The Tide crept to within five (14-9) at halftime. What started out as a battle of defenses in the first half turned into a battle of quarterbacks in the final 30 minutes. Auburn's Brandon Cox was scarily bad in the first half. He went 2-9 with just 40 yards. Then in the third quarter, something clicked. Cox went 4-5 and threw for 97 yards, including a 22 yard touchdown pass to Prechae Rodriguez. That was after John Parker Wilson led a brilliant Alabama scoring drive to start the second half. Beginning from his own 20, Wilson methodically rolled the Tide down the field, converting three third downs successfully before firing a 13 yard touchdown pass to Travis McCall.

It was as if Cox said, "You just hit me with your best shot. Now it's my turn."

At the end of the third quarter, Auburn led 22-15. That would be the final score. Cox did just enough to put his team ahead. Then the ball was in Brad Lester and Kenny Irons' hands for much of the rest of the way. There were some questionable coaching decisions along the way, but the game wasn't over until Auburn cornerback David Irons intercepted Wilson's pass on what was supposed to be the Alabama quarterback's glorious, overtime-forcing touchdown drive.

Here's what I loved about the game:

At some points, the Auburn and Alabama fans drowned each other out with simultaneous chants of "War Eagle" and "Roll Tide."

At many points, the Auburn and Alabama bands drowned each other out, trying to one-up each other at every chance.

During the opening kickoff, fans of each team were on their feet in anticipation.

During the entire game, fans were on the edge of their seats for what was a one-possession contest for the majority of the time.

The interceptions, fumbles, poor use of timeouts, and penalties made this Iron Bowl forgettable at times.

But the fans in crimson and white that rocked out to "Sweet Home Alabama" and the fans in orange and blue that made enough noise to convince you the game was in Auburn gave this Iron Bowl a place in history, just like every other Auburn-Alabama game before it.

It didn't feel like a meaningless regular season game today.

It felt like a Bowl Game.

It was a good game, and a great Iron Bowl.