Wow. Where to begin? I’ll admit, posting this story is a tough one for me, being an Alabama alum. However, from Tuscaloosa or not, a true fan must admit that the ending to the Iron Bowl on Saturday night might very well go down as the best in college football history: Stanford’s “the band is out on the field!,” Doug Flutie’s hail-mary miracle, and now, Chris Davis’ “he ran the field goal back!”
For those who may not be as familiar with the Iron Bowl, let me briefly give a rundown as to why this play, which resulted in Auburn’s 34-28 win, was so significant:
1. The Iron Bowl is hands down the largest rivalry in college football. Regional fans will try and tell you Michigan-Ohio State, Oklahoma-Texas or USC-UCLA are more important, but the winner of Alabama-Auburn has gone on to win the national championship the last four years in a row (Alabama in ’09, ’11 and ’12, Auburn in ’10). No other state worships college football like they do in Alabama, a state where there are no pro sports teams because of this fact.
2. Alabama was ranked No. 1 going into the game (ranked there all year) while Auburn was No. 4 coming in. The winner of this game would not only win the SEC West but would also compete to win the SEC Championship in Atlanta and possibly go on to play in the National Championship at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.
3. Alabama missed four field goals in this game, the most by an FBS school all season.
4. Davis’ 109 yard return off a missed field goal is a play one can go an entire lifetime without seeing, let alone amidst the most intense rivalry in the sport, for the SEC West crown and in front of your home crowd for the win as time expires.
Fan of Bama, Auburn….Ohio State — regardless who your team is, all serious college football fans will remember where they were when this happened:
According to reports Davis got a standing ovation in class Monday morning.
Josh Helmuth is the editor of CraveOnline Sports. You can follow him @JHelmuth or “like” CraveOnline Sports on Facebook.
