Bama’s fourth-and-goal miracle saves CFP hopes
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Chris Low, ESPN Senior Writer
AUBURN, Ala. — Only the Iron Bowl could produce two such miracles 10 years apart.
A decade ago, it was the Kick Six that ruined Alabama‘s national championship hopes, and to this day, haunts Crimson Tide fans.
But on Saturday, on the same Jordan-Hare Stadium turf where Auburn‘s Chris Davis raced 100 yards for the winning points after an Alabama missed field goal attempt, the Tide delivered their own version of the Kick Six with a miraculous 31-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-goal in the final seconds.
Jalen Milroe connected with Isaiah Bond in the corner of the end zone for a 27-24 win that will go down as one of the most iconic plays in an Iron Bowl rivalry filled with them.
What’s more, it’s a play that kept alive Alabama’s national championship hopes. The Tide (11-1, 8-0 in the SEC) have won 10 straight games and face No. 1 Georgia next Saturday in the SEC championship game.
“We’ve been on both sides of the good fortune and the misfortune, and I’ve got to admit, we had good fortune,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “But it still comes down to ability to execute. Somebody had an opportunity to make a play, whether it was their punt returner or IB [Bond] in the end zone and whoever was guarding him.
“That’s why you play the game.”
Auburn, coming off a dismal 31-10 loss at home to New Mexico State a week ago, outplayed Alabama for much of the game and appeared to be in control. The Tide, trailing 24-20 with just under five minutes to play, were forced to punt. Auburn’s Koy Moore was unable to field it, and Alabama’s Jihaad Campbell recovered for Alabama at the Auburn 30.
“We’ve been in those positions all year,” Bond said. “Different people have stepped up all year and made plays, offense, defense, special teams. It doesn’t matter. We’re never out of it.”
It sure looked that way, though, even after Alabama converted on fourth-and-1 to move to the Auburn 7. The next few plays were a disaster. The Tide lost 18 yards on second down after an errant shotgun snap, and then Milroe was penalized for an illegal forward pass on third down. The loss of down on the penalty left Alabama with one play and 31 yards to go.
“It just came down to trust and never giving up. … We still had time on the clock,” said Milroe, who passed for 259 yards and two touchdowns and also rushed for 107 yards.
Auburn chose to rush just two defenders, and Milroe had plenty of time. He saw Bond get favorable position on Auburn defensive back D.J. James, and Milroe’s pass couldn’t have been placed any better.
“I saw IB one-on-one, and I said, ‘We’re going to score,'” said Milroe, who calmly removed his mouthpiece and signaled touchdown as he watched Bond come down inbounds with the pass.
As the ball sailed toward him, Bond had similar thoughts.
“It’s mine. That’s what I was thinking,” he said. “I was like, ‘It’s a 50-50 chance, and I’m going to get it.’ And I went and got it.”
In many ways, the game was a microcosm of Alabama’s season. The Crimson Tide haven’t always been perfect, even flawed at times, but they’ve responded over and over again after being left for dead in Week 2 after the home loss to Texas.
“I think that’s the biggest thing this whole football team has done, is to grow from tough times, and I think that’s what separates us from a lot of people, is never giving up and the love we have for each other,” Milroe said.
Alabama has trailed in the second half in wins over Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Tennessee, LSU and Auburn. And in the ugly 17-3 win over South Florida the week after the Texas loss, the score was tied at 3-3 late in the third quarter.
“That’s what this team has done over the year, come from behind many times, made plays when we had to make them, whether it was the LSU game in the second half, whether it was the Tennessee game in the second half, whether it was the Ole Miss game in the second half,” said Saban, who has guided Alabama to 13 straight 11-win seasons.
“This game today speaks volumes for the competitive character of these guys and the resiliency they have to keep fighting in the game. It should be a lesson for everybody in life.”
Bond said there was no panic on the Alabama sideline before that fourth-down play. He said it was the same way in the huddle when Milroe simply looked at everybody and said, “Let’s go make a play.”
