TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – On the road against a top-ranked opponent, Auburn matched No.1 Alabama blow-for-blow in the first half in a 52-21 Iron Bowl loss.
"I thought we were in good position," Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. "Our goal was to get us to the fourth quarter. The game got away from us in the third quarter. That's very disappointing."
Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa threw four touchdown passes in the second half to break open a 3-point game.
"We're disappointed," Malzahn said. "We really thought we had a chance to come in here and win."
Trailing 31-14, Jarrett Stidham hit Darius Slayton on a 52-yard touchdown pass to pull the Tigers within 10 at 31-21 with 3:31 remaining in the third quarter.
"They bit hard on a play we had run earlier," said Slayton of his eighth career TD catch. "It was designed that way and I was able to get behind the DB. Jarrett gave me a chance to make a play and I was able to come down with it. I thought that was going to spark us, get us going to come back."
Alabama answered with touchdown passes late in the third quarter and early in the fourth to secure the victory.
Auburn trailed 17-14 after an inspired first half.
Shaun Shivers raced 75 yards for a touchdown on Auburn's first series, but a holding penalty nullified the score.
After Alabama took a 7-0 lead on a 7-yard quarterback run, Auburn answered with a 10-play, 73-yard touchdown drive. Five consecutive JaTarvious Whitlow rushes netted 25 yards, crossing midfield.
Auburn then gained 12 yards on Stidham's pass to Ryan Davis. On third-and-13, Stidham hit Whitlow for 25 yards to the Alabama 14.
After a 5-yard Alabama penalty, Anthony Schwartz raced around right end for a 9-yard game-tying TD with 2:37 remaining in the first quarter.
Alabama took a 17-7 lead in the second quarter on a 4-yard pass from Tagovailoa to Henry Ruggs III, and a 30-yard field goal.
Auburn's defense forced a three-and-out, then Smoke Monday blocked a punt, Auburn's fourth of the season, giving the Tigers possession on Alabama's 23.
One play later, Ryan Davis threw his second touchdown pass of the season, hitting Malik Miller for 23 yards, trimming Alabama's lead to 17-14 with 4:04 left in the half.
Auburn's defense ended the first half with back-to-back three-and-outs, holding Alabama to its season lows in first-half passing yards and total offense.
Tagovailoa was 25 of 32 for 324 yards and five touchdowns, adding a rushing TD.
Whitlow was the game's leading rushing, gaining 61 yards on 19 carries.
"We didn't get it done," Malzahn said. "We had expectations. We didn't get it done. But we have a whole bunch of young guys. The majority of our team will come back. We'll rebound from this. I promise you that.
"We got beat pretty good two years ago here. We bounced back the next year. I expect us to do the same thing."
Auburn (7-5) will look to earn victory No. 8 in a bowl game, with a postseason bid arriving next weekend after the conference championship games.
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer
Auburn at Alabama Game Notes
- Captains: Deshaun Davis, Ryan Davis, Jarrett Stidham
- Coin Toss: Alabama wins the toss and defers. Auburn will receive
TEAM NOTES
- First-time starters for Auburn: none
- Auburn has scored in 79 consecutive games, the second-longest streak in school history
- Seven blocked kicks for the season are the most by an Auburn team through records back through 1996
INDIVIDUAL NOTES/OFFENSE
- Ryan Davis extends his Auburn career receiving record with 173 career receptions (4 today). Davis ranks 13th in Auburn career receiving yardage (1,532)
- Davis has caught a pass in 26 consecutive games, the most since Karsten Bailey had a 28-game streak in 1996-98 and now the fourth-longest streak in school history
- Jarrett Stidham to Ryan Davis is the most productive pass tandem in Auburn history, with 149 (4 today) completions
- Stidham is sixth among Auburn career passing leaders with 5,518 yards (127 today)
- Stidham now ranks fourth in Auburn career completions with 455 (13 today), passing Pat Sullivan (452 from 1969-71)
- Stidham set an Auburn record with 162 consecutive pass attempts without an interception; the previous record was 156 by Ben Leard (1999)
- JaTarvious Whitlow is now fourth all-time among Auburn freshman rushers with 777 yards this season (61 today), passing Travis Tidwell (772 in 1946); next is Bo Jackson (829 in 1982)
- Anthony Schwartz is now sixth all-time among Auburn freshman receivers with 307 receiving yards this season (10 today), passing Devin Aromashodu (304 in 2002); next is Robert Baker (370 in 1995)
- Schwartz scored his fourth rushing TD of the season and sixth score overall this year
- Malik Miller scored his first career receiving touchdown and his sixth career overall score. The TD pass from Ryan Davis was his third career TD pass
- Darius Slayton's 52-yard touchdown catch was his second touchdown of the season and eighth of his career. The TD pass from Stidham was his 13th TD pass of the season and 31st of his Auburn career
- Slayton now ranks 15th among Auburn career receiving yardage leaders (1,445), passing Freddie Hyatt (1,396 from 1965-67)
INDIVIDUAL NOTES/DEFENSE
- With 257 career tackles (5 today), Deshaun Davis ranks sixth among Auburn career tacklers since 2000, passing Craig Stevens (252 from 2006-10)
- With nine tackles today, Darrell Williams led the team in tackles for the sixth time of his career
INDIVIDUAL NOTES/SPECIAL TEAMS
- Smoke Monday records his first blocked punt; it's Auburn's fourth punt block of the season
- Auburn holds the SEC record for consecutive PAT with 265, longest current streak in the nation with 3 PAT today. Anders Carlson is now 35-35 on PAT for his career and Ian Shannon is 5-5 for the season
- Arryn Siposs has had two punts of 50 yards, giving him 10 kicks of 50 yards or longer for the season