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Suttles article - Savor This Win
Posted on 11/27/21 at 9:21 pm
Posted on 11/27/21 at 9:21 pm
quote:
AUBURN, Ala. — Savor this, Alabama fans. Seriously, lock it in a place somewhere deep inside of you and cherish it. Hold onto it like you’re going to suffocate it.
Forget Georgia and the SEC championship game and what’s to come. Forget about any issues or weaknesses Alabama showed for nearly four quarters. Those things can be worried about another time. Don’t borrow trouble.
For tonight and into the next day and the next and for a lifetime, bathe in something that rarely happens around the Crimson Tide football program, save for a handful of times in the Nick Saban era: The unexpected, heart-in-your-throat, thrilling win. And it happened in the Iron Bowl.
No. 3 Alabama (11-1 7-1 SEC) somehow snagged a victory from certain defeat inside the team’s personal hellscape of Jordan-Hare Stadium in a four-overtime 24-22 win against hated rival Auburn (6-6, 3-5).
It’s happened before, but not often. There was comeback win against Arkansas in Saban’s first season in 2007. There was a final drive to beat Auburn in 2009 on the way to the national championship. There was a late win at Arkansas in 2010. And, of course, there was the second-and-26 walk-off win over Georgia for the national title in 2017. But there’s been nothing like what just happened Saturday.
It was the first overtime game in the Iron Bowl’s illustrious history. The game was headed for overtime in 2013 before the Kick Six intervened. It needed four of them in this one, the last two periods exclusively made up of two-point attempts, capped by Bryce Young’s winning pass to John Metchie.
Think of how this game transpired. From an inept offense that lost its best weapon to a special teams targeting call in the first half, to Young being sacked seven times, to a botched field goal hold, to a defense refusing to give in no matter how great Auburn’s field position. And think of how it ended. That same offense that couldn’t get out of its way sucked the air out of the stadium with 24 seconds remaining.
It looked insurmountable, to be honest. Alabama needed to go 97 yards in 1:35 when it had only 254 yards in total before that drive, including a meager 68 yards in the first half. It needed a 38-yard field goal to extend overtime. When’s the last time Alabama made a field goal when it had to have it to extend a game?
For those reasons alone, Alabama fans should enjoy this win as much as any of the Saban era. The euphoria of a walk-off win is unlike anything in sports. Championships are great. But there’s a slow release of endorphins when Alabama boat raced Ohio State last year. To beat your biggest rival in their stadium, with that crowd, with their defenders mocking your wide receiver’s celebration, to rip a win that would’ve salvaged a mediocre season away from the team that ruined two recent seasons for you (2013, 2019), you’re damn right you should feel on top of the world.
You’ve had to endure eight years of Kick Six highlights. You didn’t get anything nearly that dramatic Saturday, but at least you have something to counter with knowing that Auburn fans could taste that win. It was all but ensured. The crowd was loud. They were confident. They bordered on arrogant. Who could blame them? The Tigers defense gave them reason to feel that way with a defensive effort that will have many singing Tigers defensive coordinator Derek Mason’s praises and rightfully so. That unit was the difference in the game.
Until freshman wide receiver Ja’Corey Brooks wrapped his hands around a 28-yard touchdown pass from Young that forced overtime. This time it was Auburn that had its heart ripped out inside this stadium. It was a delicious twist of the knife for Alabama, which should hate playing here more than it cares to admit.
Saban was keenly aware of that this week. Asked about his favorite Iron Bowl memory, he listed off losses, all the weird turns of event that led to him previously walking off this field in disarray. That’ll change after this one. He called it one of his favorite wins of his career.
“Most of the time, I remember the ones we lose, but I think I’ll remember this one because of the way the players competed in the game,” Saban said. “It was a great comeback. There were many times when those guys could have just thrown in the towel and said, ‘They got the ball in great field position. If they score one more time this game’s probably over,’ and we’d always get a sack or get a stop. So it’s the feeling of being on a team. The feeling of togetherness of everybody making a commitment to support each other, be positive.
“You know, trust and believe in each other enough to go out there and make the kind of plays that they made, especially to end the game that makes it a special win. You don’t you don’t experience that a lot. So when you do and we certainly did tonight, you’re always gonna remember it.”
Posted on 11/27/21 at 9:22 pm to SummerOfGeorge
quote:
And you should too. Drop the pride for a night and acknowledge that a win against even a 6-5 Auburn team is something to always be celebrated. Should Alabama, which was close to a 20-point favorite in this game, have been in a spot down 10 points in the fourth quarter? No. There’s no scenario in which Alabama should have lost that game. That was the thought process entering Saturday. It played out differently, though. And anytime you can hand your bitter rival heartbreak, you memorialize it.
It won’t be remembered as fondly at “The Kick” in 1985. It may never get a special nickname that some other great games have had as descriptors. (Or maybe it will.) But in a game in which Alabama’s offense didn’t cross the 100-yard mark of total yards until midway through the third quarter and had no points on the scoreboard under the nine-minute mark in the fourth, this game will stand the test of time in other ways.
Alabama players have been described as robotic in the past. Void of emotion. But there was plenty of emotion spilling onto the field when Metchie caught the game-winning two-point conversion in the fourth overtime. That emotion, that we rarely get to see, was on display in the locker room when at least one player went live on social media. Saban said its emotion he hasn’t seen.
