The ebbs and flows of a college football Saturday are simply unparalleled in sports. One never knows when a single moment can alter a season. Over the weekend, a play occurred that will rank up there with the most thrilling of all time.
Saturday, seventh-ranked Auburn found itself trailing by a point to one of its most hated rivals with less than a minute remaining on the clock. The down was fourth and 18 yards were needed to achieve a first down. And without further commentary by me, I’ll allow Rod Bramblett of the Auburn Network to explain the rest.
The play is even more incredible when you consider the circumstances. From a general standpoint, the game had serious BCS consequences. Auburn would have been eliminated with a loss. It also had SEC Championship consequences. Both teams were in must-win situations to get to Atlanta. The in-game scenario also contributes to the awesomeness of the play. Auburn had not played a good fourth quarter and had just been delivered a tough call when officials ruled that Aaron Murray scored a touchdown on a review that was as close as they come.
There have been some incredible finishes in college football history. It’s worth debating where Auburn’s play ranks among all of them. Here are a few of the others.
In 1984, Doug Flutie found Gerard Phelan in the endzone to beat Miami.
In 1982, California ran a kickoff back to beat Stanford when “the band was on the field.”
In 2002, Devery Henderson caught Marcus Randall’s pass to pull a last-second win over the upset-minded Kentucky.
There’s just nothing like college football.