USA TODAY International Edition
AUBURN STUNS GEORGIA WITH MIRACLE PLAY
Marshall- Louis connection will live in lore
AUBURN, ALA. They never believed this was supposed to end in torment, even as the 20- point lead vanished, even as hope to put together one last drive disappeared, even as everything they had envisioned for themselves came down to one more snap.
These Auburn players already had been through enough of that and come out the other side as college football’s best story, riding the kind of roll that comes along once in a lifetime.
Why not make a play to win, the way they have all season? Why not trust in the power of hard work and preparation and even a little bit of destiny? Why not, after figuring out how to go from 3- 9 to the top 10, go ahead and figure out fourth- and- 18?
“I looked around ( the stands) before the play, and it looked like everybody was sad, heads down,” receiver Ricardo Louis said. “And it kind of hurt me, because we wanted to keep what we’ve been having going on.”
It takes a thousand little things falling exactly into place for No. 9 Auburn to pull off this kind of season, but it will forever be remembered by the moment Saturday night when terrified silence at Jordan- Hare Stadium turned into sudden shaking as Nick Marshall’s pass got tipped high in the air and into the arms of Louis for a 73yard touchdown with 25 seconds left to beat Georgia 43- 38.
Call it a fluke if you want. Call it divine intervention on behalf of an Auburn team that gagged away a 20- point lead in the fourth quarter. Call it karmic payback for a team that one year ago suffered the indignity of going 0- 8 in the Southeastern Conference but has won five games by a touchdown or less.
It doesn’t matter. Auburn is 10- 1, headed toward a winner- take- everything showdown with No. 1 Alabama and the author of a touchdown for all time, a replay that will live for as long as the SEC plays important football games and 87,000- plus fans show up to watch them.
The Marshall Miracle. The Prayer at Jordan- Hare. The Hail Aubie. The Saint Louis Arch.
Whatever you want to call it, the visual will be unmistakable: Marshall making his five- step drop, looking downfield, stepping into a deep throw, two defenders trying to knock down the pass but ultimately running into each other, the ball bouncing high off safety Tray Matthews at the 20- yard line, popping at the 15 right to Louis, who trotted into the end zone as Georgia players and coaches fell to the ground in disbelief.
Ten seconds of pure, breathless chaos.
“When he caught it, I fell on my back,” Auburn defensive end Dee Ford said. “I fainted for a second.”
“I didn’t know what to think,” receiver Sammie Coates said. “I saw the ball in the air, and I said, ‘ I hope somebody comes down with it.’ ”
“It was just an exciting moment to be a part of,” Marshall said.
“It was unbelievable,” Louis said. “I kind of expected to make a play. But not like that.”
Of course Louis expected to make a play; every receiver at every level would. But the difference between expecting to and doing it is why Auburn, in its first year under Gus Malzahn, can legitimately start thinking about winning the SEC and perhaps even the national title.
This is not a perfect team, and to understand that all you needed to do was watch the fourth quarter when the Tigers, who once led 37- 17 and seemed unstoppable, suddenly couldn’t move the ball or contain Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray.
In a blink, Murray led back- toback- to- back touchdown drives, putting Georgia ahead 38- 37 with a 5yard touchdown run on fourth- and- goal.
Malzahn didn’t panic. After all, he had seen Marshall lead game- winning touchdown drives against Mississippi State and Texas A& M earlier this season, and with 1: 49 to work with, getting at least a field goal wasn’t impossible.
“Believe it or not, I felt good,” Malzahn said. “I had a decent idea how they’d play in their two- minute defense, and we’ve got a great field goal kicker, so we were pretty calm right there.”