Auburn fan since 1982
The TBONE Top 10 Iron Bowl AU Edition in my Lifetime
Bo went over the top in 1982, and so did the Auburn fandom for many people from my generation of Auburn fans. Children from the me generation of the 1980s in Alabama were treated to some of the all-time Iron Bowls. “Bo over the top”, “the tornado game”, “Wrong way Bo”, “The Kick” and “The Reverse” from 1982-1986 capture the absolute emotional roller coaster that this game can be. There are friends that swear when Van Tiffen made “The Kick” in 1985 that they fainted. For someone who did not leave their room until the following Monday for school after the disappointment of that game, I believe them. Since 1982 there have been several exhilarating moments for Auburn faithful, and below is my personal Top Ten. But before we get to the thrill of victory, it would not be fair to fail to mention the agony of defeat. You can take the time to find the YouTube links on those.
1985 The Kick
2001 The Blowout
1994 The Spot
1990 End of the Streak
2009 The Drive, Part 2
1984 Wrong Way Bo
2021 The Overtime
1999 The first time ever, Bama
1992 The Thanksgiving
1996 The Riddle
10. 2002 Auburn 17, Bama 7 – A friend from the old school called Friday morning asking if I wanted to go to the game in Tuscaloosa. An injury plagued Tiger team was a big underdog, and no one wanted to go to the game. That Saturday morning, I packed a cooler of cold snacks, headed up 280 NW to pick my friend up in Birmingham, and we drove to “T Town” on a glorious Saturday for football. Call it intuition, a moment of clarity or a vision, we both at the same moment heading into the stadium called for not only an AU win, but a reckoning. Tre Smith ran wild, Auburn’s defense completely shut down Tyler Watts, and Dennis Franchione left town the next week for College Station.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_MVxH6cDIQ
9. 2019 Auburn 48, Bama 45 – Kickers have killed Alabama inside Jordan-Hare Stadium, and this one would not be any different. A late “Doink” off the uprights and then Alabama forgetting how to sub correctly sealed the win! It was one of the wilder games in Iron Bowl history.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pL1ImbD2lJk
8. 2005 Auburn 28, Alabama 18 – Sack, Sack, Sack, Sack, Sack, Sack, Sack, Sack, Sack, Sack, Sack times.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYVEEeJ4RoM
7. 1997 Auburn 18, Bama 17 – Only Mike DuBose would throw the ball to a fullback with the lead in the Iron Bowl with .50 seconds to go in the game. And then only Mike DuBose would deny knowing the play call after the game that cost him the game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7KJC0YKeeM
6. 1993 Auburn 22, Alabama 14 – Things looked bleak on the plains while Auburn QB Stan White was carried off the playing surface injured for the second Iron Bowl in a row. Undefeated Auburn, the best team on radio, turned to that little known QB from Rainbow City, Alabama who hooked up with WR Frank Sanders on one of the most memorable plays in Iron Bowl history.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdqYgFTgdl8
5. 1982 Auburn 23, Bama 22 – Auburn coach Pat Dye famously quoted pregame that this Iron Bowl “was going to be a bloodletting”. Auburn fans had endured nine straight years of losing to Alabama. Tide coaches told mega-recruit, Bo Jackson, that Auburn had not beaten us in nine years and would not in another nine. This would be the last Iron Bowl for legendary head coach Paul “Bear” Bryant, and he would go out with a loss when Bo went over the top!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQqNFWPiTTk
4. 1986 Auburn 21, Bama 17 – Easily the most underrated Iron Bowls in Auburn history. The talent on both sides of the ball on that Legion Field was incredible. Several future NFL players would participate in this game. Auburn drove the ball down the field late in the 4th quarter sealing the win with an unlikely reverse to “six shooting” WR Lawyer Tillman.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6HnlBEq4W4
3. 2010 Auburn 28, Bama 27 – It was cold, it was rainy, undefeated Auburn was down by 24 points, and national championship hopes looked bleak inside Bryant-Denny Stadium. At this point even yours truly thought the dream was over. But good for all Auburn fans, Head Coach Gene Chizik, QB Cam Newton and the rest of the Tiger team did not. Auburn would make just enough plays to stay in the game, chip away at the Alabama lead, send Tide QB into Never, never land and “Cam Back” from the brink of disaster!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFw4XhE8s2g
2. 2013 Auburn 34, Bama 28 – The Kick Six. Maybe the greatest play in college football history ended this classic. Need not say more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vR7s2m5Z5GA
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/99rUbtvCYjM
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/20OeZsCEW8w
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/S8qk4k8WPK0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgQjW4B_5c8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2V9RpRrPm18
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWiuejtLXt0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvkqh8sop0c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfaWusDezBU
The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat
1989 Auburn 30, Bama 20 – We all remember our first time ever, in the Iron Bowl. Forever prideful Alabama had refused to play the Tigers on the road in Auburn. Coach Pat Dye finally made us “even” bringing the Tide to the plains ultimately costing him his job. Undefeated Alabama was ranked #2 heading into the game dreaming of a national championship. Auburn had stumbled some in 1989 but got hot late in the season as they waited in ambush for Alabama. There is no way to describe the atmosphere properly before, during and after the game. Some people say it was electric. Others say monumental. Looking back after all these years, it was what I picture and old-time revival looking like. There was absolutely no way that Alabama would win that day and they did not. This would cap off a four-game winning streak against the Tide in the Iron Bowl with famous Auburn legend, David Housel, saying we had been to the mountain top afterwards. What a day to witness football history and what a time it was to be alive!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OP6zFZqxSCc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oo9fft7duOg
I watched you struggle, I watched you wrestle with them angels, I watched you become men!
Take your time baby!
*Average score in the games above – Auburn 27, Bama 22
Honorable mention - 1983 Auburn 23, Bama 20