November 28, 2020 Week 13 · Regular Season Belt changed hands

Alabama takes the belt, 42–13, at home over Auburn.

Home · New Holder

AlabamaAP No. 1 42

Away · Defending Holder

AuburnAP No. 22 13

AP poll, week 13: Auburn No. 22 at Alabama No. 1 · No. 1 that week: Georgia. The belt vs. the polls →

Belt context

Where this game sits in the lineage

Alabama took the belt here, ending Auburn’s run of 28 days and 1 defense (reign #314) and starting reign #315. It lasted 315 days and 10 defenses, until Texas A&M took it on October 9, 2021.

For Alabama this was its 22nd shot at the belt; it had held the belt 10 times before — and it took it back here.

It was the 7th of 7 belt games between the two; going in, Alabama led the belt series 4–2; all-time Alabama leads 5–2. Every meeting →

AI-Written

Recap

Alabama dominated Auburn from start to finish to claim the College Football Belt with a decisive 42-13 victory in Tuscaloosa. Mac Jones and the Alabama offense struck early and often, with DeVonta Smith catching a 66-yard touchdown pass just over five minutes into the game, setting the tone for the Crimson Tide's aerial assault. Alabama's passing game was virtually unstoppable throughout, with Jones connecting on multiple explosive plays including a 58-yard touchdown to Smith in the third quarter and four total touchdown passes. Despite Auburn's efforts to keep pace with field goals from Anders Carlson and a late Bo Nix rushing touchdown, the Tigers never threatened seriously after Alabama built a commanding lead. The decisive difference was ball security and efficiency: while Auburn managed 36+ minutes of possession, Alabama's superior execution and Alabama's turnover advantage (1 to 2) allowed the Crimson Tide to control the game's rhythm and dictate play.

DeVonta Smith 66-yard TD reception on Alabama's opening drive set immediate tone for Alabama's passing dominance
Mac Jones to John Metchie III 7-yard TD in second quarter extended Alabama lead to 21-3 before halftime
DeVonta Smith 58-yard TD reception in third quarter put Alabama up 35-6 and put game completely out of reach
Bo Nix interception to Brian Branch in fourth quarter deep in Auburn territory sealed Alabama's belt victory

Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.

Full Box Score

Team stats

CFBD box score

AlabamaAuburn

Total yards445347

Rushing yards143120

Passing yards302227

First downs2020

3rd down conv.6/109/19

Turnovers12

Penalties–yards4–305–38

Time of possession23:3036:37

Full team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.

Play By Play

Key plays

CFBD play-by-play

When	Team	Yards	Play
Q1 5:10	Alabama	+66 yd	DeVonta Smith 66 Yd pass from Mac Jones (Will Reichard Kick)
Q2 14:30	Alabama	+25 yd	Mac Jones pass complete to Najee Harris for 25 yds to the Aub 7 for a 1ST down
Q2 14:04	Alabama	+7 yd	John Metchie III 7 Yd pass from Mac Jones (Will Reichard Kick)
Q1 0:45	Alabama	+26 yd	Mac Jones pass complete to DeVonta Smith for 26 yds to the Aub 44 for a 1ST down
Q2 8:51	Auburn	+47 yd	Anders Carlson 47 Yd Field Goal
Q2 6:24	Alabama	+24 yd	Jahleel Billingsley 24 Yd pass from Mac Jones (Will Reichard Kick)
Q2 0:15	Auburn	+0 yd	Bo Nix pass intercepted Malachi Moore return for no gain to the Alab 28
Q2 0:30	Auburn	+20 yd	Bo Nix pass complete to Kobe Hudson for 20 yds to the Alab 38 for a 1ST down
Q3 10:36	Auburn	+45 yd	Anders Carlson 45 Yd Field Goal
Q3 12:35	Auburn	+37 yd	Bo Nix pass complete to Shedrick Jackson for 37 yds to the Alab 30 for a 1ST down
Q3 10:36	Auburn	+21 yd	Anders Carlson kickoff for 64 yds , Brian Robinson Jr. return for 21 yds to the Alab 22
Q3 9:08	Alabama	+58 yd	DeVonta Smith 58 Yd pass from Mac Jones (Will Reichard Kick)
Q3 9:08	Alabama	+21 yd	Chase Allen kickoff for 58 yds , Shaun Shivers return for 21 yds to the Aub 28
Q3 6:35	Auburn	+56 yd	Anders Carlson 56 yd FG MISSED
Q3 4:28	Alabama	+39 yd	Najee Harris 39 Yd Run (Will Reichard Kick)
Q4 13:27	Alabama	+24 yd	John Metchie III 24 Yd pass from Mac Jones (Will Reichard Kick)
Q4 10:47	Auburn	+30 yd	Bo Nix pass intercepted Brian Branch return for 30 yds to the Aub 7
Q4 6:15	Auburn	+26 yd	Bo Nix pass complete to John Samuel Shenker for 26 yds to the Alab 8 for a 1ST down
Q4 4:39	Auburn	+1 yd	Bo Nix run for 1 yd for a TD (Anders Carlson KICK)

Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).

