Auburn’s first win, the Iron Bowl and more top moments from Tigers’ 2019 football season
Ninth-ranked (tied) Auburn’s 2019 regular season wrapped up with a memorable 48-45 win over ninth-ranked (tied) Alabama on Nov. 30, a game that concluded a 9-3 season for the Tigers and effectively eliminated the Crimson Tide from contention for a New Year’s Six bowl.
The win provided a positive note on which the Tigers could end their season, which was full of positives and negatives.
Auburn’s season-opening win over Oregon was one of the more memorable plays in recent Tigers’ history, as Bo Nix hit Seth Williams for the game-winning score with just nine seconds remaining. But the season provided a fair share of frustrations for Auburn fans: the Tigers’ offense fell flat in losses to No. 6 Florida and top-ranked LSU, and a fourth-down missed throw by Nix in the Tigers’ 21-14 loss to No. 5 Georgia ended what looked to be the game-tying drive.
Auburn beat reporter Joshua Mixon helped document the Tigers’ season. Below, he shares his top five moments from it.
5. Derrick Brown destroys an Ole Miss running back
Auburn defensive tackle Derrick Brown was a force on the Tigers’ defensive line, anchoring one of the top defensive front sevens in the nation. Brown is no stranger to handing out big hits to opponents, but his open-field tackle against Ole Miss was quite a sight to see.
The Rebels snapped the ball as Auburn was attempting a late substitution. Brown, sprinting towards the line of scrimmage, was barely in the television picture as Ole Miss running back Jerrion Ealy caught a pass out of the backfield — which just happened to lead him directly into the path of the charging Brown.
Brown, the AP SEC Defensive Player of the Year, is listed as 6-foot-5, 318 pounds. Ealy is listed as 5-foot-9, 180 pounds. The result was a crushing hit, delivered by the senior, four yards deep in the backfield.
“Auburn’s got a good defense,” Ole Miss coach Matt Luke said after the game. “They’re really good. They give a lot of people problems. ... we didn’t execute great. A lot of that has to do with the defense that you’re playing, so give those guys credit.”
4. Anthony Schwartz silences Kyle Field
Anthony Schwartz’s eyes lit up when the play was called.
That play was a textbook end-around. Nix took the shotgun snap and handed the ball to running back JaTarvious “Boobee” Whitlow, who ran a few steps to his right and tossed the ball to Schwartz.
Nix threw a block. Everybody else could have just stood and watched.
Goodbye, Texas A&M defense. Hello, end zone.
What few angles the Aggie defenders did have (they had two, but that might be a bit generous) stood only as false hope as the sophomore raced home for a 57-yard score that shocked the 100,000-plus at Kyle Field into silence and sparked Auburn’s 28-20 win over the Aggies.
“Man, he’s fast!” one passerby said of Schwartz.
3. Goal-line stand vs. LSU
Midway through the third quarter of the Tigers’ game against LSU in Baton Rouge, La., LSU was gifted a fresh set of downs inside the Auburn 3-yard line. The official drive chart lists the drive as eight plays for 74 yards, though most of those eight plays came near Auburn’s goal line.
Auburn stopped LSU on four consecutive plays, forcing a turnover on downs and preserving its 13-10 lead with 8:36 left in the third quarter. LSU ultimately won the game 23-20, its lowest point total of the season.
For comparison, the Tigers scored 37 points on Georgia, which tried to run a defensive scheme to the one Auburn deployed against the Tigers, in the SEC Championship game on a neutral field.
2. The pick six, the missed kick and Malzahn outsmarts Saban
There’s just something about Jordan-Hare Stadium. And Alabama kickers. And crazy things happening in the Iron Bowl.
2019’s edition of the rivalry featured all of the above, including (but not limited to): A pick-six of 100 yards, a 98-yard kickoff return touchdown and a game-winning penalty flag.
The Crimson Tide had the ball first-and-goal at the Auburn 2-yard line following a pair of flags on the Tigers defense. Alabama quarterback Mac Jones took the snap and faked a handoff to running back Nahjee Harris. He was immediately pressured, though, and threw a desperate pass. That pass struck the back of an Alabama receiver, and fell right into the hands of Tigers linebacker Zakoby McClain, who promptly returned the interception 100 yards for a touchdown, sending the packed house at Jordan-Hare Stadium into a frenzy.
The final score hung in the balance, until Alabama’s final offensive drive. But the Crimson Tide’s hopes of another College Football Playoff appearance struck the upright and fell harmlessly to the Pat Dye Field grass along with Alabama kicker Joseph Bulovas’ 30-yard field goal attempt — a glorified extra point — with two minutes left.
And to cap off the night, Malzahn forced the Crimson Tide into a game-ending 12 men on the field penalty by sticking punter Arryn Sipos out at receiver.
1. Nix to Williams
The No. 1 moment of the season came late in game No. 1.
Nix’s first career start against the Oregon Ducks in Arlington, Tx., saw the freshman struggle at times, and flash his potential at other times. His stats were not great: He finished 13-of-31 for 177 yards, two touchdowns and two first-half interceptions. But late-game Nix was a much different player.
Nix’s scramble on fourth down, in which he made the first down by a third of the football, kept the Tigers’ chances alive. He looked like a quarterback in rhythm on his 13-yard throw to receiver Williams. Then, with 16 seconds remaining and trailing by one point, Malzahn opted not to try for a field goal.
Instead, he sent the offense back out for one more play, presumably to gain more yardage and make the field goal try easier. Nix promptly hit Williams for a 26-yard, game-winning touchdown with nine seconds left.
KEEP UP WITH THE TIGERS
- Twitter: @JoshDMixon; @wareagleaxtra; @guerryclegg
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