Auburn, Ala. 3 Alabama rallied to beat Auburn 24-22 in the fourth overtime period on Saturday, despite turning in one of their most inept offensive performances of the Nick Saban era during regulation. With 1:35 remaining in the fourth quarter, seven points behind and college football playoff hopes hanging in the balance, Crimson Tide quarterback Bryce Young led the team on a 12-play, 97-yard touchdown drive.
Alabama wideout Ja’Corey Brooks, who entered the game with two catches in the season, was a game-tying, 28-yard touchdown catch with 24 seconds remaining.
Auburn was forced to overtime for the first time in Iron Bowl history, and Young found John Machi III in the fourth overtime to win for a 2-point conversion.
“I can’t tell you how proud I am of how our players continue to compete,” Saban said. “Over and over again, we came up with plays.”
Young came on as the Heisman Trophy favorite over the weekend but struggled for the most part of the game. During the first three quarters, he completed 12 of 26 passes for 138 yards, without a touchdown and an interception. This was his first interception in his last 225 pass attempts.
But during the fourth quarter and overtime, Young completed 12 of 22 passes for 174 yards and two touchdowns, all without a pick.
“It was a tough win against a good team in a really tough environment,” Young said. “It’s an iron bowl. There’s a lot of emotion involved. It’s something we take very seriously and are very proud of.”
Saban said the offense was able to make good adjustments at halftime, getting the ball out of Young’s hands early, reducing pressure on the offensive line and leading to more success in the running game.
Saban said the message to his team during the break was, “These guys are making us decide the game. We need them to decide the game.”
“After halftime, it looked like everyone was in, and we were fighting like we hadn’t seen them fight all year,” he said.
Young was sacked seven times, making two changes to the offensive line, right tackle Damien George Jr. was replaced by Chris Owens and center Darien Dulcourt was replaced with Seth McLaughlin.
Young was also without his top receiver, Jameson Williams, who was knocked out of the game in the first half for scoring a goal on a punt return. It was the first of many mental mistakes by Alabama.
The field goal of the second half went awry when holder Paul Tyson dropped the snap. It was the first time in five years that Alabama had gone three quarters without scoring a point.
Then at the start of the fourth quarter, Young could not snap low on fourth and -2 and was dismissed.
All told, Alabama scored 11 penalties for 129 yards, including a passer-by penalty in the fourth quarter that negated an interception. Alabama running back Brian Robinson Jr., who averaged 94.5 rushing yards per game, held out just 64 yards on 15 carries on Saturday.
“There were a lot of things that we had to fix,” Saban said, “but I guess you can only say one thing….”
He later said, “It was a wonderful comeback. There were times we could have thrown in the towel.”
Auburn coach Brian Horsin said he was proud of his team’s effort but was disappointed by the loss.
“Alabama is a really good football team,” he said. “They showed up tonight. They have a lot of fighting.”
Harsin said that in the end, Alabama had another playdate than Auburn.
“We just came up short,” he said.
Alabama will play No. 1 Georgia in the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta on Saturday.