s one of the biggest rivalries, if not the biggest, in college football,” Williams said.
Alabama will take on Auburn at 6:30 p.m. CT Saturday, Nov. 29 at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: What Alabama football expects from Iron Bowl atmosphere at Auburn
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