20 college football moments that deserve to be made into movies
By John Buhler
1. Kick Six
Unless you live in the Bay Area, you knew this was going to be No. 1, right? For sports fans of the last five years, you probably know exactly where you were when the Auburn Tigers kick sixed Alabama Crimson Tide to win the 2013 Iron Bowl and the SEC West Division crown.
The Iron Bowl is the greatest rivalry in the SEC. Alabama and Auburn absolutely hate each other. So here’s the background on the greatest ending to a college football game of all time. Alabama was and remains an SEC juggernaut under head coach Nick Saban. He had already won three national titles at Alabama before this 2013 college football season. Alabama was poised to win its third straight national title that holiday season.
Auburn had come off a terrible 2012 season where they went 0-for in SEC play. The Tigers hired former offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn to ignite a stagnant Auburn offense. After losing a tough game to rival LSU early in the year, Auburn started to catch fire in the SEC. Malzahn’s hurry-up-and-run offense caught SEC teams by surprise during his first year back in the league.
With the game tied at 32 with one second left, Saban insisted that freshman kicker Adam Griffith try a 57-yard, game-winning field goal on the road. Initially there was not a second left on the clock, but Saban had the officials put one second back on because he was right.
Fate would have it that Griffith’s kick would be short and to the right. Malzahn had cornerback Chris Davis lined up to receive the field goal attempt should if fall short. With Alabama having mostly a blocking-based unit out there on the field for the try, Davis would blaze by all of them for the game-winning, 108-yard return touchdown.
Next: 25 biggest villains in college football history
Keep in mind this miraculous touchdown return was only two weeks after another unbelievable moment in Auburn football history: The Prayer at Jordan-Hare game versus cross-divisional rival Georgia. With this win over Alabama, Auburn would reach the 2013 SEC Championship where the Tiger pulverized the Missouri Tigers. Auburn would eventually lose the final BCS National Championship Game to the Florida State Seminoles, but what a season for the Tigers.