By Jason Caldwell
Inside The Auburn Tigers/AUTigers.com
November 24, 2010
Ranked second in the Bowl Championship Series standings this week, the Auburn Tigers (11-0, 7-0) face their toughest challenge of the season this Friday when Gene Chizik's club travels to Tuscaloosa to face the #9 Alabama Crimson Tide (9-2, 5-2) in the annual Iron Bowl.
Despite a perfect record this season, Auburn's year hasn't been without its struggles as the Tigers had to hold on for wins at Mississippi State and Kentucky in SEC road trips this year. Both of those destinations pale in comparison to Alabama's Bryant-Denny Stadium where 100,000+ will be packed in for the 1:30 kickoff on the day after Thanksgiving. Chizik said there's no doubt in his mind that the game will be a tough one for his team and they know what the day has in store for them.
"It will be a tough game on the road as they all are in this league," Chizik said. "We know that. We're going to have to really play great to be able to beat this team. That's no surprise to anybody, including us. We've got a great challenge and it should be a lot of fun."
Auburn enters the contest averaging 324.7 rushing yards per game in the SEC and has topped the 300-yard mark in the last six games in the league. Quarterback Cam Newton leads the league in rushing at 117.9 yards per game and is the only player in the nation this season with five games of over 170 yards on the ground.
Alabama has won 20 consecutive games at home with the last loss coming to LSU in 2007. During that stretch the Crimson Tide has rushed for 48 touchdowns and allowed just a single rushing touchdown and is giving up just 7.6 points per game.
