Sheer pandemonium. I yelled as loud as I ever have. My first thought was that I had seen a real miracle right before my eyes. I turned and grabbed my youngest son who was at the game with me. I told him he just saw one of the biggest plays in Auburn football history. I told him he could say he was there. He deserved it. He had gone to last year's game with his grandparents and watched last season end at Jordan Hare to Georgia 38-0. He heard someone say after the game they knew Auburn would lose that game. He asked simply "then why did we come?". I did not know the answer to that question looking into the abyss of last season but I do now. Last night was why you sit through the bad ones. Last night is why you stick with your team through thick and thin. It is times like last night that make it all worth it.
Of course the game was not over... I have never had a quarter of football put me through the wringer like that. We had just seen the football miracle of miracles but there was 25 seconds left. Georgia led by Aaron Murray (I will never be so glad to see an opposing player graduate) came roaring back down the field going 50 yards in three plays setting up a final play at the Auburn 20 yard line with three seconds left. One play for all the marbles. Would the miracle be lost in Georgia's greatest comeback? The answer was thankfully no thanks to senior Dee Ford who absolutely leveled Murray to send his last pass off course and end the game. Senior Dee Ford who has seen it all at Auburn and has helped end Auburn's two biggest wins so far this season sacking Johnny Manziel and hitting Murray.
The rest of the game has been completely overshadowed by the ending but it was pretty incredible as well. Auburn came roaring out of the gates absolutely dominating the first quarter. However the Tigers could only manage 13 points. That was a big worry for me as I knew all too well Auburn had blown a 14 point lead and lost to Georgia in 2009. Auburn's first touchdown was an impressive 20 yard run by Corey Grant. Georgia then got untracked and blazed down the field led by running back Todd Gurley who would score the Bulldog's first touchdown and early in the second quarter it was 13-7 Auburn. The great start was already a memory and the intensity was rising. Auburn hero Ricardo Louis would fumble on the next drive but Auburn retained possession on a controversial call. Georgia coach Mark Richt completely lost it and to the delight of the home crowd was penalized 15 yards. Auburn would then rip off four good runs with quarterback Nick Marshall capping it off with a six yard touchdown run, 20-7 Auburn.
Auburn would stop Georgia, get a field goal blocked, intercept Murray and then score on Tre Mason's 24 yard run up the middle to make it 27-7. Georgia though with only a minute in the half, showing an indicator of what was to come, drove down and got a critical field goal before intermission to make it 27-10 Auburn at halftime. I felt good but knew we would probably hit a dry patch after such a good start and I knew Georgia would make a run... They started the third quarter well driving right down for a touchdown. Auburn would immediately respond on two big passes, one to Sammie Coates and one to Louis. Nick Marshall would cap the drive with another touchdown run, Auburn 34-17. That is the way the third quarter would end. Auburn would open the fourth quarter with a field goal to make it 37-17. You knew Georgia would not go down easy but you had to feel good about a 20 point lead in the fourth quarter.
It would be the most unbelievable quarter of football in one of the best rivalries in college football. There is no rivalry as old and close as Auburn vs. Georgia. This was the 117th time these teams have played and before this game the series was knotted at 54-54-8. My first Auburn game in person was the 1978 Auburn vs. Georgia game that ended in a 22-22 tie. Everyone gives a lot of lip service to many rivalries but the actual content of the rivalry just does not match the hype but not Auburn vs. Georgia. The history is so rich and there are so many good games and great moments. The series has featured many games with championships on the line, multiple Heisman winning moments, the first overtime in SEC history and a lot of awesome endings. Now another one has been added...
Georgia gets the ball with a little over 12 minutes in the game. Aaron Murray aided by a big Auburn penalty passes and runs Georgia for their first touchdown of the quarter, Auburn 37-24. Auburn runs the ball four times trying to get a first down and run the clock but is stopped. Steven Clark would then kick a short punt and Georgia would score in four plays, Auburn 37-31 with six minutes to go. This is when reality started hitting Auburn fans and especially me. Auburn was not only in danger but the momentum had completely changed hands and it now seemed likely Auburn would lose this one. I thought Auburn should have kept running. They are the best running team in the conference. The Auburn coaches disagreed and took three straight shots at a first down throwing the ball. It did not work and Auburn only takes 50 seconds off the clock and that is only because Marshall got sacked on third down.
Steven Clark would then shank the punt and Georgia would take over at the Auburn 45 yard line. The Auburn defense would fight valiantly this time but Murray would barely make it in on 4th and goal at the Auburn five yard line. Georgia nailed the extra point and after being up by 20 points just ten minutes earlier Auburn was now behind 38-31. The replays showed that Auburn may have actually stopped Murray at the one foot line but they were not conclusive enough. Auburn was left with plenty of time with 1:45 to get in field goal range but after one first down, a screen pass that did not work, an incompletion and a sack the Tigers were left with 4th and 18 at their 27 yard line. And one more time... "I saw Nick Marshall get the pass off and as it headed toward Ricardo Louis I could tell it would not get to him... it was over... then the ball tipped up... Louis saw it... it was in his hands... he juggled it... he catches it... he steps into the end zone and into Auburn history. TOUCHDOWN AUBURN!!!"
The Prayer at Jordan-Hare. The Marshall Miracle. The Immaculate Deflection. Pick your favorite headline. It was a massive party after the game but most people including myself and even the Georgia fans had that "what did I just witness?" look on their faces. I am still taking it in and digesting it. So much history was made. This was the first time ever due to the SEC trying to schedule for 14 teams that Auburn has played Georgia two years in a row at Jordan-Hare. This game should not even have been be at Jordan-Hare! Both years the Georgia Bulldogs scored 38 points. Last year, the worst season in Auburn history ended at home with Auburn scoring nothing against these Bulldogs. Just a year later Auburn scores 43 points and will play their next game for the SEC West championship and everything that lays beyond that. What a difference a year makes.
People always look for comparisons between teams. Every team is a unique but you always look for some of those classic similarities between good teams. Some good teams are high-flying offensive teams, some teams are rugged defensive teams, some teams dominate, some teams are the gutty underdog... That is the category of this current group. I will give this team high praise by comparing them to one of the most special teams in Auburn history, the 1972 "Amazin's". This team like that one has one really good unit and one that comes up with just enough to get the win. They are the inverse of each other as the good unit in 1972 was the defense and the just adequate one was the offense but the similarity is still there. The 1972 team also won a lot of close games. The 1972 team also lost an ugly one at night in Baton Rouge. The 1972 team also produced one of the biggest plays in Auburn history...
Of course the 1972 team produced their big play in the game after Georgia with "Punt Bama Punt". They also faced an undefeated Bama team that had dominated the rest of the conference. That is where we are at now. Can this group of Amazin's upset a great Bama team like the 1972 group did? Like it was in 1972 I cannot give you one logical reason Auburn could beat Bama in two weeks. On paper they are better at just about every position. They have more good players than anybody and feature another senior quarterback who has led them to multiple championships. They are a juggernaut and this group of gutty Auburn Tigers seem to be the only thing standing between them and another title. There really does not seem to be much of a chance for an upset here but one thing this season and especially last night has taught everyone and that is not to count these guys out. I certainly will not. The countdown is on.
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