“After halftime, it just seemed like everybody was all in and we were fighting like I’ve never seen us fight all year long,” Saban said. “It’s a great feeling. Players were as happy as ever seen them after the game.”
So fans should soak it in too. Enjoy this one like you haven’t in a long time. You don’t get these wins often, not the kind where euphoria erupts from a place you don’t have to go to often. Alabama often win games big and that emotion is never required.
Everybody tuned into this game because Alabama was about to get beat. But this time, it didn’t turn out that way. You got to experience a win when you thought they were going to lose.
For a few days, don’t worry about Georgia and what is to be next weekend. Celebrate and remember this win for a long time and know your team just won the first overtime Iron Bowl ever.
Posted on 11/27/21 at 9:24 pm to SummerOfGeorge
What a game!! Despite everything and all we have coming in Atlanta!! Im going to enjoy this one..We tore their hearts out!!
Posted on 11/27/21 at 9:24 pm to SummerOfGeorge
I’m savoring this one. Which is pretty amazing because my attitude for 59 minutes of that game was misery.
Posted on 11/27/21 at 9:28 pm to SummerOfGeorge
I loved seeing their faces when Brooks caught the TD pass to tie the game. Pure karma.
Posted on 11/27/21 at 9:31 pm to bamatide07
My wife (AU grad) had the same look on her face on the other side of the living room.
Posted on 11/27/21 at 9:40 pm to SummerOfGeorge
Eh I'm trying. Would be easier if we didn't do all the normal stuff to lose a game. Hard to walk away too excited.
Hard fought close games are tremendous. 2015 Clemson national championship game.
This was mostly a cluster frick
Hard fought close games are tremendous. 2015 Clemson national championship game.
This was mostly a cluster frick
Posted on 11/27/21 at 9:47 pm to UltimaParadox
quote:
Hard to walk away too excited.
Bull fricking shite. We stole victory from Auburn and all their shitty fans right in front of their stunned faces. It’s joyous.
Posted on 11/27/21 at 9:51 pm to Bham Bammer
Yea, I savor any win at that hornets nest. Always and forever.
Posted on 11/27/21 at 9:52 pm to SummerOfGeorge
Nice article by Suttles.
No team in college football can get tested like Bama in the iron bowl. Those cow frickers leave it all on the line, and then some.
No team in college football can get tested like Bama in the iron bowl. Those cow frickers leave it all on the line, and then some.
Posted on 11/27/21 at 10:01 pm to Lieutenant Dan
quote:
Those cow frickers leave it all on the line, and then some.
Now this is 100% true. This one felt like the Chris Capps game for a while. Really didn't feel like we would win the game at any moment till OT.
Posted on 11/27/21 at 10:08 pm to UltimaParadox
quote:
Hard to walk away too excited.
Auburn fans are suffering right now. If that doesn't put a smile on your face there's something wrong with you.
Posted on 11/27/21 at 10:11 pm to Robot Santa
When they stopped us on 4th and 1 with 2 minutes left they accepted victory into their hearts and we accepted defeat into ours. Once you do that, a flip in outcome is 5x as happy or sad, and it eliminates any moral victory good feelings.
In a way, it was the pinnacle win!
In a way, it was the pinnacle win!
This post was edited on 11/27/21 at 10:12 pm
Posted on 11/27/21 at 10:21 pm to SummerOfGeorge
Nice article by Aaron, he is channeling his inner Cecil.
I relish any win vs Auburn, but this one is sweet. They really thought they had it won and the good guys snatched victory from them!
Now all the losers can complain for another year about how Alabama cheats and buys off the refs, blablablabla, the W is still in our column.
I relish any win vs Auburn, but this one is sweet. They really thought they had it won and the good guys snatched victory from them!
Now all the losers can complain for another year about how Alabama cheats and buys off the refs, blablablabla, the W is still in our column.
Posted on 11/27/21 at 10:21 pm to UltimaParadox
quote:
Hard to walk away too excited.
I get this sentiment, I really do.
But also… close your eyes and think back 15 years or so until the beginning of time and just imagine what stealing a win at Auburn like this would do to your inner feels.
Posted on 11/27/21 at 10:22 pm to Robot Santa
quote:
Auburn fans are suffering right now. If that doesn't put a smile on your face there's something wrong with you
I had a house full of Auburn fans here tonight. It was just a strange game.
Everyone thought they were losing
Posted on 11/27/21 at 10:43 pm to UltimaParadox
I would take the feeling of this win any day over a 56-0 win. There’s nothing like pure and unexpected elation .
Now the first 59 min….. that’s a different story
Now the first 59 min….. that’s a different story
Posted on 11/27/21 at 10:45 pm to UltimaParadox
We have lost this type of game so many times at Auburn, I still can’t believe we won.
It was the shittiest of games, it was the greatest of games.
It was the shittiest of games, it was the greatest of games.
Posted on 11/27/21 at 11:37 pm to Garfield
I wish I could hear the Auburn Radio Network at the end just to hear the air go out of that bleep homer Stan White
I am sure to hear him tell it we should have 400 yards worth of penalties and several of our players should be stoned to death.
I am sure to hear him tell it we should have 400 yards worth of penalties and several of our players should be stoned to death.
This post was edited on 11/27/21 at 11:40 pm
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