Sammie Coates has career performance in defeat

TUSCALOOSA – After a slow start, Sammie Coates ended up with at least the most productive, if not the best overall game of his career in the Iron Bowl.

The Auburn junior wide receiver had five receptions for a career-high 206 yards and two touchdowns, which tied a career-best, but it was not enough to power the Tigers to victory, as Alabama prevailed in a 55-44 slugfest before a raucous sellout crowd of 101,821 at Bryant-Denny Stadium Saturday night.

Coates started the with just one catch for 11 yards during the first quarter, and failed to haul in a touchdown on an early drive.

But Coates and Nick Marshall both hit their stride during the second quarter as Marshall threw touchdowns of 34 and 68 yards to Coates, whose only other multi-touchdown game came against Florida Atlantic on Oct. 26, 2013.

"Looking at their defense, they got five-star player at every position," Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. "Just felt like they could be exposed through the air deep down the field. That was kind of our plan and we felt like we had pace running."

The 68-yard touchdown pass was the second-longest scoring pass by Auburn in Iron Bowl history; trailing only a 70-yard strike from Cam Newton to Terrell Zachary in 2010.

Coates' career-best, which topped his 144-yard outing against LSU earlier this season and the seventh 100-yard performance of his career, is also the best by an Auburn player in the Iron Bowl, topping the 141 yards by Alexander Wright in 1989.

"We had to make plays," Coates said, "and we did that."

His lone catch of the second half was a 53-yard grab midway through the fourth quarter, which gave Coates the first 200-yard receiving night by an Auburn player since Darvin Adams had 217 in the 2010 SEC Championship Game.