Bond said the name of the play was “gravedigger.” Thanks to some costly penalties and an Auburn running game that cranked out 244 yards, Alabama nearly dug its own grave and went into the fourth quarter trailing 21-20.
“But that’s us, we’re going to finish the game all the way to the game’s over with,” Bond said. “That’s who we are, and y’all saw that today.”
For Auburn coach Hugh Freeze and his team, it was a nauseating way to end his first season on the Plains. The Tigers (6-6, 3-5 in the SEC) are still bowl eligible, but many of their fans sat in the stands for several minutes almost in shock after the game ended.
“It really came to those few plays in a game like this,” Freeze said. “But man, there’s a lot of hurt in that locker room, and it stinks.”
Saban, always the perfectionist, said his team needs to clean up some things and play with more consistency if Alabama is going to make a postseason push — and that starts with Georgia in the SEC championship game.
“I can’t tell you how proud I am of the guys and how good I feel about winning the game,” Saban said. “But as a coach, you always look at things like, ‘How did you play?’ because we’re going to have to play at a higher level on a more consistent basis if we’re going to have success in the future. And that’s what you always evaluate.
“That’s the reality check that we all have to make.”
The reality for Milroe as he walked out of the locker room and gave his father, Quentin, a bear hug before boarding the team buses is that he will forever be a part of Alabama lore. And that lore could only grow larger and more legendary from here.
Saban said Milroe’s progress has “transformed our team and our offense.”
Milroe said he would soak up the moment, at least for the time being.
“I’ll never forget this game … ever,” said Milroe, his big smile matching the magnitude of a play they won’t forget anytime soon in Tuscaloosa.
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Max Olson, ESPN Staff Writer
BOULDER, Colo. — Deion Sanders watched his Colorado offense put up 49 points on the top scoring defense in the Big 12 on Saturday, but he isn’t satisfied. The coach expects dominance in all three phases of the game.
The Buffaloes outplayed Utah in two out of three phases and eventually got rolling on offense in a 49-24 victory, extending their win streak to four games and ensuring they’ll remain in the Big 12 championship race the rest of the way. Afterward, Sanders delivered a critique that sounded a little more like a warning to others.
“We haven’t even put it all together yet,” Sanders said. “Like, we haven’t even played our best game. That should be, in itself, scary. Like, man, when I said we comin’, we still comin’. We never stopped comin’. We are comin’. And we ain’t nearly there yet.”
Colorado (8-2, 6-1) got a strong start from its defense, which held the Utes (4-6, 1-6) to 83 yards on 33 plays in the first half, and a 76-yard punt return touchdown from receiver LaJohntay Wester to help make up for a bumpy start on offense. Quarterback Shedeur Sanders was intercepted on his first pass and later fumbled a snap for another turnover.
It may not have been the Buffaloes’ finest performance of the season, but it was a 25-point win over the preseason Big 12 front-runner, snapping a seven-game losing streak against a program whose last win at Folsom Field came by a score of 63-21.
“I think that speaks a lot about the program and where we are,” Deion Sanders said. “We’ve got to tighten some things up and get some things together, but you see we’re trending in the right direction.
“We started off rough. That wasn’t indicative to who Shedeur is, and I thought he was kind of OK all game long. Then I look at the stats and he’s 30-for-41 for 340 [yards] and three [touchdowns]. Like, c’mon man. I guess I’m just a hard dad to please at times, as well as a hard head coach.”
Sanders praised Utah’s defense and the problems it presented throughout the contest and said he was thankful for the challenge. It took complementary football to overcome the two first-half turnovers, with Colorado’s defense holding Utah to field goals after both takeaways. The Buffaloes didn’t surrender a touchdown until midway through the third quarter.
“Those type of things can’t happen,” Shedeur Sanders said, “and I’m going to have a talk with the whole offense and apologize for my performance out there at the very beginning, because I can’t put the team in that type of situation. I’m thankful for the defense. I may have to take them out to dinner this week for saving me and saving the team.”
