Alabama football looked past Auburn in the Iron Bowl, Nick Saban said
LOS ANGELES — As Alabama football gets set to play in the Rose Bowl and the College Football Playoff, the topic of the 2023 Iron Bowl came up during a Sunday press conference.
Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban was asked what he learned about the team from that game.
"That game was a difficult game for us," Saban said. "We had already kind of clinched the SEC (West), and I think everybody was looking a little bit ahead of what might be in store playing for the SEC Championship Game. I don't think we respected the Auburn team like we should. I don't think we played one of our best games. I think we were very fortunate at the end of the game to be able to execute and come out with the win. Hopefully the players learn that it doesn't matter who you play, when they play us, we're going to get their best game. And we need to be prepared to play our best game every time we go out on the field."
After struggling to pull away for most of the game vs. Auburn, Alabama found itself trailing late in the fourth quarter.
The ball ended up near the goal line, but after some self-inflicted wounds, the Crimson Tide found itself in a fourth-and-31 situation.
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Of course, that worked out just fine for Alabama, as Jalen Milroe found Isaiah Bond in the back of the end zone. But if the Crimson Tide took care of business earlier, it wouldn't have needed such heroics.
It all worked out, though. Alabama stayed alive in the College Football Playoff race, and the Crimson Tide went on to beat Georgia in the SEC Championship Game to win the SEC and advance to the CFP.
No. 4 Alabama will compete with No. 1 Michigan on Monday (4 p.m. CT, ESPN) for a spot in the national championship.
Nick Kelly is the Alabama beat writer for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network, and he covers Alabama football and men's basketball. Reach him at nkelly@gannett.com or follow him @_NickKelly on X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama football looked past Auburn in Iron Bowl, per Nick Saban
