Ninety-seven yards, four overtimes and Alabama’s improbable Iron Bowl win

• College football reporter
• Joined ESPN.com in 2007
• Graduate of the University of Tennessee

AUBURN, Ala. — It took four overtimes to settle the longest Iron Bowl in history.

It took a little more than a minute — in one of the more memorable drives in this storied rivalry’s history — for sophomore quarterback Bryce Young to etch his name a little more firmly in Alabama football lore.

And when it was over, and Alabama had survived 24-22 over Auburn, Young looked and sounded as cool, calm and collected as he did earlier in the evening Saturday when he stood there in his own end zone waiting for the shotgun snap with 1:35 to play in regulation, his team trailing 10-3 and Jordan-Hare Stadium bursting at the seams in full rock-concert mode.

“We knew what was at stake, and in a situation like that, there’s nobody I’d rather be with than the guys I have out there,” Young said. “We had all the confidence in the world.”

Auburn had stonewalled Young and Alabama’s offense for much of the game. Young was sacked seven times and repeatedly under duress, as the Crimson Tide managed just 71 rushing yards.

It got so hairy in the first half that Alabama offensive linemen Evan Neal and Damieon George were going at it on the sideline and had to be separated. The Crimson Tide had more punts (six) than first downs (four) in the first half and fell behind 10-0 in the early minutes of the third quarter.

“I just had a feeling that with the way we were playing on defense that we were going to have an opportunity to come back in the game,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said.

Sure enough, with Alabama staring a second loss this season to an unranked team squarely in the face, Young and some not-so-usual suspects delivered with a 12-play, 97-yard touchdown drive to force overtime and send the Crimson Tide to their 11th consecutive season of 11 or more wins.

“Our receivers and Bryce made some plays down the stretch when they needed to, and that was the difference in the game,” Saban said.

“Wow, what a game!”

And what a drive.

John Metchie III, whose two-point conversion catch from Young won it for the Crimson Tide in the fourth overtime, said it was anything but a rah-rah huddle before Alabama set sail on its game-tying drive in regulation.

“Not too much was said, and not too much had to be said,” Metchie said. “We do it every day in practice. We prepare for this, and what we do in the toughest situations is what we prepare for. So not too much had to be said.”

Metchie finished the game with 13 catches for 150 yards and was playing without his sidekick Jameson Williams. Alabama’s leader in touchdown receptions was ejected in the first half for targeting on a special teams’ play.

Not only that, but leading rusher Brian Robinson Jr. left the game in the fourth quarter with an injury, and the Tide had to make two substitutions in the offensive line after giving up five first-half sacks.

“The kid is the G.O.A.T. Just following the general, man,” Metchie said of his sophomore quarterback, who has now passed for 40 touchdowns and just four interceptions this season.

It’s a drive that started innocently enough.

With no timeouts and 1:35 to play in regulation, Young misfired on his first two throws. Then on third-and-10, he had to evade the rush, stepped up from the shadow of his own end zone and connected with Metchie for 22 yards. Young then scrambled for nine yards, and on second-and-1, threw a strike to freshman Ja’Corey Brooks for 21 yards to the Auburn 45.

Alabama was in business, but a short run by Young and back-to-back incompletions, set up a fourth-and-7. The game hanging in the balance, Young found junior tight end Jahleel Billingsley open cutting toward the sideline for 14 yards to the 28.

Coming into the game, Brooks had caught two passes all season, and Billingsley was listed No. 3 on the depth chart after spending much of the season on Saban’s bad side.

“It’s just making sure you’re ready when your number is called,” Young said.

On the next play, Brooks pulled in a beautifully thrown pass from Young over his shoulder and got his foot down inbounds for a 28-yard touchdown, and what was once an ear-splitting Jordan-Hare Stadium was suddenly eerily quiet.

“Over and over and over, we came up with plays when we needed to come up with plays,” said Saban, adding that it was the happiest he’s seen the players after a game this season.

After having lost so many offensive stars from last year to the NFL — from DeVonta Smith to Mac Jones to Najee Harris — it’s been a struggle for Alabama at times this season. Never was that more apparent than the first half Saturday against an Auburn team that had lost three straight games entering the Iron Bowl.

The Tide had just two rushing yards at the half, and Young rarely had time to throw. In fact, through the first three quarters, he was 12-of-26 for 138 yards and no touchdowns. But in the fourth quarter and overtime periods, he was 12-of-22 for 174 yards and two touchdowns.

Saban said Alabama’s struggles in the first half weren’t Young’s fault.

“We weren’t giving him much of a chance,” Saban said. “But he’s got a lot of mental toughness and a lot of grit about him. He’s kind of quiet in his demeanor and the way he goes about things, but was always telling the offense, ‘We’ll get this right and we’ll be all right.’

“The players really believe in him.”

Likewise, Saban never wavered in his confidence that Alabama would find a way on that final drive in regulation. His message to his offense before it trotted out onto the field was short and sweet.

“You worked all year long to put yourself in this position,” Saban told his players. “You’re not going to get a lot more opportunities like this … make the most of it.”

Now, Alabama will try to make the most of a shot at No. 1 Georgia this coming Saturday in the SEC championship game, a game the Crimson Tide will almost certainly have to win to make the College Football Playoff.

But nobody in or around the Alabama locker room was talking about Georgia, the playoff or anything else Saturday night other than what had just gone down on the Plains.

“Most of the time, I remember the ones we lose, but I think I will remember this one because of the way the players competed in the game,” Saban said. “There were many times we could have thrown in the towel and didn’t.”

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