TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – A 96-yard fourth-quarter touchdown drive provided the highlight Saturday for No. 22 Auburn in a 42-13 loss to top-ranked Alabama in the 2020 Iron Bowl at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
The drive began at Auburn's 4-yard line after Smoke Monday caused a fumble that Jamien Sherwood recovered.
Auburn quarterback Bo Nix spent time in both end zones on the drive, escaping a safety and rushing 8 yards for a first down on third-and-3 from the Tigers' 11-yard line.
Three Mark-Antony Richards' runs netted 25 yards to Auburn's 44. Nix connected with tight end John Samuel Shenker for 26 yards to Alabama's 8-yard line.
After two Richards' runs advanced the ball to the 1, Nix scored on third-and-goal to cap a 12-play drive, the Tigers' longest in the series since the 1987 Iron Bowl.
"It shows how we did keep fighting," Nix said. "Even though the scoreboard wasn't in our favor, we continued to try to move the ball and go down and score and we did that. I'm proud of the way our guys fought."
"I told them I'm proud of their fight," Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. "They handled themselves with character in a very tough spot. Give Alabama credit. To beat a team like that on the road, you have to make plays. We didn't play our best and they played very well."
Gallery: (11-28-2020) Alabama 42, Auburn 13
Nix completed 23 of 38 passes for 227 yards. Anthony Schwartz led Auburn's receiving corps with five catches for 60 yards.
After Auburn's defense forced a punt on Alabama's first possession of the second half, Nix's 37-yard pass to Shedrick Jackson on third-and-2 was Auburn's longest gain of the game.
Auburn scored first in the second half on Anders Carlson's 45-yard goal, trimming Alabama's lead to 21-6 with 10:36 left in the third quarter.
"When you get in the red zone you've got to score touchdowns against the No. 1 team in the country on the road," Malzahn said.
Alabama answered quickly when Mac Jones hit DeVonta Smith for a 58-yard touchdown pass to make it 28-6.
Nix and Schwartz teamed up for three consecutive completions for 39 yards, but Auburn missed a 56-yard field goal attempt.
After a Najee Harris 39-yard touchdown run, Jones' fifth TD pass, a 24-yarder to John Metchie, gave Alabama a 42-6 lead early in the fourth quarter.
Auburn held Alabama to 2 yards rushing on five carries in the first quarter. Alabama's first drive began at Auburn's 34-yard line, but the Tigers' defense forced a punt after a three-and-out.
Auburn picked up a pair of first downs on its second drive before punting to Alabama's 22-yard line. The home team scored first on a 66-yard touchdown pass to Smith.
Auburn put Alabama behind the chains late in the first quarter on Big Kat Bryant's ninth career sack but Jones' second touchdown pass, a 7-yarder to Metchie, gave Alabama a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter.
The Tigers responded with a 12-play drive, converting a pair of third downs on Nix completions to Schwartz and J.J. Pegues, to set up Carlson's 47-yard field goal to make it 14-3.
Alabama (8-0) scored on a third consecutive drive on Jones' 24-yard touchdown pass to Jahleel Billingsley for a 21-3 halftime lead.
Zakoby McClain led Auburn with nine tackles. Jaren Handy recorded his first career sack.
Richards led Auburn with 57 rushing yards on 14 carries.
Auburn (5-3) returns to Jordan-Hare Stadium Saturday to host Texas A&M.
"We've got two games left," Malzahn said. "This is an unusual season. We'll need to rebound like we did earlier in the season. It will be good to get back home. We need to get healed up next week."
"We've got to flip the page," said linebacker Owen Pappoe, who had two solo tackles and broke up a pair of passes. "The message in the locker room is let's learn from it and move on to the next one. We've got to stay together. We've got to learn from this, it's going to make us stronger."
"You never want to lose, especially to your rival," said Nix, who won his Iron Bowl debut as a true freshman in 2019. "We just have to put this behind us and have a positive mentality going into this week."
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer
TEAM NOTES
- Captains: K.J. Britt, Big Kat Bryant, Bo Nix, Shaun Shivers
- Coin Toss: Auburn wins the toss and will receive
- First-time starters for Auburn: Austin Troxell
- Auburn has scored in 101 consecutive games, the second-longest streak in school history
- Auburn's 12-play, 96-yard scoring drive in the fourth quarter was its longest against Alabama since a 98-yard drive in the 1987 Iron Bowl
INDIVIDUAL NOTES/OFFENSE
- Seth Williams now has 1,944 career receiving yards, ranking 9th among Auburn career leaders; next is Freddy Weygand (1,946 from 1984-88)
- Eli Stove is 7th all-time in career receptions with 123, passing Frank Sanders (121 from 1991-94) and Seth Williams (121). Anthony Schwartz is 12th in Auburn career receptions with 109; next is Rodgeriqus Smith (114 from 2004-08)
- Schwartz ranks 18th in Auburn career receiving yardage with 1,363 yards, passing Ben Obomanu (1,313 from 2002-05), Greg Taylor (1,318 from 1987-90), Alexander Wright (1,320 from 1986-89), Devin Aromashodu (1,333 from 2002-05), Ricardo Louis (1,338 from 2012-15)
- Eli Stove ranks 27th in Auburn career receiving yardage with 1,105 yards; next is Terrell Zachary (1,106 from 2007-10)
- Tank Bigsby ranks 8th among Auburn all-time freshman rushing leaders with 566 yards, passing Onterio McCalebb (547 in 2009)
- Shedrick Jackson's 37-yard reception in the third quarter was a career long
- John Samuel Shenker's 26-yard reception in the fourth quarter tied a career long
- Bo Nix recorded his ninth career 200-yard passing game
- Bo Nix scored his fourth rushing touchdown of the season and 11th of his career
INDIVIDUAL NOTES/DEFENSE
- Big Kat Bryant recorded his second sack of the season and ninth of his career
- Smoke Monday's forced fumble was the first of his career
- Jamien Sherwood's fumble recovery was his second of the season (Kentucky) and the third of his career
- Jaren Handy records his first career sack
INDIVIDUAL NOTES/SPECIAL TEAMS
- Anders Carlson is now 8th in career scoring at Auburn with 250 points; next is Cody Parkey (253 from 2010-13)
- Carlson is now 6th in career PAT made at Auburn with 112; next is Damon Duval (125 from 1999-2002)
- Carlson is 4th in Auburn career field goals made with 46, passing Damon Duval (45 from 1999-2002) and Win Lyle (45 from 1987-89)