As the final seconds ticked away in Auburn’s 17-10 Iron Bowl victory against archrival Alabama, hands flew into the air on AU’s sideline.
Players, coaches and staff all thrust six fingers into the air, celebrating the completion of a historic feat: Auburn’s longest win streak ever against its in-state rival. The win, marked as usual by a grinding run game and a ferocious AU defense, didn’t feature many highlights.
It didn’t matter to the players, the coaches or the tens of thousands of fans celebrating in the Jordan-Hare Stadium stands. The only highlight that mattered was captured in those celebratory fingers.
Minutes after the game ended, AU head coach Tommy Tuberville declined to comment about his future at Auburn. Speculation has swirled that Tuberville will consider job offers from other schools in the coming weeks.
Tuberville passed on an opportunity to put the rumors to rest Saturday.
“We ain’t going to talk about that,” he said. “We’ll talk about Alabama right now.”
The coach was clearly much happier talking about the meaning of Saturday’s win.
“Over the years, I’ve read a lot of history about Auburn,” he said. “There was times when Auburn struggled a little bit.
“But I hope they can be proud now of what this team’s done, the history of beating the in-state rival six times in a row. … This is for the fans who have struggled over the years and wanted to see something like this happen. It happened.”
Quarterback Brandon Cox, whose fourth-quarter touchdown gave Auburn a 17-7 lead, became just the second Tigers quarterback to end his career 3-0 as a starter against the Crimson Tide.
“It’s been a long road for me,” said the 25-year-old Cox, who originally signed with AU in 2002. “I’ve been here a while, I’ve gone through a lot — a lot of positives, a lot of negatives. … I’ve learned a lot of things since I’ve been here. I wouldn’t have traded the last six years for anything.”

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