DJ Durkin on Iron Bowl Loss: ‘You Can’t Turn the Ball Over in Games Like This and Expect to Win.’

After Alabama's 27-20 victory in the Iron Bowl, which will advance the Crimson Tide to the SEC Championship next Saturday, Auburn's interim head coach, DJ Durkin, addressed the media. He highlighted that losing the turnover battle and facing penalties in critical situations were significant factors in his team's loss.

Durkin opened his press conference by discussing his team's two turnovers, which occurred at crucial moments during Auburn's seven-point loss to Alabama on Saturday. One turnover was an interception thrown by Bray Hubbard inside the Crimson Tide's 30-yard line, happening with less than a minute remaining in the third quarter. The second turnover was a fumble that occurred with just 33 seconds left in regulation, after Hubbard was involved in another takeaway. This time, the takeaway came from a forced fumble recovered by Deontae Lawson, effectively sealing the game for Alabama.

Auburn's interim head coach emphasized that the turnovers significantly impacted his team's performance. Despite the Tigers outgaining the Tide by 131 yards, totaling over 400 yards in Saturday's loss, while Auburn managed to hold Alabama to only 280 yards.

“We had chances to win the game, and you know you can't turn the ball over in games like this and expect to win, and we didn't create turnovers on defense.” Durkin said “obviously the turnovers hurt us, you look at it you say we outgained them 411 to 280 (yards) and held them to 122 yards passing, if you told me going into the game that's what was going to happen I'd tell you we would've won the game, but again turnovers are the most telling stat that pertain to wins and losses.”

When discussing the offensive struggles in the first quarter, during which Auburn gained only 20 yards and achieved just one first down, Durkin attributed the issues to dropped passes. He stated, “We were just sloppy with the ball. There were too many drops, and there were too many turnovers.” The Tigers recorded three dropped passes in the first quarter.

Durkin was asked about his thoughts on Auburn’s many critical third-down penalties on defense, with one coming on a third and seven with over five minutes left in the contest when both teams were tied at 20. This penalty was a roughing-the-passer on Xavier Atlins, which set up Alabama with a first down at the Tigers’ 14-yard line and eventually led to a 6-yard touchdown pass from Ty Simpson to Isaiah Hornton, giving the Miami Transfer his third touchdown of the game and the Crimson Tide a 7-point lead.

“I’ll have to go back and look at them, but our guys were competing and playing aggressively, and we are never gonna change that or stop that. We are always gonna be the ones swinging, and if stuff happens, it happens.” Durkin added, “The one on Xavier [Atkins], the roughing the quarterback, you know, he looked low. I thought he got blocked into him, but again, I gotta go back and watch that. I don't know exactly how that was.”

Durkin went on to share what he told Auburn’s sophomore wide receiver Cam Coleman following his game-closing fumble with under a minute left in the first quarter, where Durkin spoke very highly of the former five-star wide receiver from the Tigers’ 2023 class.

“I just told him I love him and to keep his head up.” Durkin said, “Cam is a great player and has done a lot of great things for this program. Obviously, in that moment, he was fighting, trying to get yards, and it happened. We gotta be better with our ball security for sure, but it's nothing for Cam to hang his head about, man.”

Auburn will finish the season 5-7 and will not be eligible for a bowl game while it continues to search for a new head coach. Alabama will pick up its sixth straight win over its in-state foe. It will face Georgia again next Saturday, December 6th, in the SEC Championship at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.

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