AUBURN, Ala. — They were ready. Ready to stream down the concrete aisles and over the aluminum benches of Jordan-Hare Stadium, ready to leap over — and, for some, fall into — the four-foot-wide hedges encircling the field. Auburn — unranked, unheralded Auburn — was 43 seconds away from knocking off mighty Alabama, and that always demands a celebration.
But this game is one of the most cursed and chaotic in college football, one where no team can feel comfortable for very long. Earlier in the evening, Auburn had celebrated the Kick Six, the most famous play in college football history, a miraculous victory yanked out of the ether on this very field, 10 years ago almost to the day.