It’s probably fair to assume that neither Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn nor Alabama head coach Nick Saban are getting much sleep this week, with Saturday’s Iron Bowl looming as one of the biggest games of the college football season.

Local high school coaches in Dallas County are likely sleeping fine, considering their football seasons are over and they have no impact on Saturday’s game, no matter how hard they cheer for their favorite team.

But that doesn’t mean they don’t have opinions on how to slow down the Tide and Tigers.

“I think if you are going to beat Alabama you are going to have to try to take away the run game as much as possible and force them into throwing the ball a lot,” Morgan Academy head coach Bob Taylor said. “Auburn’s pass defense is not that great either but you’ve got to try to make Alabama one-dimensional on offense.”

Dallas County head coach Barry Colburn agreed that Auburn needs to find a way to slow Alabama’s rushing attack, but he isn’t sure even that will slow the Tide’s offense all that much.

“You think you take one thing away from them and then all of a sudden they have something else,” Colburn said. “It is very hard for Auburn to try to stop them.”

Based on the way the season has played out so far, Colburn believes Alabama quarterback A. J. McCarron should be the Heisman Trophy winner, but he also thinks Auburn needs to focus on stopping the run first.

“As a coach in that league you have to figure out, what do I have to stop first?” Colburn said. “What do we stop first? The problem with Alabama is this, if you stop the inside game they go to the outside game. If you stop the outside game, then all of a sudden they go to the pass game.”

The coaches believe one of Auburn’s biggest advantages Saturday is that the game will be the crowd at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Selma head coach Leroy Miles said controlling the clock and keeping the crowd quiet will be key for Alabama.

“You are playing in a hostile environment where Auburn will have a homefield advantage,” Miles said.

“I think Alabama has to take the crowd of the game. They have to run the football and that’s what I think they will do.”

In order for the Tigers to win, Taylor said Auburn may have to get “a little help” from the Crimson Tide.

“I think Alabama is going to have to turn the ball over a little bit,” Taylor said. “I think if it gets in a slugfest, it plays to Alabama’s advantage.

I think they are going to keep Alabama’s defense from knowing exactly what is coming.”

The coaches also agree the Tigers will need to keep their offense in manageable situations in order to be successful against Alabama’s No. 3 ranked defense.

Auburn is ranked 104th nationally in passing yards per game, with 179.6 yards per contest.

“They have to stay out of the third and long situations and keep it short where it could be a run or pass option and you don’t know exactly what’s coming, because that’s where Alabama makes all their hay,” Taylor said.

Auburn’s offense loves to run the ball until the Tigers’ opposition stops the run. The stats show it too.

Auburn is second nationally in rushing yards per game, averaging 320.3 yards per contest.

Meanwhile, Alabama’s defense holds opponents to a 9.3 points per game, which leads the nation.