For 59 minutes and 21 seconds, they had it all. You could feel it. Auburn could feel it, too. The greatest upset the sport had ever seen was firmly in its grasp. And like that, without an ounce of warning or care for the history in the works, it was gone.
When Jacksonville State head coach John Grass hopped off the team bus on Saturday night, he tried to process what had just transpired. He tried to find the middle ground of emotion—something between overpowering pride and punishing disappointment.
As he took his family out for dinner, his phone exploded.