It's a combinations fear and exhilaration when you're watching the Alabama Auburn game. The first house I hit on my party-crashing tour of Mobile was full of college-age fans. These fans were gathering for a combination Iron Bowl and 23rd birthday party.
For this cadre of co-eds the game's about nostalgia.
The Iron Bowl is a common name for the annual college football game between the University of Alabama Crimson Tide and the Auburn University Tigers. The series is considered one of the best and most hard-fought rivalries in all of sports.As the rivalry was mainly played in Birmingham, Alabama for many years, the name of the Iron Bowl comes from Birmingham's historic role in the iron and steel industry, in which its only rival was Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Alabama leads the series with an overall record of 40–33–1.
The games are played at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa every even-numbered year, and at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn every odd-numbered year. For much of the 20th century the game was played every year at Legion Field in Birmingham. Alabama has a 32-15 record in games played at Legion Field, while Auburn has a 7-2 record in games played at Jordan-Hare Stadium and a 4-1 record in games played at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
In 2007, the game was pushed back to Thanksgiving weekend.
Due to a contract between the SEC and CBS Sports, the 2009 and 2010 Iron Bowls will be played on the Friday after Thanksgiving. The 2009 game will be the sixth Iron Bowl to be played on a Friday and the first in 21 years.
Alabama and Auburn played their first football game in Lakeview Park in Birmingham, Alabama, on February 22, 1893. Auburn (then named the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama) won 32–22, before an estimated crowd of 2,000. As if a signal of the future, disagreement between the schools began immediately as Alabama considered the game to be the final matchup of the 1892 season and Auburn recorded it as the first of 1893.
Tensions further built when, after both 1906 and 1907 contests, Auburn head coach Mike Donahue threatened to cancel the series if Alabama head coach "Doc" Pollard continued employing his elaborate formations and shifts. The series was indeed suspended after the 1907 game when the schools could not come to agreement over the amount of expenses to be paid players, as well as from where officials for the game should be obtained.
In 1947 the Alabama House of Representatives passed a resolution encouraging the schools to "make possible the inauguration of a full athletic program between the two schools". Ralph B. Draughon, the president of Auburn (then named the Alabama Polytechnic Institute), and Alabama president John Gallalee decided during the winter and spring of 1948 to end the disagreement and renew the series. The games would be played in Birmingham because it had the largest stadium in the state, 44,000-seat Legion Field, and the tickets would be split evenly between the two schools. Alabama won the first game when the series renewed 55-0, the most lopsided victory of the series.
By 1980 the series had come to be called the Iron Bowl, due to Birmingham's prominence as a center of iron and steel production. Throughout the 1980s, Auburn made additions to Jordan-Hare Stadium, and in 1987 it eclipsed Legion Field in size. Auburn desired to make the Iron Bowl a "home-and-home" series, and the schools reached an agreement where Auburn could play their home games for the Iron Bowl in Auburn starting in 1989 (except for the 1991 game, which was played at Legion Field), and Alabama would have a "home" ticket allocation for games in Legion Field. On December 2, 1989, Alabama came to Auburn's Jordan-Hare Stadium for the first time in the history of the rivalry. A sellout crowd would witness Auburn win its first true "home" game of the series, 30–20 over an Alabama team that entered the game unbeaten and ranked #2 in the country.
Alabama continued to hold their home game at Legion Field. In 1998, Alabama expanded Bryant-Denny Stadium to a capacity of 83,818, exceeding Legion Field by a few hundred. Alabama moved their home games in the series to Bryant-Denny Stadium in 2000. A new attendance record for the Iron Bowl was set in 2006 as the latest expansion to Bryant-Denny Stadium increased its capacity to 92,138.
1964 - The Iron Bowl was first broadcast nationally on November 26, 1964. Joe Namath led Alabama to a 21–14 victory over Auburn, and Alabama would go on to win its eighth national championship.
1967 – The Run in The Mud - On a night at Legion Field where thunderstorms were so bad that the field had to be constantly cleared of raincoats and other wet weather accessories that blew in from the stands, Alabama quarterback Kenny Stabler ran for a 53 yard touchdown to give Bama a 7–3 win.
1971 - Both teams were playing for a shot at the national championship against Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. 10-0 Alabama (#4 AP) earned a 31-7 victory over Heisman trophy winner Pat Sullivan and 9-0 Auburn (AP #5).
1972 – Punt Bama Punt - Trailing 16–3 with six minutes left, underdog Auburn blocked two Alabama punts - returning both for touchdowns - to win the game 17–16, handing Alabama its first loss of the season and ending its national title hopes.
1981 – 315 - Alabama Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant got his 315th career victory, passing Amos Alonzo Stagg to become the then-all-time winningest Division I-A coach in a 28–17 win over Auburn.
1982 – Bo Over the Top - Auburn drove the field and scored with two minutes left when Bo Jackson jumped over the top of the pile on the one yard line. Auburn won the game 23–22. It ended Alabama's 9 game winning streak, the longest in the rivalry's history. It would be Coach Bear Bryant's last Iron Bowl.
1984 – Wrong Way Bo - On 4th and goal Auburn is down by two points. Coach Pat Dye decides to go for the touchdown instead of a field goal. The ball went to Brent Fullwood and “Wrong Way” Bo Jackson was supposed to block, but he headed in the wrong direction, leaving Tide defensive back Rory Turner free to “wax the dude” (Fullwood), preventing the score.
1985 – The Kick - At their own 12-yard line and trailing 23-22 with only 37 seconds remaining, Alabama quarterback Mike Shula and the Tide offense drove to the Auburn 35-yard line to set up a 52-yard field goal by Van Tiffin, winning the game 25–23 as time expired.
1989 - In the first Iron Bowl ever played in Auburn, the #11 Tigers beat #2 and previously unbeaten Alabama 30–20.
1993 - Auburn defeats Alabama in a radio-only game, sealing their perfect record for the season.
1994 - 10-0 Alabama (#3 AP) defeated 9–0–1 Auburn (#6 AP) 21–14 in a matchup of undefeated teams, snapping Auburn's 21-game unbeaten streak.
1997 - After Auburn recovered an Ed Scissum fumble on a screen pass that would have resulted in a first down and seal an Alabama victory, Jaret Holmes nails a 39 yard field goal with 21 seconds left to lift Auburn over Alabama 18-17.
1999 - Alabama gets their first win ever at Auburn, 28–17.
2000 - The Iron Bowl returned to Tuscaloosa for the first time in 99 years. In the first Iron Bowl ever played in Bryant-Denny Stadium, Auburn clinched the SEC West title with a 9-0 shutout in Mike DuBose's final game as Alabama head coach.
2005 - Auburn's stingy defense sacks Alabama QB Brodie Croyle 11 times on route to its 4th consecutive Iron Bowl victory.
2008 – The Shutout - Alabama ends Auburn's streak of six consecutive victories with a 36-0 win. It was also Alabama's first Iron Bowl victory in Tuscaloosa, ending a six-game losing streak in Tuscaloosa and a four-game losing streak in Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Iron Bowl 2009 Kicks Off (VIDEOS)
