On a day that determined the final four teams in the race for the SEC championship, two in each division, the national focus was on one play Saturday, a play that likely will be talked about for years to come.
It happened in the closing seconds of Auburn’s game with Georgia. The Tigers pulled out a 43-38 victory with a touchdown pass that will go down with Doug Flutie’s desperation throw to Gerard Phelan that gave Boston College the win over Miami, and Kordell Stewart’s 64-yard pass to Michael Westbrook to give Colorado the victory at Michigan, as one of college football’s most memorable plays.
Ever.
Especially considering the stakes. The win means Auburn will be playing Alabama at home on Nov. 30 for the Western Division title and has to rank right up there in Auburn history with the “Punt, Bama, Punt” Iron Bowl of 1972 when the Tigers blocked two Alabama punts for touchdowns in the final 10 minutes to pull out an unlikely 17-16 victory.
To set the stage: Auburn had just blown a 20-point fourth quarter lead and was trailing by one point after Georgia scored with just over a minute to go. With 36 seconds remaining, the Tigers were facing fourth down at their own 27-yard line when quarterback Nick Marshall reached back and threw the ball as far as he could.
Georgia’s Josh Harvey-Clemons was in line to pick off the pass, but as he leaped for it his teammate, Tray Matthews, who also had his eye on an interception, bumped into him and the ball bounced off Harvey-Clemons into the air behind them.
Auburn’s Ricardo Louis, who had kept running, hauled in the deflection in stride, bobbling it just a bit, and took it into the end zone for the touchdown.
“At first I was going to try and jump for it,” Louis said, “but they took the angle, so I just kept my eyes on the ball over my shoulder and watched the ball all the way in.”
“It was special, no doubt,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said.
You think?
The play even drew a comment from South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier, who was over 275 miles away coaching his Gamecocks to a win over Florida in Columbia.
“What a game that was, good gracious, a sort of Hail Mary-ball that went ricocheting around,” Spurrier said. “I guess that’s why people watch football on television, games like the one they had.”
Georgia coach Mark Richt, whose team was eliminated from contention in the Eastern Division with the loss, was more subdued.
“Just a whale of a game I guess,” he said.
FIVE BIGGEST TAKEAWAYS FROM WEEK 12 IN THE SEC:
1. Just give Gus Malzahn the Coach of the Year trophy now. Auburn is 10-1 in his first season after last year’s 3-9 finish and will play Alabama at home in the Iron Bowl on Nov. 30 for a berth in the SEC Championship Game.
2. Missouri’s defense better be ready. In their efforts to win the Eastern Division, the Tigers will be facing the SEC’s No. 3 offense in Ole Miss (498 yards a game) and the No. 1 attack in Texas A&M (578.0) their last two games.
3. Auburn’s Tre Mason may be the most overlooked running back in the SEC. After rushing for 115 yards in the win over Georgia, the Tigers’ junior has 1,153 yards for the season and has topped the 100-yard mark in three consecutive games and five times in the last six outings.
4. Georgia LB Ramik Wilson has made a huge turnaround in his career. The Bulldog junior came into the season with just 10 total tackles in two years but after making 18 stops against Auburn he has a league-high 110 tackles this fall, including three sacks.
5. It’s still seven teams in the Associated Press poll. With Ole Miss moving into the No. 24 spot to replace Georgia, which dropped out, the SEC has seven teams once again ranked in the Top 25 with Alabama at No. 1, Auburn at No. 6, Missouri at No. 8, Texas A&M at No. 9, South Carolina at No. 12, and LSU at No. 18 ahead of the Rebels.