It’s fourth-and-31 with 43 seconds left in the game. Alabama has the ball with one chance left to score. Things look good for the Tigers, who lead 24-20, and just pushed Alabama back to the 31-yard line after Crimson Tide quarterback Jalen Milroe threw an illegal forward pass.
With 31 yards to the end zone and a singular chance to score for Alabama, Auburn fans were hopeful. Milroe, however, quickly ended the Tigers' hope, scrambling to complete a 31-yard pass caught by Isaiah Bond deep on the left side of the end zone. The Crimson Tide’s touchdown would be the last of the Iron Bowl, hoisting them to a 27-24 win over the Auburn Tigers.
“[This game] hurts,” said safety Jaylin Simpson who finished the contest with one tackle. “It’s very heartbreaking and it hurts, but we have another game to play.”
Containing Milroe on third and fourth downs was a problem throughout the game for Auburn. Milroe converted six of the Crimson Tide’s 17 third down attempts and both of their fourth down attempts.
The Auburn defense struggled to maintain Milroe in the Iron Bowl’s critical moments, allowing an average of 19.5 yards per completion for the Crimson Tide quarterback on third down with zero third down sacks. For comparison, Alabama averaged 16.2 yards per completion on all downs.
On third down alone, the Tigers allowed 11 rushes for 64 yards and 39 passing yards for a combined 103 yards of the Crimson Tide’s 451 total offensive yards.
Struggling to rush Milroe, the Tiger defense ended the night with one sack for nine yards and five tackles for loss for 15 yards.
“It stinks to not get the win tonight,” said Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze. “We didn’t play good enough in the critical moments. We didn’t execute on fourth down [at the end], and it really came down to those few plays in a game like this.”
Auburn (6-6, 3-5 SEC) awaits its bowl destination that will occur on Sunday Dec. 3rd.
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Grace Heim is a junior from Enterprise, Alabama, majoring in English Literature. She started with The Plainsman in January 2023.
