Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer, What Happened, Alabama?

“Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer……” You know the chant. If your team has played Alabama, you’ve heard it. It’s the chant that’s crowed by Alabama fans when their team takes home games, Championships and Crystal Balls.

It’s chanted when they beat you. It’s a reminder that Alabama’s beaten you, and they’ve beaten the hell out of you.

Well at Jordan-Hare Stadium – and against Auburn, their most hated rival whatever the season – it was a little different.

“Heeeeeeeeey Bama! Heeeeeeeeeey Bama! We just beat the hell outta you! Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer Go To Hell, Alabama!” screamed 80,000 crazed Auburn fans after they’d witnessed Chris Davis take a last-second 57-yard field goal attempt from Alabama kicker Aaron Griffith back 100-or-so yards to the house for an Auburn score that left a country – or at least this writer – screaming: “Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!” over and over again. To quote the great Jack Buck, I didn’t believe what I just saw.

Nick Saban, the orchestrator of a lot of Auburn fans’ misery over the years, looked aghast. So did the Auburn sideline. The faces of the Alabama fans in the crowd didn’t look as though they’d lost a game. They looked as though they’d lost a child, a spouse or a parent. Hell, even CBS’ Special Alabama Cheerleaders Uncle Verne and Gary Danielson sounded as though they were going to cry.

Truth be told, the game shouldn’t have even been this close. Alabama didn’t miss one field goal. They missed three field goals even before the 56-yarder. Cade Foster had a case of the LSU-2011s, in which Alabama kickers – when it seems easier to put the pigskin through the posts – missed and LSU stole a victory in Tuscaloosa.

But it wasn’t that. AJ “Heisman Sports Illustrated NFL First Round National Champion” McCarron started badly. Amari Cooper and other receivers dropped pretty easy first down chances. They were bad on special teams. TJ Yeldon couldn’t get it going at the running back position. Saban’s machine looked as though it was short-circuiting. The weight of the day – a day in which the loser of the Iron Bowl would not pass ‘Go’, not collect $200, and not hit the jackpot of the SEC Championship Game and possible National Championship Game – seemed too much.

Auburn struck first. 7-0. Nick Marshall. Then Alabama struck back, counter-punching with three straight touchdowns to make it 21-7. At that point, Auburn was on the floor, reeling. Jordan-Hare was silent. The crowd were probably beginning to discuss what time to hit the exits to get beer. With 1.40 left in the half, Tre Mason scored, and Uncle Verne reminded us that his dad used to be in a ‘rap group’ (De La Soul, for your information).

Then in the second half, Auburn roared back. 21-21. Then, in the fourth quarter, Alabama delivered a rocking hard punch of its own. They were inside their own 1. The only way backwards was safety-land. Or worse. Then AJ Heisman Jesus McCarron stood up in the pocket, saw a safety cheat a little, and throw a 99-yard touchdown to Amari Cooper, which sucked the wind out of the stadium once again.

Alabama was celebrating. It was over, people. But no. Auburn came roaring back. Nick Marshall hit Sammie Coates with a 39-yard pass to make it 28-28. Jordan-Hare went batshit crazy again.

Then the bizarro happened. Alabama was driving and we all thought: “This one’s over. Free football. Take a knee, go to overtime, we can all win”. But Coach Saban, despite the fact that he had AJ Superman and the other offensive weapons as well as a stout defense, did something totally freaking illogical. He decided to try and nail a 56-yard field goal with a kicker who HAD HAD ONLY TWO TRIES IN HIS ENTIRE COLLEGE CAREER…..AND MISSED ONE OF THEM.

The rest was history.

Remember this: If Saban had nailed that kick, we would be talking about the Superballs of Nick Saban. We would have been talking about Iron Balls in an Iron Bowl. Instead, Auburn celebrated, and are going to Atlanta.

Oh, and they are playing Missouri for a title. Like the crazy season it’s been, we didn’t see that coming, either.