20241130 Fb @ Bama Ap 0087 — Auburn’s Jarquez Hunter runs during the 2024 Iron Bowl. (Austin Perryman / Auburn Tigers)

Whether you’re a die hard college football fan or just tune in to one game every year with some friends + family, we know what the Iron Bowl means to people in the state of Alabama. And we know how well versed many of you are with your Iron Bowl history.

But it’s always a good day to learn more about the sport’s best rivalry.

Here are 10 stats you may or may not know about the Iron Bowl.

0 – Interim coach victories

Auburn interim coach DJ Durkin at the Birmingham Monday Morning Quarterback Club. (The Bama Buzz)

DJ Durkin will be the third interim head coach to lead Auburn in the Iron Bowl game but he’s hoping to become the first to earn a win in the rivalry.

Cadillac Williams (2022) and Bill Oliver (1998) both lost their games as interim head coach but Durkin will be the first to coach the game on The Plains.

Another interesting note on the coaches front—this is the sixth straight season with a different coaching matchup in the Iron Bowl which has included:

2025: Kalen DeBoer vs. DJ Durking
2024: Kalen DeBoer vs. Hugh Freeze
2023: Nick Saban vs. Hugh Freeze
2022: Nick Saban vs. Cadillac Williams
2021: Nick Saban vs. Bryan Harsin
2020: Steve Sarkisian vs. Bryan Harsin

3 – Lowest scoring Iron Bowl

November 26 is the 65th anniversary of the lowest scoring Iron Bowl of all time. The top-25 matchup was decided by a short field goal from Tommy Brooker in the second quarter.

Even though Auburn has shown its defense as its strong suit through most of the season, this record feels like it will be safe for a long time. At least until the sport drastically changes its scoring system.

5 – Current Alabama winning streak

Gyp0Kxiwuaavg2T Scaled E1727972796453 — Kalen DeBoer got his first SEC win as Alabama’s coach. (University of Alabama Athletics)

Alabama leads the all-time rivalry series 51-37-1 but even with the domination under Nick Saban, there was never a giant streak against cross-state rival Auburn.

Until now.

Alabama’s five consecutive wins in the series is its largest winning streak against Auburn since Bear Bryant was coach, leading the Tide to nine straight wins from 1973-1981.

Auburn’s longest streak was six straight wins between 2002-2007.

6 – Upset wins by unranked teams

An unranked team has not beaten a ranked team in this series since 2002 when Auburn knocked off No. 9 Alabama at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Overall, ranked teams are 39-6 against unranked opponents including four straight wins for Alabama in the last four seasons.

Of those six upset wins by unranked teams, just one of them belongs to the Tigers.

10 – Nailbiters in Auburn

There have been some classic games at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Of the 17 Iron Bowls played on the Plains, 10 of them were decided by one possession including each of the last three.

Five of the last seven games played there have delivered some of the best games of the entire rivalry including:

2009: Alabama 26, Auburn 21
2013: Auburn 34, Alabama 28
2019: Auburn 48, Alabama 45
2021: Alabama 24, Auburn 22 (4OT)
2023: Alabama 27, Auburn 24

We all know there’s some kind of magic that happens at that stadium but over the last two meetings, that magic has favored the Crimson Tide. Maybe expect another wild one this Saturday night.

18 – Wins by the home team

Speaking of some homefield advantage, it’s actually not as big of a factor as you may expect in this series.

In the 32 games played at the two teams’ home stadiums, the host has won just 18 of them. That’s a winning percentage of just .562.

Still, both teams currently hold a slight advantage when hosting the Iron Bowl with Alabama winning 8 of 15 in Tuscaloosa and the Tigers winning 10 of 17 in Auburn.

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40 – ‘The Kick’ anniversary

In what is still considered to be one of the best games in the rivalry’s history, Van Tiffin hit a 52-yard field goal as time expired at Legion Field to give Alabama a 25-23 win over No. 7 Auburn in 1985.

Exactly 40 years later, the two teams will take the field and I think it’s safe to say either team would take a leg like Tiffin on their team today.

Both Auburn and Alabama have seen struggles with their respective field goal units this season but if the rivalry’s history has taught us anything, it seems likely at least one of the kickers will play a large role in Saturday’s outcome.

99 – Longest offensive play

An Iron Bowl record that cannot be broken is Amari Cooper’s 99-yard touchdown reception from AJ McCarron during the 2013 Iron Bowl. It remains tied for the longest offensive play in college football history, as it is the longest possible offensive play in the sport.

Of course, that play was overshadowed within hours as Auburn’s Chris Davis set the record for the longest play of any kind by returning a missed field goal 109 yards to defeat Alabama on the final play of the game—famously known as “The Kick Six” and one of the greatest moments in the history of the sport.

271 – Derrick Henry’s rushing record

Bo Jackson’s single game rushing record felt safe and it was for more than four decades before Alabama’s Derrick Henry came along.

Henry led the Tide to a win in the 2015 Iron Bowl with a record 271 yards on 46 carries, cementing his place in the Heisman voting. That number remains the most yards from scrimmage for a single player in Iron Bowl history.

Here are some of the records to know: