Stakes high for 82nd Iron Bowl

AUBURN | Only two current Auburn players have ever beaten Alabama and both were redshirts in 2013.

Kicker Daniel Carlson and holder Tyler Stovall were on the sidelines when Chris Davis returned a missed field goal 109 yards with one second left to give Auburn a dramatic 34-28 win in the Kick Six.

The rest of the the Tigers’ roster is a giant o-fer against the Tide.

“It’s real important. We know what’s at stake,” said third-year junior linebacker Deshaun Davis, who is one of eight players who have been a part of three-straight losses to Auburn’s in-state rival.

But what’s at stake for Davis and his teammates isn’t about the past. It’s about a potential future that only they can make happen and it starts with a win over No. 1 Alabama Saturday, which would give the Tigers the SEC West Championship and a rematch with No. 7 Georgia in the SEC Championship game.

A second win over the Bulldogs and No. 6 Auburn would be favored to receive one of four invites to the college football playoff for the first time in school history.

“Everybody knows what this game holds,” said running back Kerryon Johnson, who has been on the losing end of two-straight Iron Bowls. “It’s the Iron Bowl, a trip to the SEC Championship — everybody knows the magnitude so everybody is going to be ready, everybody is going to be pumped.

“But we can’t let the game get bigger than us. We’ve got to come out everyday in practice and execute and come out in the game and execute.”

Johnson, however, is making sure to keep himself and his teammates low-key in the buildup to the game. There’s already plenty of hype surrounding the matchup including having ESPN’s College Gameday on campus.

It’s just the eighth time in history both Auburn and Alabama have played each other as top 10 teams. The Tigers hold a 4-3 edge in those previous games.

“You’ve got to find that balance of realizing who you play, realizing the magnitude, but also realizing it’s still Tuesday,” Johnson said. “You can’t play it tomorrow, can’t play it the next day so you’ve got to prepare, you’ve got to get yourself in the right mindset and right position to be able to go out there and execute and I think we’ll be able to do that.”

Kickoff at Jordan-Hare Stadium is set for 2:30 p.m. CT on CBS.

“They’re a good team. It’s a big game for both teams and a lot is at stake. I feel like if we come in and just do our job, we’ll be fine,” said Davis, who turned his ankle during last Saturday’s game against ULM.

Any chance Davis, a native of Mobile, Ala., will miss Saturday’s showdown against the Tide?

“You’d have to cut it off for me not to play in that one,” he said.