Auburn wins, ends playoff chances for No. 5 Alabama

AUBURN, Ala. — Another wild, triumphant Iron Bowl finish turned Auburn’s field into a teeming mass of orange and blue.

A missed Alabama field goal again had much to do with it.

Shaun Shivers scored on an 11-yard run with 8:08 left to put No. 16 Auburn ahead and another failed field goal attempt killed the fifth-ranked Crimson Tide’s playoff hopes in a 48-45 victory for the 16thranked Tigers on Saturday.

Auburn (9-3, 5-3 Southeastern Conference) survived a final Crimson Tide drive when Joseph Bulovas hit the left upright on a 30-yard field try with two minutes left.

Auburn couldn’t get a first down on JaTarvious Whitlow’s three runs while Alabama (10-2, 6-2) burned its final two timeouts. But the Tide was called for illegal substitution after the Tigers lined up with the punter joining the offense, setting off a fist-pumping celebration for coach

Gus Malzahn.

“That’s the craziest game I’ve ever played in,” Shivers said.

Auburn fans stormed the field to celebrate another Iron Bowl thriller.

The Tide made the first five College Football Playoffs fields, but their case was damaged with a 46-41 loss to No. 1 LSU. The team’s in-state rival delivered the final blow.

Alabama coach Nick Saban deflected questions about the playoffs.

“I think the lesson to be learned is how important it is to be accountable,” Saban said. “When you play against good teams, that’s when these things bite you.”

He wasn’t pleased with the penalty for too many men at the end.

“I really feel that it was a pretty unfair play at the end of the game where they substituted the punter as a wide receiver,” Saban said. “So we put the punt team in. And when the quarterback was back in there, we tried to put the defense back in. I thought they should have given us a little more time to substitute and get (Jaylen) Waddle out as a returner.”