Alabama Crimson Tide

Iron Bowl Flashback: 1971 - Alabama 31, Auburn 7

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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BamaHammer.com presents a daily Iron Bowl Flashback leading up to Saturday’s game featuring No. 1 Alabama vs. Auburn in the 81st Iron Bowl.

BamaHammer.com presents a daily Iron Bowl Flashback leading up to Saturday’s game featuring No. 1 Alabama vs. Auburn in the 81st Iron Bowl (2:30 pm CT, CBS).

Coach Paul Bryant’s Alabama team entered the 1971 Iron Bowl with familiar reputation, 10-0 and ranked No. 2 in the country, but Auburn was considered by many to be the possible chink in Alabama’s armor. The Tigers ripped through their schedule that year, led by the arm of quarterback Pat Sullivan and the hands of receiver Terry Beasley. And when Auburn boarded the bus to Birmingham to meet ‘Bama, the team from Lee County was 9-0 and ranked No. 5 in America.

The tone was established on the very first drive. Auburn won the coin toss, and giddily chose to receive. Alabama’s D suffocated Sullivan, Beasley, and every other Tiger, and fourth down arrived quickly. A low snap to AU punter Dave Beverly allowed the maniacal ‘Bama defense to knock the punter to the ground before getting a chance to kick the ball. With such great field position on the Auburn 22-yard line, the Alabama offense reached the end zone fairly easily. After moving the ball down to the 8-yard line, quarterback Terry Davis scrambled in for the game’s first score. Three minutes into the most anticipated Iron Bowl, and ‘Bama was up, 7-0.

ICYMI: Iron Bowl Flashback – 1967

Auburn managed a little more on its next drive, but was again forced to punt. Alabama trucked all the way back into the end zone to extend its lead to 14-0 before the first quarter was even over. The Tigers did not give up right away, though, and reached Alabama territory on a 40-yard Sullivan-to-Beasley pass. But Sullivan coughed up the ball on the next play, and The Tide recovered. AU got a second chance almost immediately, however, when UA halfback Ellis Beck put the ball on the dirt, and a Tiger defender fell on it at the Alabama 31-yard line. Head coach Shug Jordan reached into his trick bag on the very next play when Sullivan handed the ball off to back Harry Unger who stopped and tossed it to Beasley for a touchdown.

With plenty of time left to play in the first half, ‘Bama’s lead had been cut to seven.

Both defenses held for the rest of the half, but Alabama managed a drive late and found itself inside Auburn’s 10-yard line with 5 seconds remaining before the break. But kicker Bill Davis, quarterback Terry’s brother, missed a short field goal, and the score remained 14-7, Alabama ahead, when the teams trotted toward the locker rooms.

Defense dominated early in the second half, and neither team scored a point in the third quarter. Alabama finally made some ground behind the smash-mouth running of Musso, and gave place kicker Davis an opportunity to make up for his missed field goal earlier in the game. He capitalized on the 41-yard kick, and ‘Bama was up 17-7 early in the fourth quarter.

Tide defender Chuck Strickland stole a Sullivan pass in the air on the first play of the Tigers’ next drive, setting up a short distance for UA’s offense to get back into the end zone for the first time since the first quarter. Musso busted a 12-yard touchdown run on the first play of the possession, and Davis added the extra point, extending Alabama’s lead to 24-7. The magic of Auburn’s season had expired, and fans donning orange and blue began filing out of the stadium.

Auburn was again unable to get much going on its next drive, and had to punt. Alabama marched down to the Tigers’ three, but Musso fumbled for only the third time in his career, giving Auburn an outside shot at coming back. Sullivan was again picked off, however, this time by Jeff Rouzie, who raced down to the Tigers’ five. Musso redeemed himself, and scored on the next play. Davis’s point-after made it 31-7, which would be the final score.

As tough as it is for both teams in the State of Alabama to win all games on their schedules in the tough SEC, it happened in 1971, and that Iron Bowl is one-of-a-kind.