Kick Six
The Kick Six was the final play of the 78th Iron Bowl college football game played on November 30, 2013, at Jordan–Hare Stadium in Auburn, Alabama. The game featured the No. 1–ranked and two-time defending national champion Alabama Crimson Tide as a 10-point favorite over the No. 4-ranked Auburn Tigers. The game had significant postseason implications, with both teams ranked in the top 5 and a berth to the SEC Championship Game and, potentially, the BCS National Championship Game, at stake.
After falling behind in the 2nd quarter and then again in the 4th, Auburn rallied to tie the game at 28–28 with 32 seconds remaining. After the ensuing kickoff, Alabama quickly moved to the Auburn 38-yard line, at which point the clock ran out, seemingly sending the game to overtime. Alabama coach Nick Saban challenged the timekeeping call and one second was put back on the clock after a video review. The Crimson Tide lined up for a potential game-winning 57-yard field goal and the kick was short, allowing Auburn's Chris Davis, who had been positioned near the goal line, to catch the ball just in front of the goal posts. Davis ran across the entire field through players from both teams to the opposite end zone, improbably scoring the winning touchdown for Auburn on the last play of the game.
The game was played in front of a sellout crowd of 87,451 and televised nationwide on CBS, posting an 8.2 Nielsen rating with over 13 million viewers during the final half-hour, making it the most watched regular season game of the 2013 college football season. Some sportswriters have argued that Davis' return is the single greatest moment in college football history. At the 2014 ESPY Awards, it was named the best play and the best game of the year in all of North American sports. In the years following the game, the name "Kick Six", a variant of the term "pick-six", has been commonly used to identify both the final play and the game.
Following the game, Alabama played in the Sugar Bowl, falling to Oklahoma 45–31. Auburn won the SEC Championship Game and went on to play in the BCS National Championship Game, where they lost to Florida State, 34–31.
Background
The football programs representing the University of Alabama and Auburn University first met in 1893 and have played every year since 1948. Over time the two in-state foes developed a rivalry that is considered to be one of the best and fiercest in all of college football. Entering the game, Alabama held the series lead with a 42–34–1 record.The two teams came into the 2013 season following drastically different 2012 seasons. Despite an upset at the hands of Texas A&M, Alabama ultimately finished as SEC champions after a close game against the Georgia Bulldogs and went on to soundly defeat Notre Dame 42–14 for their second consecutive national title, and their third in four years, cementing themselves as a dynasty under head coach Nick Saban. Meanwhile, two years after their own National Championship victory, the Auburn Tigers suffered through their worst season in 60 years, finishing 3–9 with an 0–8 SEC record, capped by a 49–0 loss to Alabama in the 2012 Iron Bowl–their second consecutive blowout loss in the game. Head coach Gene Chizik was fired at the end of the season in favor of Arkansas State head coach and former Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn.
Alabama entered the 2013 season ranked #1 and remained at the top of the polls for the entire season, rolling through their schedule with relative ease, winning all but one of their games by more than 10 points. Auburn, on the other hand, entered the season unranked and did not enter the AP Poll until the midpoint of the season. Auburn's season was defined by a series of come-from-behind wins and close finishes. Auburn defeated Mississippi State in September on a late touchdown pass. The following month, No. 24 Auburn came from behind on the road to beat No. 7 Texas A&M. Following the victory against Texas A&M, Auburn was ranked #11 in the AP poll. Two weeks before the Iron Bowl, No. 7 Auburn defeated rival Georgia with a tipped Hail Mary pass known as the "Prayer at Jordan–Hare", setting the stage for a highly ranked Iron Bowl matchup.
Alabama was predicted by analysts to conclude the 2013–14 season with a BCS record third straight national title, their fourth in five years. The winner of the previous four Iron Bowls went on to win the national championship: Alabama in 2009, 2011, and 2012, and Auburn in 2010. Entering the 2013 Iron Bowl, Alabama and Auburn were ranked No. 1 and No. 4 respectively in the BCS rankings, making it only the second matchup in the history of the rivalry to feature two Top 5 teams, and the highest-ranked Iron Bowl ever. It was also the first Iron Bowl in which both teams were playing for a berth to the SEC Championship. Alabama entered the game undefeated in the previous three years and 24 days in games played outside of their home field in Tuscaloosa, their last loss prior to those 18 consecutive road victories coming on November 6, 2010, at LSU.
With Alabama favored by 10 points, Auburn was a decided underdog in the eyes of most analysts. Marq Burnett of the Alabama-based Anniston Star went as far as to list seven reasons why Auburn could not beat Alabama, including Alabama's tough run defense, perceived unstoppable offense, and the superior coaching skills of Nick Saban over Gus Malzahn. Joel Erickson of The Birmingham News was one of the few writers to pick Auburn, predicting a score of 31–28. Similar predictions were shared during ESPN's College GameDay, which was broadcast live from outside Jordan–Hare Stadium prior to the game. The program's panel of Kirk Herbstreit, David Pollack, and Lee Corso, as well as Paul Finebaum, unanimously picked Alabama to win the game. Auburn alumnus and NBA on TNT personality Charles Barkley, who appeared as a celebrity guest, went against the panel and chose Auburn to win the game.