It's rivalry week, which means some wild outcomes are inevitable. We almost got our first taste of genuine shock Saturday afternoon when the No. 8 Alabama Crimson Tide visited their old cross-state foes, the Auburn Tigers, at Jordan-Hare Stadium. And the Iron Bowl always means chaos.
Auburn has been quite poor relative to expectations in 2023, entering the game with a 6-5 record (3-4 in the SEC). The Crimson Tide was 10-1, with a perfect 7-0 SEC record. For all the early-season panic about Jalen Milroe, Alabama was expected to coast to victory and be in position for a postseason berth with a championship game victory over Georgia in a couple of weeks.
Well, that last part is still true, but the Crimson Tide didn't exactly "coast." In fact, this game nearly ended in disaster for Alabama. The Tigers were in control for long stretches of the ballgame and took a commanding 24-20 lead into the game's final minute.
The Crimson Tide found itself in the unenviable position of fourth-and-goal on the 31-yard line with 43 seconds left in the game, down by four. A field goal was useless. It was TD or bust, and the Tigers only rushed three in order to completely clog the end zone... but, it didn't work.
Milroe found Isaiah Bond on a beautiful, high-arcing Hail Mary to the back left corner of the end zone. Both feet were down, a touchdown by any league standard. The lead shifted to Alabama, and another wild chapter in Iron Bowl history was written.
The radio call from Eli Gold will be on repeat in Tuscaloosa for the next year.
Listen to the soul-stirring radio call from Alabama's game-winning TD against Auburn
A great call for a great play.
Milroe finished the game completing 16-of-24 passes for 259 yards and two scores, locating Bond for five catches, 75 yards, and the game-winning end zone visit.
It is admittedly anticlimactic for the Iron Bowl to end on such expected terms — the Crimson Tide added another TD via pick-six as the clock expired to win 33-24 — but that's why Alabama is Alabama. There is still a certain element of inevitability with Nick Saban's squad, even if the shine has worn off in recent years.
Now 11-1, the Tide will await No. 1-ranked UGA in the SEC championship game (the Bulldogs will face Georgia Tech this evening). The winner of that game will probably appear in the college football playoffs. If Alabama wins, maybe the SEC gets two teams since UGA will only have one loss to a top-10 opponent. The Crimson Tide would have to leapfrog Ohio State, Oregon, and Texas to reach the promised land, but the Ducks face a difficult Pac-12 matchup with No. 4 Washington and the Buckeyes — who just lost to Michigan — won't have a championship game to bounce back in.