Box Score

Player stats

CFBD player stats

Passing

Alabama

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT
Mac Jones	18/26	302	11.6	5	0

Auburn

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT
Bo Nix	23/38	227	6.0	0	2

Rushing

Alabama

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Najee Harris	11	96	8.7	1	39
Brian Robinson Jr.	7	39	5.6	0	15
DeVonta Smith	1	9	9.0	0	9
Mac Jones	4	6	1.5	0	4
Jase McClellan	2	3	1.5	0	2
Team	1	-2	-2.0	0	0
Bryce Young	1	-8	-8.0	0	0

Auburn

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Mark-Antony Richards	14	57	4.1	0	14
Tank Bigsby	11	39	3.5	0	6
Shaun Shivers	6	17	2.8	0	6
Eli Stove	1	11	11.0	0	11
Bo Nix	9	-1	-0.1	1	9
Anthony Schwartz	1	-3	-3.0	0	0

Receiving

Alabama

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
DeVonta Smith	7	171	24.4	2	66
John Metchie	6	55	9.2	2	24
Najee Harris	2	34	17.0	0	25
Jahleel Billingsley	2	33	16.5	1	24
Miller Forristall	1	9	9.0	0	9

Auburn

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	LONG
Anthony Schwartz	5	60	12.0	16
John Samuel Shenker	2	38	19.0	26
Shedrick Jackson	1	37	37.0	37
Eli Stove	7	29	4.1	10
Kobe Hudson	1	20	20.0	20
J.J. Pegues	2	17	8.5	10
Seth Williams	3	17	5.7	17
Shaun Shivers	2	9	4.5	6

Show more stats (7 more categories)

Defense

Alabama

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HUR
Josh Jobe	10	5	0	0.5	1	0
Jordan Battle	8	4	0	0	0	0
Christian Harris	8	4	0	0	1	2
Daniel Wright	7	5	0	0	0	0
DeMarcco Hellams	7	5	0	0	0	0
Dylan Moses	6	2	0	0	1	0
Phidarian Mathis	5	4	0	0	0	0
Chase Allen	4	3	1	2	0	2
Christian Barmore	4	2	1	1	0	1
Will Anderson Jr.	4	1	1	1.5	0	2
Patrick Surtain II	3	2	0	1	0	0
Malachi Moore	3	2	0	1	0	0
Jaylen Moody	3	1	0	0	0	0
DJ Dale	3	1	0	0	0	0
Bryce Young	3	1	0	0.5	0	0
Brian Branch	2	2	0	0	0	0
Justin Eboigbe	2	1	0	0.5	0	1
Tim Smith	2	1	0	0	0	1
Drew Sanders	1	1	0	0	0	0

Auburn

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HUR
Zakoby McClain	9	4	0	0	0	0
Smoke Monday	7	5	0	0	0	0
Roger McCreary	6	5	0	1	0	1
Big Kat Bryant	3	3	1	1	0	0
Jamien Sherwood	3	2	0	0	0	0
Colby Wooden	3	2	0	0	0	0
Owen Pappoe	2	2	0	0	0	0
Nehemiah Pritchett	2	2	0	0	2	0
Jaren Handy	2	1	1	1	0	0
Christian Tutt	2	1	0	0	0	0
Derick Hall	2	1	0	0	0	0
Dre Butler	2	1	0	0	0	0
Daquan Newkirk	2	0	0	0	0	0
Bill Taylor	1	1	0	0	0	0
Ladarius Tennison	1	1	0	0	0	0
Bo Nix	1	1	0	0	0	0
T.D. Moultry	1	0	0	0	0	0
Tyrone Truesdell	1	0	0	0	0	0

Fumbles

Alabama

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
Brian Robinson Jr.	1	1	0

Auburn

Player	FUM	REC
Jamien Sherwood	0	1
Shaun Shivers	1	0
Tank Bigsby	1	0

Interceptions

Alabama

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Brian Branch	1	30	0
Malachi Moore	1	0	0

Auburn

No recorded stats in this category.

Kick Returns

Alabama

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Brian Robinson Jr.	1	21	21.0	21	0

Auburn

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Shaun Shivers	5	68	13.6	21	0

Kicking

Alabama

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Will Reichard	0/0	0.0	0	6/6	6

Auburn

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Anders Carlson	2/3	66.7	47	1/1	7

Punt Returns

Alabama

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
DeVonta Smith	2	18	9.0	11	0

Auburn

No recorded stats in this category.

Punting

Alabama

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Charlie Scott	4	151	37.8	0	2	44

Auburn

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Aidan Marshall	4	156	39.0	0	1	43
Oscar Chapman	1	39	39.0	0	0	39

Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data, split out by team. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back. Linked player names go to that player’s stat line in every other belt game they’ve appeared in.

Sources Box score at ESPN · Game record: College Football Data (id 401237142) · This game in the downloadable dataset

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