Except for Nick Saban on the Alabama football sideline, the 2020 Iron Bowl will have everything | Hurt
Before the Alabama-Auburn game on Wednesday morning, everything appeared to be somewhat normal—at least by 2020 football standards.
That day, at around ten in the morning, the last shred of normalcy vanished.
Due to a positive coronavirus test, Nick Saban will not be playing for Alabama. This will mark his first game absence since moving to Alabama. Nothing will alter in the status quo from before the Georgia game. The impact of his absence won’t be understood until kickoff, but it will undoubtedly be the big story in the world of college football—an unexpected turn to a game that captures the interest of the state each year.
Gus Malzahn, the coach of Auburn, stated on Tuesday that this was not your typical game—this was the Iron Bowl. I was a coordinator when I started coaching this game in 2009. Individuals would describe it to me. To realize and really understand it, you have to experience it. You become different from it. I’m aware that after the first year, I changed. I personally know that I think about this issue 365 days a year here at Auburn.
In the Alabama-Auburn series, there have been moments when intense argument has erupted over the slightest of details. Even before the devastating Saban news, America is now such a blazing flame of hatred that one more small brush fire won’t be enough to draw attention.
There has always been some friendly, sometimes less so trash banter. When questioned in 1980 about whether his team needed to defeat Auburn to qualify for the Sugar Bowl, Paul W. “Bear” Bryant said that he would instead “stay home and plow.” Before getting involved in politics, Tommy Tuberville would tally the games Auburn had won against the Crimson Tide by raising his fingers.
This year, thankfulness is emphasized more. To begin with, it is noteworthy for both parties that the game is taking place at all during a period when other SEC games are either canceled or placed in a situation where it is unclear if they will take place at all. Every Alabaman is aware of the special place this game holds in the state’s cultural tapestry.
However, even though Thanksgiving falls on a Thursday this year, the regular season continues. That has occurred previously, but under unusual circumstances. Examples include the postponing of the Southern Miss game in 2001 due to 9/11, the 1988 “Hurricane Bowl” between Alabama and Texas A&M, and the NCAA-flaunting non-Bowls in Hawaii in 2002 and 2003.
Both teams still have important SEC business to attend to this year; it will be interesting to watch the emotional hangover that the winner and the loser will have the next week. Regardless of the result, there is life beyond Auburn, as it has typically been since Saban’s second season in Tuscaloosa. The rivalry hasn’t faded because of the College Football Playoff, but it has taken on a new dimension.
For whatever reason, things don’t seem to be as contentious as they formerly were. Neither coach has been disparaging of opponents in the Spurrier-like manner; this week, both Saban and Malzahn have only had positive things to say.
Perhaps the nation has just grown weary of constant conflict. If you’d like to get furious at a
