The Greatest Comeback EverBy Jack Smith They couldn't see it, the brilliant orange and blue sunset melting into the horizon in the most unlikely of places. The largest crowd to ever witness an Iron Bowl--nearly all of them clad in crimson--was raining thunderous noise down into the belly of Bryant-Denny Stadium. The home team fans didn't notice the sunset in the distance because their eyes were fixed on the damp field below, where their team had erupted for an early 21-0 lead. The outlook had never, not once in the long history of this storied rivalry, looked so grim so quickly for Auburn. The Crimson faithful were giddy over what would surely be a memorable triumph, a dominating romp that would derail the championship hopes of their long-time rival. As misty rain fell from the chilly air, the hopes and dreams of an undefeated Auburn team seemed all but dashed. Alabama was leading by three touchdowns. It had Auburn on the ropes, ready to deliver the knockout punch. Then the Crimson Tide's 2009 Heisman Trophy winner hauled in a screen pass and raced down the sideline toward the end zone, and a lead that would surely be too big to overcome. It was at this moment, however, that the fight began. No one, certainly not Mark Ingram, could see Antoine Carter sprinting downfield. A 256-pound defensive end is not supposed to catch a Heisman Trophy winning running back. Carter kept running anyway. He lunged toward Ingram and punched the ball out of his arms. As Carter crashed to the turf and watched, the ball bounced and rolled nearly 20 yards down the sidelines and into the end zone for an improbable touchback. That play gave Auburn possession of the ball and a glimmer of hope, a reason to keep fighting. But could anyone really expect what looked for a moment to be Alabama 28, Auburn 0 to turn into the greatest comeback in Auburn football history? What would the odds of such a thing be? Could even the most ardent Auburn faithful sitting high in the upper reaches of Bryant-Denny Stadium let themselves believe that the now unmistakable orange and blue sky might really foreshadow something truly special, a historic game that would be talked about for generations? They would have still more reasons to doubt when Alabama tacked on three more points. The sobering scoreboard, which can't read emotion, reward effort or measure momentum, now read "Alabama 24, Auburn 0." And there were still 40 minutes of football left to play. The Auburn offense soon awoke, determined to find another way against a defense designed to stop Heisman Trophy candidate Cameron Newton. On this day, Auburn would need more than one hero. It found one--one of many to join Antoine Carter-- in senior Kodi Burns. It was Burns who kept Auburn's most important drive of the year alive with a catch and gain of 20 yards--Auburn's longest play of the game so far, midway through the second quarter. Burns did it again moments later on third and nine, reaching high to snatch a crisply thrown ball from the air. That play kept Auburn's offense on the field, and moments later Emory Blake juggled and then secured a pass from Newton in the corner of the end zone. Alabama 24, Auburn 7. The clutch catches were a fitting turn of events and a bit of redemption for Burns, who had been Auburn's starting quarterback in a humbling defeat at the hands of Alabama in this very stadium two years earlier. With Auburn's first touchdown, a heavyweight fight between two titans had begun. The Crimson Tide quickly punched back, driving the ball deep into Auburn territory in the waning seconds of the half. Another blow that Auburn might not be able to survive seemed inevitable as Alabama again drove closer to the endzone. But great players rise up at moments like this. They somehow find a way to do something special when their heroics are needed most. Nick Fairley found a way, as he ran through blockers and sacked the quarterback, jarring the ball loose. Fairley crawled on his belly and pounced on the ball, which inexplicably lay motionless on the turf for what seemed like an eternity. Auburn had turned away what could have been a fatal blow. Auburn retreated to the locker room battered by an offensive onslaught but buoyed by the hope that it could somehow, as it had all season, dig deeper than its opponent and find the strength not just to stay in the game but to dominate its opponent and revive its dream of a perfect season and a trophy that has eluded the program for 53 years. In a game that had seemed almost hopeless just before halftime, Auburn came out fighting, oblivious to the historic challenge that lay before them. Never before had an Auburn team trailed 24-0 and come back and won. Never before had an Alabama team led 24-0 and lost. Surely, if Auburn were to mount an improbable comeback, a turnaround for the ages, it would take a methodical drive every possession of the final half, a fight down to the final play on the final drive to have a chance. Yet it was only two plays into the third period when Terrell Zachary broke free on a short pass and raced 70 yards to the end zone. Alabama 24, Auburn 14. Auburn would need more points to write one of the greatest chapters in its storied history, but more offense alone would not be enough. It would need a defense that surrendered 379 yards in the first 30 minutes to rise up. It could bend, but it could not afford to break. If it were to complete the greatest comeback in school history, surely Auburn had no room for error. Surely it could not survive even a single mistake. Auburn, which had trailed by 24 points 20 minutes into the game, soon pulled to within three after the defense stopped Alabama cold and Newton bulled his way into the end zone to pull Auburn to within 24-21. There was no celebration yet for this team or for the charismatic Heisman frontrunner who sprinted off the field, knowing the job had not yet been finished. Auburn's defense then stopped Alabama cold on a three-and-out and left the field having won back the momentum, but disaster struck on the ensuing punt, which was fumbled, setting Alabama up at Auburn's 27-yard line. The defense stood tall again when Eltoro Freeman sacked Greg McElroy on third down, turning the Tide away with only three points, the last points it would score on this day. An outcome that had seemed all but impossible now somehow felt inevitable. More heroes rose up and made plays, from Onterrio McCalebb and Josh Bynes to T'Sharvan Bell and Philip Lutzenkirchen, whose touchdown catch on a misdirection play completed the improbable comeback. Auburn 28, Alabama 27. An Auburn defense, which had struggled to find its footing, dug in its heels for the rest of the day. It held Alabama's offense, which had gained 379 yards in the first half, to just 67 in the final 30 minutes of play. The most remarkable comeback in Auburn history was complete. The Tigers walked off the field and into the locker room, where their coach had to step back to grasp what had just happened before he spoke to the team. "I've got to go back," Chizik said, scratching his head. "Where we down 24-0?" The question hung in the air. It didn't need to be answered. It had been answered on the field as an entire nation watched. Auburn's defeat of the defending National Champion at their stadium was a story, Chizik said, that would be told again and again. "You're going to tell this story your whole life," Chizik said. "It's a story about fighting your butts off. You fight it when it don't look good. You fight it when everybody counts you out. You fight it when there is no way anybody thinks you can do it. You just keep fighting it. And at some point, you are going to win it. That's who we are. We are a championship team. We have earned that and we proved that tonight if anybody had any doubt." Yet as remarkable as this comeback victory was, it was just that--one more victory and one more step in an odyssey that has not yet ended.
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