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88th Iron Bowl
Jordan–Hare Stadium, the site of the game.
Alabama Crimson Tide Auburn Tigers (10–1) (6–5) 27 24 Head coach:  Nick Saban Head coach:  Hugh Freeze AP Coaches CFP 8 8 8
1 2 3 4 Total Alabama 7 10 3 7 27 Auburn 7 7 7 3 24
Date	November 25, 2023
Season	2023
Stadium	Jordan–Hare Stadium
Location	Auburn, Alabama
Favorite	Alabama by 13.5
Attendance	88,043
United States TV coverage
Network	CBS
Announcers	Brad Nessler (play-by-play) Gary Danielson (color) Jenny Dell (sideline)
Nielsen ratings	4.3

4th and 31, also known as "The Nightmare in Jordan–Hare", was an American football play during the fourth quarter of the 88th Iron Bowl college football game played at Jordan–Hare Stadium in Auburn, Alabama on Saturday, November 25, 2023. The game featured the No. 8-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide (10–1, 7–0 in the SEC) as a 13.5-point favorite over the Auburn Tigers (6–5, 3–4 in the SEC).

After a relatively close game throughout its duration, Auburn found itself with a four point lead with 10:15 left in the fourth quarter. With 6:19 left in the game, Alabama gained possession of the ball after a quick Auburn possession. After a three-and-out by Alabama, Alabama elected to punt towards Auburn's Koy Moore. However, Moore fumbled the punt, which was recovered by Alabama. Advancing to the Auburn 8-yard line with 1:43 remaining on 2nd and goal, Alabama's Jalen Milroe muffed the snap, causing an 18 yard loss. On third and goal, Milroe was penalized for an illegal forward pass, setting up a 4th and goal with 31 yards left to gain with 43 seconds remaining. On the final play of Alabama's drive, Milroe threw to receiver Isaiah Bond, who was able to catch the pass for a touchdown. Alabama was able to then clinch the victory after intercepting the ball on the last play of the game, completing an improbable victory for the Crimson Tide.

The game was played in front of a sellout crowd of 88,043 and televised nationwide on CBS, posting an 4.3 rating with an average viewership of 9.09 million viewers during the game. The name "The Nightmare in Jordan–Hare" was given to the game as a derogatory parody on the "Prayer at Jordan-Hare" game, where Auburn against Georgia won on a tipped pass play. The game was also seen by Alabama as retribution for the "Kick Six" game a decade earlier in 2013, where Alabama lost on the final play of the game on a 100-yard field goal return against Auburn at Jordan–Hare Stadium.

Following the game, Alabama went on to win against the Georgia Bulldogs in the 2023 SEC Championship Game, later earning a berth in the College Football Playoff (CFP) as the fourth seed. The moment was seen as a pivotal moment for keeping Alabama's CFP chances alive, as if they had lost the game, the team would have been eliminated from contention from CFP consideration by the CFP Committee.

Background

See also: 2023 Auburn Tigers football team, 2023 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, and Iron Bowl

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 (culminating every year at the Iron Bowl) 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 48-37-1 record.

Following a 5–7 season in 2022, Auburn hired Hugh Freeze as their head coach.

The teams came into the 2023 season following drastically different 2022 seasons. The Alabama Crimson Tide, under the guise of longtime head coach Nick Saban, finished with an 11–2 record, with losses to Tennessee and LSU. The team managed to win the 2022 Sugar Bowl against Kansas State by a margin of 25 points, being ranked fifth in the nation. Meanwhile, the Auburn Tigers, initially under the guise of second-year head coach Bryan Harsin, continued a streak of sub-par seasons, finishing 5–7. During the season, Auburn fired Harsin eight games into the season in favor of their running backs coach, Cadillac Williams. Following the 2022 season, Williams returned to his position as the running backs coach, with Hugh Freeze being hired to replace Wililams.

Pre-game

Alabama was expected to handily beat Auburn according to betting odds, who entered the game as 13.5-point underdogs. However, while most reporters predicted Alabama would win, some doubted the game would be a blowout, citing Alabama's struggles to win comfortably against Auburn while playing at Jordan-Hare Stadium in previous matchups, most notably the Kick Six game. On November 21, The Tuscaloosa News writer Nick Kelly suggested that "the fact this game is being played in Auburn will make for a closer matchup than had it been in Tuscaloosa", predicting that Alabama would win by seven points. Mark Edwards, writer at The Anniston Star, also predicted an Alabama victory but had them only winning by two points, stating that "weird things happen there when Auburn hosts Alabama." In a 247Sports report that compiled nearly 70 media members' predictions on the game, all but two reporters from Auburn Undercover predicted Alabama would win.

Game recap

Broadcast and game notes

The game was broadcast on CBS as part of their SEC on CBS coverage and was also available to stream on Paramount+. Brad Nessler provided play-by-play commentary, Gary Danielson performed as the color analyst, and Jenny Dell reported from the sidelines.