Sanders responded after the fumble by guiding an 85-yard touchdown drive that featured another highlight-reel moment for Travis Hunter. Sanders threw deep to Colorado’s two-way star on a fourth-and-8, and Hunter made a leaping grab over two Utah defenders for a 25-yard gain. Sanders hit Will Sheppard for an 8-yard score on his next throw to extend Colorado’s lead to 21-6.
Hunter added to his Heisman Trophy résumé Saturday with 55 receiving yards on five catches, a 5-yard rushing touchdown on a reverse and his third interception of the season while playing 132 snaps.
When asked if he had a message for undecided Heisman voters, Deion Sanders did not hold back.
Travis Hunter after his third interception on the season 🔥 pic.twitter.com/NhvAnbGLow
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 16, 2024
“If they can’t see, they can’t see,” Sanders said. “It is what it is. I mean, Travis is who he is. It’s supposed to go to the best college football player. I think that’s been a wrap since, what, Week 2? So we ain’t petitioning for nobody. We ain’t doing that. We’ve got a wonderful display of cameras here and I think we’re on national television every week. If they can’t see it, there’s a problem.
“Don’t allow their hatred for me to interfere with our kids’ success. They gotta stop that. Y’all gotta stop. Some of y’all are like that. Y’all gotta stop that, man. Give the kids what they deserve, man. I had my turn. I played 14 years. You had 14 years to hate me. Now let it go.”
Hunter was the Heisman front-runner in ESPN BET odds entering Week 12 at +125, ahead of Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel, Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty and Miami quarterback Cam Ward.
Colorado’s defense was able to constantly pressure freshman quarterback Isaac Wilson, forcing four sacks and three interceptions, and Utah finished with a mere 31 rushing yards, their fewest in a game since 2011. The preseason No. 12 Utes were considered the Big 12 favorites entering their first season in the conference but are now in danger of their first losing campaign since 2013.
“I’m in the twilight zone,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. “… It’s the most difficult year of my coaching career, hands down, not even close.”
Colorado continues to control its destiny in chasing a Big 12 championship game bid, as the lone team in the 16-member conference that has lost just one conference game entering Saturday. The Buffaloes’ four-game win streak since a 31-28 home loss to Kansas State on Oct. 12 is the longest of Sanders’ two-year tenure.
After a 4-8 debut season, he has this once struggling program right where he planned to be for Year 2. In a league known for dramatic games decided by one-score margins, Sanders isn’t just trying to survive and advance to Arlington, Texas. He says he’s aiming for “flawless.”
“We expect to be here,” Sanders said. “A lot of y’all didn’t expect us to be here, and don’t think we don’t know that. But we expected to be where we are. Matter of fact, we expected to be a little better.”
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Pete Thamel, ESPN
Ball State fired coach Mike Neu, the school announced Saturday. The Cardinals are 3-7.
Neu was 40-63 in nine seasons at Ball State. Neu led the Cardinals to the MAC title in 2020, which was his only winning season at Ball State.
Sources told ESPN that the staff was informed of Neu’s dismissal early Saturday.
Offensive line coach Colin Johnson will serve as the interim head coach for the last two games, athletic director Jeff Mitchell said in a statement. Ball State hosts Bowling Green on Nov. 23 then plays at Ohio on Nov. 29.
Neu, 53, is a beloved alum with a strong campus reputation, but the lack of results ultimately led to his dismissal. Ball State lost 51-48 in overtime at Buffalo this week and fell to 2-4 in MAC play.
That clinched a fourth consecutive losing season for Ball State.
“Coach Neu has poured his heart into the Ball State football program,” Mitchell said in the statement. “I commend him for his professionalism and the positive team culture he has constructed. His efforts have greatly impacted the lives of hundreds of young men. He has represented the Ball State brand with integrity and class, and I wish him well in future pursuits.”
Neu led Ball State to two bowl games. That included a win over San Jose State in the Arizona Bowl to conclude the 2020 season, when Ball State finished 7-1 and won its first MAC title since 1996.
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