re: Iron Bowl History - how often do "upsets" happen?

quote:

---

i don't think 1989 was an upset because it was the first Iron Bowl in Auburn ever. Alabama had overachieved that year and Auburn had underachieved. I think Auburn was finally realizing how good they could really be at the time while Alabama realized they were in over their heads. other than the spectacular play of Keith McCants, the Alabama defense had a real tough time stopping Auburn that game. Auburn's defense was pretty stout that year with Craig Ogletree and Quentin Riggins leading the way. I remember Alabama playing pretty well in the 1st half but the second half was no contest. the 1990 game wasn't a surprise either in my opinion. The Alabama defense entered that game on tear and Auburn really never had much of a chance in that game. They jumped on them early and set the tone. the Auburn offense had hit a big skid before that game so watching them struggle in that one wasn't surprising. Alabama's offense had been depleted with injuries to Stacy, Sanderson, and Wimbley but they still had Lamonde Russell, Kevin Turner, and Derrick Lassic. I think the big difference that year was that Alabama had an All-American kicker in Philip Doyle and he delivered that day with 3 field goals. Alabama used the kicking game and good defense to beat a team that was struggling on offense. Auburn was still kinda riding their preseason rankings in the polls that year but it was clear that they weren't the same team by the time they played Alabama.

---

Pretty accurate. 1989 was not even close to an upset. I think AU was actually favored though bama was undefeated and #2. AU was not going to lose that one and pretty much destroyed bama after halftime.

1990 wasn't really either. Stallings was a hell of a coach and defensively his teams were awesome. AU got up to about #3 in the polls after upsetting a very good FSU team, but then got blow out by 35 in the swamp against Spurrier in his first year and went into a tailspin.