Alabama’s offense returned to form in the Iron Bowl as change looms

This Iron Bowl lacked the drama and lasting moments of others in the past decade, but few of the rivalry’s 86 previous games saw Alabama’s offense perform like it did Saturday night.

The Tide trotted into the locker room at halftime with 348 yards and 35 points, then coasted in the second half to finish with 49 points -- tied for the fourth-most ever in the series’ history. The only times Alabama scored more points against Auburn came in 1948 and 2014, with 55, and in 2018, with 52.

Glance up at the scoreboard and you would not have been able to tell this was the same offense that two weeks earlier seemed to hit rock bottom at Ole Miss.

The kickstart moment came Saturday when, after Auburn took an early 7-0 lead, Bryce Young uncorked a 52-yard heave to Jermaine Burton that put the Tide at the 10-yard line. It scored three plays later, beginning a streak of four possessions with a touchdown that were among the most efficient offensive football Alabama has played this season.

Just in time, of course, for the season to end.

Alabama still has a slim chance to make the College Football Playoff -- you’ll hear plenty about that this upcoming week -- but the likely outcome remains it will play in either the Sugar Bowl or the Orange Bowl. Two of the centerpieces of Alabama’s offense, Young and running back Jahmyr Gibbs, did not tip their hands Saturday evening when asked if they would suit up for a non-playoff bowl game.

The offense could look different for a bowl game, and it will most certainly look different next season -- especially if there is a new coordinator calling plays from Nick Saban’s playbook. There will be a new quarterback, new tight end and new left tackle, along with some possible changes at running back, wide receiver and elsewhere along the offensive line.

That is the nature of college football in most offseasons, but the turnover will be especially pronounced for Alabama this winter. It will lose its Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback and will likely turn again to the transfer portal to provide external refueling to the roster that historically was not available.

“I think what we did on offense tonight was really, really good,” Nick Saban said after the win. “We always want to improve. We always want to do better. I think we want to continue to feature the players that we have in a very positive way, and try to get as many players involved as possible. But we’ve had really good production the last two games, and hopefully we can continue to build on that.”

Alabama’s offense ended its regular season much like it began it. Back on Sept. 3, Alabama scored on its first eight drives against Utah State to build a 55-0 lead. Young threw for five touchdowns and ran for another. Burton, who had two touchdowns, had a strong debut after transferring from Georgia. Gibbs averaged more than 10 yards on his runs.

But little seemed to work the next week at Texas, then Young injured his shoulder three weeks later at Arkansas. That kept Young out of practice for about a month and disrupted the growth of the offense, even as he returned to play against Tennessee and Mississippi State.

“I’ll tell you what, it was really an example of his grit, his determination, his character and his commitment to the team,” Saban said. “Because he wanted to play for the team, even those weeks that he couldn’t really throw much in practice. It might have hurt our development a little bit for the rest of the players on our team, but he still went out and played really, really well.”

Alabama used Jase McClellan and its ground game to claw its way back to win two weeks ago, then showcased McClellan again last week to dispatch Austin Peay, 34-0. Saturday’s Iron Bowl shifted the focus back to the passing game. Young finished 20-of-30 for 343 yards, three touchdowns and a fourth-quarter interception before waving to the crowd and potentially ending the run of one of the most accomplished players in program history.

Young’s QBR, the advanced statistic used by ESPN, was 97.8 on a scale of 100 -- his best game of the season. His second-highest was 96.9 against Utah State, the bookends to a season that went off-kilter in the middle for both the offense and the team as a whole.

“I was really proud of our team this whole season, actually,” Saban said. “To win 10 games, to go through a rough patch when Bryce was hurt. Now he’s healthy again, which makes us a different kind of team.”

It showed in the Iron Bowl, but next season, without Young? Alabama could be a different kind of team, again.

Mike Rodak is an Alabama beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @mikerodak.

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