No. 3 Alabama completed a rally for the history books to knock off Auburn, 24-22, in four overtimes on Saturday night. The first game in Iron Bowl history to continue past regulation started with the Crimson Tide trailing 10-0 until midway through the fourth quarter. However, the Tide finally scored their first touchdown with 24 seconds left to force overtime, where the scoring continued.
Once there, the teams traded touchdowns in the first OT period and swapped field goals in the second to set up a battle of two-point conversion plays beginning with the third OT. After they each converted their first attempts, Alabama won the game in the fourth OT when wide receiver John Metchie III hauled in a pass from quarterback Bryce Young. A pass from Auburn QB T.J. Finley pass fell incomplete on the previous play.
Young struggled in the first half against a swarming Auburn defense but settled down late in the game. He hit Ja’Corey Brooks for a 28-yard touchdown with 24 seconds left in regulation to force overtime. Brooks was playing a more prominent role in the game after Jameson Williams, Alabama’s top wide receiver and a Biletnikoff Award finalist, was ejected for targeting covering a punt in the second quarter. Without him, the Tide offense struggled for much of the day.
The Tigers had a great chance to run out the clock after Alabama turned the ball over on downs with 2 minutes left and just two timeouts remaining. However, Auburn running back Tank Bigsby stopped the clock by running out of bounds while striving for a first down on the ensuing possession. If he’d reached the first down marker, Auburn might have been able to run out the clock. Instead, Alabama got a stop on third down and regained the football back with enough time to drive for the game-tying score.
The victory sends Alabama (11-1) to next week’s 2021 SEC Championship Game against No. 1 Georgia (12-0) with momentum. The loss means that Auburn finishes the regular season with four consecutive defeats and a 6-6 overall record under first-year coach Bryan Harsin.
CBS Sports will update this story with more from the game, including takeaways about both teams.