Surprisingly, Alabama's field goal kickers were Auburn's secret weapon in their historic Iron Bowl defeat of #1 Alabama Saturday. In what surely must be the absolute worst performance of field goal kicking in college football history (in a game of this magnitude), Alabama's kickers missed four field goals, one of which was caught and run back 109 yards for a game-winning touchdown during the very last play of the game, which, ironically, Alabama had fought for with a review of the clock. And knowing the kicker had already missed three field goals (more if you count attempts which were waved off due to penalties or timeouts), Alabama coach Saban made the obvious decision to end in disaster: he called a freshman kicker to kick a long-distance field goal, which obviously missed and got returned for the game-winning touchdown as time expired.
Hilarious! After watching Auburn win against Georgia in their previous game before this one, I just knew there would be some wild finish, but even I couldn't have imagined in my wildest dream's joke prediction that it would end like this. Wow, what a game! But with all the wild goings on, there was only one; one deciding factor in this game: Alabama's field goal kicking. Had Saban not made the decision he had, the game would have gone to overtime, and Alabama may have ground out a win (but probably not: they played well short of their abilities for most of the game).
Well, we all know what's going to happen now, right? Obviously Auburn will attempt to buy the Alabama kickers' kicking shoes so they can proudly display them in the Auburn football hall of fame museum. No price will be deemed too high for obtaining this piece of Auburn football history!
Oh, and another thing: There will be some painting of the missed field goal immortalized by some Auburn football fan painter which will then be sold as prints from the Auburn football store, and Auburn fans will buy it, frame it, and display it with pride where all their Alabama fan friends will see it. There's a well-known painting of the goal line stand Alabama made against Penn State at the 1979 Sugar Bowl, and many Alabama fans have this displayed with pride on their walls in Alabama. But this new one will not only be a source of pride for Auburn fans, but also a dig at Alabama fans which will cut deep anytime an Alabama fan sees it from this day forward, for all eternity. (They're pretty serious about their rivalry down there. I like both teams, but then again, I'm allowed to: I'm not from Alabama.)
Here's that Alabama Goal Line Stand painting:
http://i.b5z.net/i/ui/87996/i/Goal_Line_Stand_9-11.jpg
(BTW: My apologies to die-hard Alabama fans. I am a big Alabama football fan too, but when crazy stuff like this happens, you've just got to appreciate the craziness and laugh along with everybody else. This is one for all time, how insane the game ended, and everyone will likely always remember this one: surely that last play is one for the highlight reel for all times in college football, or just in sports generally. What a wild game! But in a game where one missed field goal can cost a game, four can cost a season; and boy did these four ever cost them the season. And for those of you who missed the game, any one of the four missed field goals would have won the game for Alabama, and only by missing them all and having the last one returned for a touchdown as time expired could Alabama have lost the game during regulation time. That must be some kind of record in itself.)
