AUBURN, Ala. — Alabama is headed back to Mercedes-Benz Stadium to face Georgia aiming to repeat as SEC champions and punch its ticket to the College Football Playoff.
First things first, Alabama (11-1, 7-1 SEC) will need to catch its collective breath.
The Crimson Tide defeated Auburn (6-6, 3-5) by a 24-22 count Saturday in a breathtaking four-overtime affair at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Alabama’s Heisman Trophy candidate Bryce Young was 25-of-51 passing for 317 yards and two touchdowns.
Young sent the game into overtime with a 97-yard last-minute drive and found John Metchie for the winning score in the fourth overtime for an encore.
Auburn quarterback T.J. Finley (17-26 passing, 137 yards, 2 TDs, interception) threw incomplete on the Tigers’ fourth OT possession, opening the door for the Tide’s victory.
Metchie led the Tide wideouts with 150 yards on 13 receptions, pressed to pick up the slack after SEC receiving leader Jameson Williams was ejected at the 9:02 mark of a scoreless game in the second quarter for targeting.
Williams, who had two catches for 43 yards to that point, was on the punt-coverage team when he put the illegal hit on Auburn’s Ja’Varrius Johnson.
The Tigers were first on the scoreboard five plays later, when Kobe Hudson caught a swing pass from Finley and raced 15 yards into the end zone.
Former Georgia Bulldogs receiver Demetris Robertson set up the score, reeling in a 29-yard pass from Finley on the previous play to convert on third-and-15.
Auburn’s 7-0 lead held up through the first half, both defenses making life miserable for the quarterbacks.
Saban, perhaps looking to break the tension, had a simple message for his young team.
“I told them to have fun at halftime,” Saban said. “Quit worrying about the result, and let’s just go have fun.
“After halftime, it seemed like everybody was all in, and we were fighting like I’ve never seen us fight all year long. It’s a great feeling; players were as happy as I’ve seen them after a game.”
The Tide rallied from the 10-0 deficit in the fourth quarter, Young overcoming an Auburn pass rush that sacked him seven times to engineer a last-minute touchdown drive.
Young led a 12-play, 97-yard drive over the final 1-1/2 minutes, finding Ja’Corey Brooks in the corner of the end zone with 24 seconds left. Will Reichard’s conversion kick tied the score at 10-10.
“Throughout all the ups and downs, even that last drive, I have so much confidence in my guys,” said Young, who completed 5 of 10 passes on the final drive and scrambled twice.
“We had some adversity we combated together .... that was the biggest thing, was making sure we were on the same page.”
Saban’s ninth SEC West Division crown sets up No. 3-ranked Alabama for a 4 p.m. showdown against No. 1-ranked Georgia on Saturday.
UGA capped its regular season with a 45-0 victory at Georgia Tech earlier Saturday afternoon. The Bulldogs have won 16 consecutive games, the longest active win streak in the NCAA and the second-longest in UGA history (17, 1945-47).
The only streak that will be talked about next week will be Saban’s dominance over Georgia coach Kirby Smart, who spent nine years in Tuscaloosa at Saban’s side, serving as the Tide’s defensive coordinator before returning to Athens to coach his alma mater.
Alabama has won all three meetings with Georgia since Smart took over as head coach in 2016, winning the 2017 CFP Championship game 26-23 in overtime, the 2018 SEC Championship game 35-28, and last season’s meeting in Tuscaloosa, 41-24.
An exuberant Smart made it clear he couldn’t wait to get his football team, riding its wave of momentum, into Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“The SEC Championship (game) is one of the greatest environments in all of college sports,” Smart said after the Bulldogs’ blowout win over the Yellow Jackets.
“It compares with the Final Four, compares with the College World Series. It’s one of the greatest events.”
The 2021 Alabama-Auburn game certainly made a case for the Iron Bowl to be considered among collegiate sports’ top events, too.
“Most of the time, I remember the ones we lose,” Saban said. “But I think I’ll remember this one because of the way the players competed in the game.
“It was a great comeback. There were many times they could have thrown in the towel … but we’d always get a sack or get a stop.”
