Posted on 11/30/2013 4:41:05 PM PST by xzins
With only a second left on the clock, Chris Davis caught a 57-yard field-goal attempt that fell short, got up the left side and returned it 100 yards to give the No. 4 Tigers a 34-28 win over No. 1 Alabama and the SEC West title.
Now, Auburn (11-1, 7-1 SEC) has a shot at the SEC title and possibly a national championship all left on the table.
For the second straight game, the clock was running down, and the Tigers had little time left.
That's when Nick Marshall came up with another play.
After a drive spent handing the ball off over and over again, Marshall kept the ball on the zone read, then pulled up short and floated a pass to a wide-open Sammie Coates, who raced in with a 39-yard touchdown to tie the game.
Badly needing some momentum to erase a 21-7 deficit, Auburn went back to the running game that has carried the Tigers all season.
Held without a rushing yard for most of the second quarter, Auburn ripped off a 7-play, 81-yard drive near the end of the first half, punctuated by a 40-yard burst from Mason up the middle to set up his own 2-yard score.
And then, given the ball to start the second half, Auburn kept the momentum going, alternating Marshall and Mason on a nine-play, 69-yard drive that Marshall capped by firing a 13-yard strike to C.J. Uzomah in the corner of the end zone to tie the game at 21.
But after AJ McCarron's 99-yard strike to Amari Toomer, the Tigers had trouble getting going offensively, and the defense came up big with two stops, a fourth-down stand by Carl Lawson and a blocked field goal by Robenson Therezie that set up Auburn's final drive to set up a trip to Atlanta
I agree PAC12 was very tough this year and clearly better than the SEC.
Well if OSU and FSU win next week...there won’t Be any teams with an L in the title game.
Wasn’t Hyde missing from OSU that week along with two starting corners?
Uh Georgia sucked this year.
Puhleeze. OSU won yesterday against an unranked Michigan team only because Michigan decided to go for the two point conversion and the win rather than the tie.
OSU has beaten 2 ranked teams this year (#23 Wisconsin and #16 Northwestern) and is only unbeaten because of their soft schedule. Alabama faced 4 ranked teams (#6 Texas A&M, #21 Ole Miss, #13 LSU, and #4 Auburn). The SEC is far and away a stronger conference. The sad part for them is that they have to play each other and only one team can make it out unblemished. I think the SEC has won the last 7 National championships, spread among 4 different teams.
Any team with a running game could beat Oregon, who I like to call the new version of Boise State, who by the way beat them a couple of years ago when they were running up the score on WSU and likewise weak Pac 12 teams.
“Georgia sucked this year”.
Yes they did, and only a miracle got Auburn by them.
No team will leapfrog FSU, who has the pollers fooled right now. How on earth anyone could think the best team in one of the weakest football conferences in the country is the best team in the country is beyond me.
“fyi, Cal is 0-9 in the pac12 with some really bad blow outs.”
Yup. They are horrible now. They were good when scheduled.
“Any team with a running game could beat Oregon, who I like to call the new version of Boise State, who by the way beat them a couple of years ago when they were running up the score on WSU and likewise weak Pac 12 teams.”
The Ducks are a very tough team. But if you stop the offense, you can win. And if you can’t stop them, it gets real ugly real fast.
Let’s look at this year Oregon vs. SEC team Tennesee.
TN scored first and then Oregon ran off 59 unanswered.
Tennessee did hold the Ducks scoreless in the fourth quarter (ha ha ha) and the final score was 59-14.
Home games...like most top SEC bowl games.
“Wasn’t Hyde missing from OSU that week along with two starting corners?”
...the corners, RB Hyde and QB Braxton, and it was a Cal home game.
“Tennessee is the case to look at.”
To me the OSU, Cal game is the case to look at.
Except for beating Portland state, the two games the bears were most competitive in were against Ohio State and Northwestern and Arizona.
That does not speak well for the Big 10.
I hate to tell you this, but if you look at the Buckeye schedule, the Bears were probably the 5th toughest game on it after WI, NW, UM, and Iowa.
Yes, I do think the bears would beat buffalo, san diego st, famu, Purdue, Illinois and Indiana.
We were watching the game and later they played that clip from the Auburn Radio announcer and also from the Alabama Radio announcer.
Daughter reported this a.m. traffic was still horrible on College St. in Auburn and that she was going to be late to church.
I worry about her exams next week . . . they leave for Atlanta on Friday for the game Saturday and she will miss all her review sessions. I told her she better make a plan and to work double hard. I’m sure they’ll not be canceling band practices this week either. I pray she can keep her 4.0. :)
Congratulations on her 4.0 :) I’m sure Auburn is a hopping place today and will be for some time to come.
Michigan at home is nearly always tough for OSU. Completely irrelevant to either teams records.
Home games make a big difference too. Alabama squeaked by 8-4 and barely ranked Texas A&M as its only ranked road victory, as did Auburn. LSU squashed TAM and Auburn at home, and lost every road game against ranked teams.
I don’t mean to sound stupid but I thought if a team attempts a field goal and misses it the other team gets the ball from where it was attempted. How did Auburn grab a missed field goal and run with it? I am 64 years old and never see this happen before in my life and I’ve watched thousands of games.
The ball did not leave the field of play. Think of it like a blocked field goal, which can be returned.
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