Dothaneagle

JON JOHNSON COLUMN: Alabama saves season, Auburn saves face

N.Nguyen3 months ago

AUBURN – You could hear a pin drop.

It went from crazy loud to deathly silence when Isaiah Bond saved Alabama’s season with an unbelievable catch in the far corner of the end zone with 32 ticks left on a 4th-and-31 play.

Alabama 27, Auburn 24.

Another unbelievable Iron Bowl finish in the books.

For the second straight time in Jordan-Hare Stadium, an undermanned Auburn team could have won against Alabama, but it didn’t.

Total heartbreak for Auburn; total jubilation for Alabama.

And yeah, the Tide fans in attendance were making some noise following the game-winning touchdown. The Auburn fans were suddenly quiet.

It gives Alabama, ranked No. 8 in the land, at least a shot of making the College Football Playoffs, though the mission next week in the SEC Championship Game against No. 1 Georgia in Atlanta will be an even tougher challenge as strange as that may sound.

Auburn saved face a week after being totally being embarrassed by New Mexico State, but it won’t soothe the pain of what could have been.

It came down to one play and Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe and his receiver partner Bond connected on one that will go down as one of the biggest in the storied history of this series.

A muffed punt with less than seven minutes left and Auburn leading 24-20 gave Alabama new life and Milroe, who is more slippery than butter and more powerful than a locomotive, made the biggest throw of the season with everything on the line.

He may not be Superman, but don’t tell the Auburn defense that. The Alabama quarterback rushed for 107 yards in the game and threw for 259 with two TDs.

Still, it looked as if the Auburn unit was going to prevail until Milroe stood back in the pocket for what seemed like forever until hurling the football to the back of the end zone for Bond to make the play. And did he ever make a highlight-reel catch falling backwards but keeping a foot inbounds.

Maybe 10 years after the “Kick Six” nothing short of a knock-down, drag-out war should have been expected on Saturday, but quite frankly it was hard to imagine going into it that Auburn could trade blows with Alabama for very long.

But an Auburn team far inferior in the talent department to that of Alabama stuck in it and were one defensive play from seeing its fans storm the field in celebration.

While Milroe and the Alabama bunch deserve every bit of the credit for hanging tough and pulling this one off, the Auburn players deserve just as much credit for taking it down to the wire.

Auburn quarterback Payton Thorne played like Johnny Manziel at times in giving his team a chance to pull of what would have been perhaps the biggest upset in the history of this series.

Thorne gained 85 yards rushing, though the total net yards will show 57 because he was dropped for some losses. But you’ve got to admire how he ducked his head and ran at times to keep the Alabama defense honest.

Auburn played one of its best games of the season – which was totally necessary to have a chance to beat Alabama – but quite frankly the Crimson Tide didn’t play at the top of their game much of the way.

A 40-yard touchdown run was wiped off the board early in the game due to a holding call. Alabama was whistled for eight penalties in the game for 72 yards in losses. The unthinkable happened when kicker Will Reichard missed a 42-yard try in the third quarter. A bad snap on the final Tide series of the game resulted in an 18-yard loss on 2nd-and-goal from the 8 and Milroe was next whistled for an illegal pass after crossing the line of scrimmage before Alabama won it a play later.

Then again, Alabama having uncharacteristic troubles when the game is played at this venue in front of some of the loudest fans in college football has become somewhat commonplace.

The Auburn and Alabama rivalry runs so deep the partisan Tiger fans even booed the Alabama Million Dollar Band when it took to the field at halftime, much like they booed the officials often in the first half when calls – or lack thereof – didn’t go in Auburn’s favor.

On this day, however, Alabama ultimately did what it had to do in keeping Auburn from ruining its season.

On the other hand, Auburn didn’t change the trajectory of its season like it could have by pulling off the upset, but it didn’t end the regular season with a thud, either. There is again hope the program is on the way back to prominence.

Auburn coach Hugh Freeze was asked what he would tell the many highly-touted recruits in attendance on Saturday.

“We can close the gap pretty fast on the upper echelon of this conference,” Freeze boldly said.

Alabama coach Nick Saban had this to say after the victory: “For next week, we’ve got to do better.”

Perhaps the Tide will, but it will be hard-pressed for a better finish than what was witnessed Saturday evening, even if knocking off Georgia becomes a reality.

It was one for the ages – again.

Go figure.

Jon Johnson is sports editor of the Dothan Eagle and can be reached at or 334.712.7965. Support his work and that of other Eagle journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at dothaneagle.com . Follow Jon Johnson on Twitter

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