And it's celebrated at the Wall Street Journal, "Behind College Football's Most Amazing Play":
Alabama kicker Adam Griffith lined up for a field goal. Auburn return man Chris Davis waited in the end zone with almost no time left on the clock. Over the next few seconds, the kick left Griffith's foot and landed in Davis's arms, producing maybe the most remarkable finish in college-football history. It also set up the Auburn Tigers' surprise appearance in Monday night's Bowl Championship Series title game against the No. 1 Florida State Seminoles.Continue reading.
The miraculous play, however, wasn't so much about divine intervention as it was the result of strategic creativity, calculated risk and hidden talent—with timely luck and unlikely characters intermingling at just the right moment. A careful review of game film and interviews with people involved show that Auburn wouldn't have won and Alabama wouldn't have lost if not for two audacious coaching decisions. One almost worked. The other one did.
On Nov. 30, as the game clock ticked down in the fourth quarter with the score tied at 28, Auburn had already exceeded expectations. Alabama, the two-time defending national champion, was a 10-point favorite on the road. It had been ranked No. 1 in the country since the preseason. In the previous Iron Bowl rivalry game a year before, the Crimson Tide had embarrassed the Tigers, a 49-0 win that cost Auburn coach Gene Chizik his job and led to the hiring of first-year coach Gus Malzahn.
This season, Auburn fans were still soaking up their last game at Jordan-Hare Stadium, which had ended in astonishing fashion. Trailing by a point with 36 seconds to go, the Tigers lobbed a 73-yard pass that was deflected and still resulted in a game-winning touchdown. By the next morning, the play was known as "The Prayer at Jordan-Hare."
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