It’s always the most anticipated game of the season for the Alabama Crimson Tide. 

The Iron Bowl.

And what made it even more anticipated was that it took place at Jordan-Hare Stadium, a place that has given the Crimson Tide headaches over the years, despite winning the past two games there.

But you can add another win to that, as Alabama pulled away a 27-20 victory against the Auburn Tigers. It’s the first time in Iron Bowl history that the Tide have won three consecutive games at Auburn. 

The game wasn’t pretty, but they got it done. Kind of like the past few games right?

There were a few aspects of the game that stood out, so let’s get into our takeaways from the 2025 Iron Bowl.

Ty Simpson Needs to Be Better

This takeaway is starting to feel like a weekly occurrence.

There’s no doubt that Simpson has shown up when it was most important. He helped the Tide pull out the win on a gutsy call from Kalen DeBoer to go for the jugular when it was 4th and 2 at Auburn’s seven-yard line, when he could’ve easily taken the points with a field goal.

But he put faith in his quarterback, and the quarterback proved him right, making plays that we've been accustomed in seeing over the course of the season.

However, ever since the South Carolina game, Simpson hasn’t looked like himself. Perhaps it’s because other teams are starting to figure him out, perhaps the pressure is getting to him.

We’ll never know.

He went 19/35 for only 122 yards, which was a season low.

There were throws that Simpson could’ve easily made, but didn’t. On the game’s first drive, Alabama had the ball at its own 47, and it was 3rd and 3.

Simpson had wide receiver Germie Bernard going long, and even though Bernard had someone tailing him, he was open enough for Simpson to convert.

Yet, Simpson was a little too long. The ball hit Bernard right on the fingertips and forced the Crimson Tide to punt.

That was a throw that Simpson has usually made in the past.

The Run Game Was Buzzing

It was something that Alabama desperately needed. A serviceable run game.

Here’s the problem though. Lead running back Jam Miller, who looked exceptional all game who ran for 83 yards and 5.5 yards per carry, left later on and was seen on crutches heading to the locker room.

For the longest time this season, Miller has had a hard time generating real yardage, and it got to the point where the Tide needed to look elsewhere for a spark on the ground.

It seems like that answer may be Daniel Hill, who generated a head of steam when he was asked to take on more snaps.

He was the sole running back that made a difference during the Oklahoma game where he rushed for 60 yards on 15 tries and two touchdowns.

Kevin Riley was unavailable last night, but depending on the severity of his injury, you should expect to see him get a large amount of carries next week as well.

The Defense is Becoming Elite

Alabama’s defense continues to shine. Mainly on the secondary.

Sure, there was a flub that resulted in a 64-yard reception to Malcolm Simmons, but overall, the defense kept this team alive.

But two standouts on the defense were linebacker Nikhai Hill-Green and safety Bray Hubbard.

Hill-Green had registered an 82.1 PFF grade, with three solo tackles and a forced fumble, while Hubbard managed to not just record a forced fumble to seal the game, but had an interception where he returned it for 34 yards, and two solo tackles.

Along the way, corners Zabien Brown and Red Morgan were studs. Brown had shut down Auburn’s top receiver, Cam Coleman for the most part, and Morgan, who we had zeroed in on earlier this season, has proven to be a tackling machine.

Where Was Ryan Williams?

Something that will continue to be analyzed was the presence of superstar wide receiver Ryan Williams – or lack thereof.

There’s no doubt that Williams has been underwhelming all season. But what surprised everyone was how he went all game with zero targets, and played a career-low in snaps.

Speculation can run rampant, and obviously we don’t know the answers. We do know that he has been dealing with an undisclosed injury throughout the season, so perhaps this was a continuation of that.

The problem is, Williams wasn’t on the injury report all week leading up to this game, so what can we expect for Williams as Alabama prepares for the SEC Championship game?