Alabama Football's In-State Talent Looking to Stay Unbeaten Against Auburn

The Crimson Tide is looking for a fourth straight victory in the Iron Bowl for the first time in nearly 50 years.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Nick Saban has had a little bit of trouble against just a few programs during his time in Tuscaloosa. Since he took over in 2007, only two schools have defeated Saban and Alabama more than twice — LSU and Auburn.

Each SEC West foe has taken down the Crimson Tide five times since 2007. For the Tigers, four of the victories have come at Jordan-Hare Stadium on the Plains, the scene for this weekend's 88th edition of the Iron Bowl.

Alabama hasn't lost to Auburn since Nov. 30, 2019. With a win, the Crimson Tide will have four consecutive victories over its in-state rival for the first time since 1981, when Alabama won its ninth straight.

"Obviously, the Iron Bowl is one of the great rivalry games in college football," Saban said Monday. "[It's] something that you look forward to as a competitor. It's also something that is a great opportunity to be able to play in. I don't think that anybody needs to pay attention to what happened in the past, what happened in the last game, what somebody's record is. Anytime you play in a rivalry game it's going to be a highly competitive, tough, very physical game, that's what everybody needs to get ready for."

The Crimson Tide (10-1, 7-0 SEC) has a lot of players from the state of Alabama. And if you're a kid growing up in this state, you know the Iron Bowl, and what it means.

Only three guys on the roster experienced the 48-45 loss in 2019 — Will Reichard, Justin Eboigbe and Darrian Dalcourt. Everyone else on the roster hasn't lost to the Tigers, including seniors Malachi Moore and Roydell Williams — who look to complete a perfect 4-0 record against the school across the state on Saturday afternoon.

"Yeah, [it's] definitely a little kid’s dream being from Alabama," Moore said Monday. "Growing up, playing football, watching football — I was watching the Iron Bowl. It’s definitely a blessing to be able to play in this game. A lot of people look at this game in the state ... it’s a big one in the state. It just means a lot to suit up for the Crimson Tide to go out there and play in this great rivalry."

"Oh yeah, I was a big Alabama fan," Williams said Tuesday. "We always got family over to the house — watched the game, ordered food — cook sometimes — we’ll all just [have] fellowship together. It was a big deal for our family, [we made a] big deal about it. My house was really divided. My sister was an Auburn fan, I was an Alabama fan. My mom and dad were really neutral ... I chose Alabama, and that was that."

Auburn lost by three touchdowns at home last week to New Mexico State. Williams doesn't want that to create any distractions this week.

"Never get too comfortable," Williams said. "It’s another opponent that we still have to play. And we still have to go out and dominate ... it’s just another opponent — we have to do what we have to do. Just can’t get complacent. Talked about that early on this week — we still have to do our job."

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