Too much Tua in Iron Bowl

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Tua Tagovailoa came out of halftime firing touchdown strikes down the field, and the result was another runaway Alabama victory.

Tagovailoa threw five touchdown passes, ran for a score and could scarcely miss in the second half to lead the top-ranked Crimson Tide to a 52-21 Iron Bowl victory over rival Auburn on Saturday.

"We executed on all cylinders on offense coming into that opening drive in the second half, so it's really good," he said.

Tagovailoa and the Crimson Tide (12-0, 8-0 Southeastern Conference, No. 1 AP) took over with an explosive third quarter, when the Heisman Trophy contender threw three long touchdown passes. He is the first Alabama player to have a hand in six TDs in a game and tied the school record with the five scoring passes.

Now, Bama heads to the SEC Championship Game vs. No. 5 Georgia with a guaranteed playoff spot on the line.

With Alabama leading Auburn (7-5, 3-5) just 17-14 at halftime, Tagovailoa launched the Tide into another SEC blowout. He was 11-for-12 passing for 208 yards and four touchdowns in the second half, despite only finishing off one series in the fourth quarter.

For the game, Tagovailoa completed 25 of 32 passes for 324 yards and ran for 26 yards, including a 7-yard touchdown and a 21-yard third-down conversion on the ground.

The second-half numbers included touchdowns of 46 yards to Jerry Jeudy, 33 to Josh Jacobs, 40 to DeVonta Smith and 22 to Henry Ruggs III on an acrobatic, leaping grab.

The game was close until Tagovailoa threw a pair of long TD passes in a three-minute span of the third quarter. The first hit Jeudy down the left sideline, and the second went to Jacobs, who shook off a few defenders on his way to the end zone.

"At halftime, our goal was to get to the fourth quarter," Tigers coach Gus Malzahn said. "The game got away from us, and that's very disappointing."