2009 Iron Bowl

The 2009 Iron Bowl took place on Friday November 27, 2009 with kickoff at 1:30 PM, with Alabama narrowly defeating Auburn 26-21. It was the 74th contest in the series between Alabama and Auburn, the eleventh held at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, and the 6th to be held on a Friday. The game was Alabama coach Nick Saban's third Iron Bowl (2-1), and Auburn coach Gene Chizik's first (0-1).

CBS, which purchased the broadcast rights to the game from the Southeastern Conference, made the decision to move it from Saturday to Friday.

Auburn opened the game strong, scoring two unanswered touchdowns in the first quarter, including a 67-yard touchdown by Terrell Zachery, and immediately recovering the football from an onside kick, which resulted in a Chris Todd-to-Eric Smith touchdown pass. Alabama responded with two touchdowns in the second quarter, but Leigh Tiffin missed a 47-yard field goal, taking both teams to the half tied 14-14. Auburn scored a touchdown in the third quarter, and Tiffin responded with 2 field goals. In the fourth quarter, the Tide's Greg McElroy connected with Roy Upchurch to score the game-winning touchdown with 1:24 left to culminate an efficient 15-play, 79-yard drive. Auburn attempted to score on its final drive but a last-second Chris Todd "Hail, Mary" pass was deflected in the end zone by Alabama defenders.

During the game Javier Arenas broke the Southeastern Conference record for career punt return yardage and Tiffin surpassed Philip Doyle's Alabama team record for career field goals.

Iron Bowl (Alabama vs. Auburn)
Sites: Alabama State Fairgrounds, Bryant-Denny Stadium, Highland Park (Montgomery), Lakeview Park, Jordan-Hare Stadium, Legion Field, Riverside Park (Montgomery), and West End Park.
By year: 1893, 1894, 1895, 1900, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023

References

• Segrest, Doug (April 11, 2009) "Contract gave CBS right to move Iron Bowl to Friday." Birmingham News
• Kausler, Jr, Don (November 28, 2009) "Alabama 26, Auburn 21: Grading the Tide." Birmingham News