If there was any one game to pinpoint the importance of winning in Alabama's 2009 BCS National Championship year it would no doubt be the Iron Bowl game with their heated rivals from Auburn. The Iron Bowl has always been known as one of the oldest and most respected rivalries in all of college football. The '09 clash didn't disappoint as the Alabama Crimson Tide pulled off a late game 26-21 win to hold off the Auburn Tigers.
As the tradiition goes in NCAA football, the last weekend of the season is always set aside for rivalry games and this one didn't disappoint. Auburn was already assured of a bowl bid but it was the Crimson Tide who were looking for bigger and better things. They had the SEC title game with Florida coming up which would be a classic #1 vs. #2 and an automatic berth in the National title game. We know that Nick Saban would get that first title and Mark Ingram would become Alabama's first Heisman receipient but the Tigers had different intentions that day.
Auburn came into the game fired up and before you knew it had took a commanding 14-0 lead and the home Tiger faithful were seeing bigger and better things. Then at halftime Nick Saban told his players 'the strong survive but the strong also get their butts kicked'. Take it as you may but it sparked a comeback and down with less than two minutes in the game, QB Greg McElroy scored on a keeper and put the Crimson Tide up for good. He also had two TD tosses in the game but the big thing about the win was that Ingram and Julio Jones both had subpar days with it probably being Ingram's worst game of the year. Still when the dust had settled, Alabama had scored a come from behind win that in most eyes was the most important of their championship season.
As fate would have it, Ingram would win the Heisman, Alabama would shellack Florida in the SEC title game and then put on a clinic in the title game against the University of Texas. It all wouldn't have happened without the Iron Bowl win over Auburn, a close one at that.
