WRAPPIN IT UP: Alabama wins, 26-21

Hey everyone. I'm trying to wrap it up from Jordan-Hare Stadium, where my fingers are all but frozen. I have lost feeling in my right big toe. I gotta make this somewhat quick.

Here are some things I found notable:

• Auburn's defense was really good.
  
  
• Alabama rushed for 73 yards. Ingram had 30 on 16 carries.
  
  
• Alabama converted five third downs Friday. Three of those came during the final drive.
  
  
• Auburn rushed for 151 yards, though 67 of that came on Terrell Zachery's reverse. He was Auburn's leading rusher.
  
  
• Ben Tate finished with 45 yards on 18 carries.
  
  
• Gene Chizik on if today's loss signifies progress: ``I don't think you can sit there and watch our football team play against Alabama and not think that. We've come a long way. Again, we said at the beginning of this (season) that we were going to build a foundation for what we know is right. We are going to do it right. I don't think there is any question."
  
  
• Ben Tate on the final drive: ``We weren't going fast enough. I got kind of worried. At first, I was like: We've got this, we've got this. We were running fast enough. If we'd have had more time, we would have gone down and made something happen. That was just our fault offensively. We were moving too slow. We had to pick up our pace. We didn't."
  
  
• Craig Stevens on how they stopped Alabama's rushing attack: ``Just doing what we're supposed to and not try to be Superman. Just play your position and do only what you have to do."
  
  
• Stevens on holding Ingram to 30 yards: ``That's a big victory for us -- especially with us having those injuries and Jonathan having to step up. Just stopping a player like Mark Ingram. That's a big statement for us."
  
  
• Darvin Adams on how Auburn threw deep according to the plays Alabama called: ``Our coaches figured out their signals and we were able to take advantage."
  
  
• Antonio Coleman in his own words: ``I had tears walking off the field. It finally set in that I'd never be walking on that field again in an Auburn uniform. The only time I'm coming back now I'll be standing on the sidelines cheering these guys on so it's tough, but I have one more month with these guys, bowl game. Like I said before, I'm going to ask these guys again to lay it out on the field for me and I'm going to do the same for you."
  
  
  

Photo credit: Todd Van Emst/Auburn University

Questions? Comments? Post directly to the blog below or email me at jgtate@gannett.com.