The weather during the game was partly cloudy, with temperatures ranging from the the high-50s to the low-60s °F (mid-10s °C). Overall attendance was recorded as 88,043. The game kicked off at 2:40 p.m. and ended at 6:02 p.m., having lasted a total of three hours and forty-two minutes.

Fourth quarter

Final Alabama drive

Alabama gained possession of the ball with

Final seconds

With 32 seconds left, Reichard kicked off to Battie, who returned it for 15 yards. With 26 seconds left, Thorne fumbled the ball while he was sacked, with Auburn recovering the ball on the one-yard line. In the final play of the game, Thorne threw an interception to Alabama defensive back Terrion Arnold, who nearly returned it for a pick-six, instead going out of bounds at the three yard line, securing a victory for the Crimson Tide.

Scoring summary

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP Alabama Auburn 1 14:23 8 69 3:30 Alabama Roydell Williams 2-yard touchdown run, Will Reichard kick good 7 0 1 7:14 5 68 2:14 Auburn Damari Alston 4-yard touchdown run, Alex McPherson kick good 7 7 1 5:00 12 56 5:51 Alabama 32-yard field goal by Will Reichard 10 7 2 3:32 3 88 0:52 Auburn Ja'Varrius Johnson 12-yard touchdown run, Alex McPherson kick good 10 14 2 2:17 3 81 0:44 Alabama Jermaine Burton 68-yard touchdown reception from Jalen Milroe, Will Richard kick good 17 14 3 15:00 12 71 5:48 Alabama 22-yard field goal by Will Reichard 20 14 3 9:12 5 75 2:36 Auburn Ja'Varrius Johnson 68-yard touchdown reception from Payton Thorne, Alex McPherson kick good 20 21 3 3:33 16 72 8:18 Auburn 21-yard field goal by Alex McPherson 20 24 4 4:48 9 30 4:16 Alabama Isaiah Bond 31-yard touchdown reception from Jalen Milroe, Will Reichard kick good 27 24 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 27 24

Aftermath

Alabama

With the victory, Alabama was able to keep their College Football Playoff (CFP) chances alive. Before the game, Alabama was regarded to have slim chances to make the CFP.

Auburn

Auburn ended their regular season and their first season under Hugh Freeze with a 6–6 record. Freeze later stated about the game in a press conference that "We didn’t play good enough in the critical moments... It really came down to those few plays in a game like this... it makes the hurt that much more when you don’t get it done. But I’m proud of the way they fought and bounced back and I thought they executed our plan pretty well." Auburn, who was bowl eligible, was selected to play in the 2023 Music City Bowl against the Maryland Terrapins.

Freeze was criticized for his calling of the final defensive play of the game, which despite dropping eight players into covering five Alabama receivers and applying virtually no quarterback pressure, there was a coverage mismatch on Isaiah Bond. In an interview with the Opelika-Auburn News, Freeze defended his play call, stating his belief that Milroe was a mobile quarterback. He stated that, "If you do [rush Milroe], we haven’t really got him on the ground very much, and he can scramble around, and you’re going to have a bunch of one-on-ones back there... Or you can drop everybody, and play 5-under, 3-deep and just play vision on the ball, knock the ball down because it has to go in the end zone." He later criticized the Auburn defense for a lack of execution and for letting cornerback DJ Jones defend Bond by himself. Freeze also stated that while Koy Moore's muffed punt return was a pivotal point in Alabama's victory, he would still defend Moore, stating, "Koy has been solid all year [returning punts], I didn’t know that in the moment, but you have to play backups sometimes... Koy has been as dependable as can be... Unfortunately, he just had a bad break there.”

Media reaction

Dothan Eagle writer Jon Johnson wrote for Auburn, the loss was able to "save face" and that Auburn had "played one of its best games of the season" after they had lost the previous week to New Mexico State, stating that before the game, "it was hard to imagine going into it that Auburn could trade blows with Alabama for very long." Chris Low of ESPN.com w

The Athletic writer Kennington Smith III called the game the "Nightmare at Jordan-Hare" in a parody of the Prayer at Jordan-Hare game, when Auburn won against Georgia when a 76-yard pass play was tipped towards Auburn's Ricardo Louis, giving Auburn an unlikely victory. Yahoo! Sports writer Jay Busbee stated that the game had been Alabama's "revenge" for the Kick Six, a game that had happened a decade earlier between Auburn and Alabama that had saw Auburn cornerback Chris Davis return a 100-yard field goal return on the final play of the game. In other reports, the game was also remarked for being the 10th anniversary of the Kick Six. The Tuscaloosa News writer Nick Kelly later compared the "improbable victories" of both the Kick Six and the 88th Iron Bowl, stating that "The Tigers had their unbelievable, inimitable play 10 years ago. Now, the Crimson Tide has its own." According to football and motorsports author Joe Menzer, when Jalen Milroe was asked about what the game should be called, he stated that his father. Quentin, deserved credit, stating, "My dad and I trained constantly through the off-season, and the biggest thing my dad is big on is repetition... It just was just falling back to your level of training."