The most incredible game in college football history makes for even better prose. First, this from Yahoo columnist Pat Forde:
The last second of the 2013 Iron Bowl shall be first in the hearts and minds of Auburn fans forever. The last second of the 2013 Iron Bowl shall be first on the list of infamous moments in Alabama football lore. The last second will never end for those who lived it, those who loved it, those who loathed it.
It was, quite simply, the most astounding ending ever to a college football game. I was at the Boise State-Oklahoma Fiesta Bowl in 2007; this tops it. More at stake, and even more shock value on the final play (minus the player proposing to his girlfriend on the field).The last second shall be first in the annals of unforgettable plays.
In FBS history, a missed field goal has only been returned for a touchdown four times. There has never been a walk-off field goal return – scoring the winning touchdown on the last play, much less the last play of the biggest game of the year, between teams ranked No. 1 and No. 4, with everything at stake.
In a sport that dates to 1869, this literally was unprecedented.
"This is going down in history," Davis said. "This is one of the moments I'll tell my son about."
And this from Sports Illustrated's Pete Thamel:
They didn't want to leave. That's what happens when the craziest finish in the history of college football unfolds on the sleepy Alabama plains. It kicks off a party that's a graduation celebration, wedding reception and sorority formal all rolled into one primal scream. Photos flashed straight to Instagram. Elderly couples hobbled on the field and pecked lips. Families posed for Christmas card pictures. In one mad dash down the left sideline, Auburn's Chris Davis sprinted straight into college football lore. His 109-yard return of Adam Griffith's 57-yard field goal attempt gave No. 4 Auburn a 34-28 victory over No. 1 Alabama as time expired.
As Davis waltzed into the end zone escorted by two teammates, he delivered the BCS generation its indelible Doug Flutie moment. (One that even trumped Ricardo Louis' unlikely 73-yard touchdown catch to cap Auburn's 43-38 victory over Georgia two weeks ago.) Only this one had a more improbable finish, and impossibly higher stakes.
It doesn't matter whether you're a fan of Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Kansas State or Iona, the 2013 Iron Bowl has to go down as one of the great finishes in the history of college football. Maybe the best ever. What could top it? I can't think of anything. From
AL.com's Jon Solomon:
"In my 50 years of football, I've never seen something like that," said former Colorado and Northwestern coach Gary Barnett from the press box. "This is a Stanford-Cal game. It will be replayed forever. I told the guy who made the (radio) call for Auburn: 'Copyright that thing right now because they'll sell that copy to everybody who was in the stadium.'"ESPN announcer Chris Fowler can't remember ever seeing a moment like the Iron Bowl finish in his 25 years of covering huge college football games.
"We're in the business of trying to find adjectives and you can't," Fowler said. "There are so many moments in the game where you think you know something is going to happen, and then a plot twist comes in. I'm still not sure I believe what I saw."
The whole thing sets up what in July would have been considered one of the most unlikely SEC Championship Games.
