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Tide Rolls -- Barely
Alabama's Ahmaad Galloway tries to escape the Iowa State defense.
It was a kick that could have dashed the Crimson Tide's return to the postseason. Instead, Iowa State's Tony Yelk's 47-yard field goal attempt with less than a minute left to play was inches wide right and Alabama scored a 14-13 victory over the Cyclones in the Independence Bowl. The victory gives 'Bama seven wins this season, a major turnaround from its 3-8 season last year.
| INDIVIDUAL STATISTICAL LEADERS |
| |
IOWA STATE |
YDS |
ALABAMA |
YDS |
| Passing |
Seneca Wallace |
2044 |
Tyler Watts |
1325 |
| Rushing |
Ennis Haywood |
1169 |
Ahmaad Galloway |
881 |
| Receiving |
Lane Danielsen |
694 |
Freddie Milons |
627 |
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| TEAM STATISTICAL COMPARISON |
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| Total Offense |
| | 
384.6 |  | 
409.4 |
Passing Yards |
| | 202.3 | | |
183 |
Passing completion % |
| |
60.7 | | |
55 |
Completions |
| |
184 | | |
143 |
Attempts |
| |
303 | | |
260 |
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| Scoring Offense |
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26.9 | | |
27.6 |
Scoring Defense |
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21 | | |
19.9 |
Rushing Yards |
| |
182.4 | | |
226.4 |
Rushing attempts |
| |
481 | | |
472 |
Key: |
| Iowa State | | Alabama |
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Alabama had no right to win this game, but that's the mark of a good team. Coach Fran has the Tide heading back in the right direction and if they can survive the impending NCAA sanctions, the Tide will be back among the elite again real soon.
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WITH ROD GILMORE
After playing well the entire game, the fourth quarter was a disaster for Iowa State. They had breakdowns all over the place -- a blown coverage, a blocked punt, and then poor clock management.
The Cyclones had a chance to get back in the game but they spiked the ball with about a minute and five seconds to go with two time outs left. That kept them from running a play on first down, which came back to haunt them because they had to try a fourth-down field goal from far out. Had they been able to run a play and maybe pick up a couple more yards, they might have made that field goal.
Now, people debate whether or not that field goal was good but it doesn't really matter. The official under the goal post made an immediate call. Our angle looked like it could have been debatable, but immediately he signaled "no good" -- there was no hesitation at all. The referee on the other side was looking to him to make the call, so I think he must have believed, conclusively, that it was not good.
Perhaps not as motivated as Iowa State, Alabama did just enough to win this game. And this was a must win for the Crimson Tide. They don't get a lot by winning the game, but they couldn’t afford to lose it. Losing this game would have killed Alabama going into the off-season especially with the NCAA sanction issues -- they needed this win, to have something positive going into the off-season.
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| IT WAS OVER WHEN |
| Iowa State kicker Tony Yelk's 47-yard field goal drifted inches wide right with less than a minute left in the game. It was so close, some Cyclones started celebrating. It was Yelk's third miss of the night. |
| GAME BALL GOES TO |
| Alabama QB Andrew Zow. Despite being shaken up, Zow calmly led the Crimson Tide to its game-winning score late in the fourth quarter. He finished with two TDs -- one rushing and one passing. |
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IOWA STATE CLUBHOUSE
Kicker Tony Yelk had a tough time in the loss to Alabama in the Mainstay Independence Bowl on Dec. 27.
ALABAMA CLUBHOUSE
Special teams rescued Alabama on Dec. 27 in the Mainstay Independence Bowl.
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IOWA STATE VS. ALABAMA
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