re: Suttles article - Savor This Win

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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.

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