This Week 14 matchup is a must-win for the Crimson Tide if they’re going to have any shot at making the expanded College Football Playoff. Bama legend Mark Ingram clearly believes in his alma mater, explaining why he thinks the Tide will respond here and grab a statement win at home against a bitter rival.
“I see Alabama football getting back on track in this Iron Bowl, man,” Ingram said. “Cause there’s a lot of chirp going on, I don’t know if you’ve been hearing it, man, but there’s been a lot of chirp on the Auburn side. They’re saying this, they’re saying Ryan Williams ain’t one of them guys, they’re saying Jalen Milroe ain’t one of them guys. Saying ‘Bama ain’t one of them guys. It’s going on in the media, they poppin’ they stuff. But hey I know ‘Bama, they just getting ready. They behind the scenes. They gotta bounce back, man. Because the last week was detrimental loss, man. So if you want any hope, at all, of possibly even being one of the three loss teams to get in, you’ve gotta dominate this weekend in the Iron Bowl.”
The Tide defense was cooked by Oklahoma on the ground in Week 13, but Ingram expects them to be better. He’s also banking on Jalen Milroe to perform:
“And listen, the Alabama defense, I just appreciate them because they’ve gotten better and better throughout the season,” Ingram said. “They’ve been having trouble stopping the run. Gave up 257 rush yards to Oklahoma last week and they have a good back coming in this week for Auburn, man. So they’ll need to be on point, they’ll need to sure up that run defense. But it all comes down to Jalen “Milly” Milroe. When he plays the way he’s capable of playing, Alabama is the most dominant team in college football. When he takes care of the football, makes the right reads, we are a tough team to beat. He’s had eight interceptions in his last seven games, had three interceptions last week.”
The loss to the Sooners was truly deflating. Alabama football was outgained 325-234 and Milroe easily had the worst game of the season. He completed just 11 of 26 passes and threw three interceptions with zero touchdowns.
For what it’s worth, the Iron Bowl has been dominated by Bama in recent memory. They’ve won four straight meetings, but two of those matchups were extremely close.
Alabama football has something to prove here and there’s a lot at stake.
