Quite frankly, almost everyone here would agree with this assessment if it was anything besides Auburn beating Alabama. But that blind spot of fans and refusal to just flat out admit we got beat up and up endures among college football fans.
If you're going to assess it objectively, it's certainly ONE of the greatest. Of course, greatest is a nebulous term, but I think all you have to do is look closely at the other candidates, and it is eminently reasonable that Play That Shall Not Be Named (PTSNB) is among the greatest plays if not THE greatest play.
Let's look at a few of what have been proposed here.
1) The Goal Line Stand Vs Penn State, 1979
Hell, I hate to be a wet blanket, but that wasn't even the greatest goal line stand in the Penn State-Alabama series, so how in the world can it possibly be the best in the history of the game? Also, the goal line stand - technically - was more than one play, it was a series of plays. Furthermore, while the GLS has assumed the status of legend among college football fans, it's a lot like the idiots who think Bill Buckner lost the World Series or Steve Bartman lost the playoffs.......it's not true no matter how many times you hear it.
Alabama botched the punt after the successful GLS. However, Penn State had 12 men on the field, and we kept the ball. In no way do I deny it's importance historically in Tide lore (and it was the first Alabama game I ever saw), but it's stretching the truth immensely to say it was the greatest play(s) ever. We had one in the 1981 Penn St game in Happy Valley, the game where Bryant tied Stagg's record of 314 wins.....but almost nobody remembers it.
Why? Simple - it wasn't a game with a "lot" of national significance in the national title race. (It SHOULD have been.......it was #5 Penn St vs #6 Alabama.....but almost nobody recalls anything about the game).
2) Flutie To Phelan, 1984
I did not see this game as it occurred on Black Friday, and Mom and I went shopping for some kerosene heaters for the winter (got two of them!). But I did watch ESPN SportsCenter when I got home, and here's the thing: the coverage of it in those more reserved days was almost "ho hum." I mean, Flutie was so all over the media coverage of 1984 that NOBODY WAS SHOCKED when he threw the bomb that beat Miami. Indeed, while it was a great play, I think it would have been more shocking had he NOT completed the Hail Mary. Flutie was the recipient of a ton of hype that fall, my suspicion being because he was the first white Heisman winner since Cappelletti in 1973, and he also attended a school known more for academics than athletics. So he was put on a pedestal, especially because he was so short.
But NOBODY who was alive and paying even minimal attention at that time was remotely surprised that Flutie won that game, either. Indeed, the Kordell Stewart to Michael Westbrook Hail Mary at the Big House in 1994 was actually more dramatic, even if it didn't clinch a Heisman for the quarterback.
Now.....what do these two things I've said reveal? First, the greatest play HAD to be nationally televised so that everyone could see it. Second, the stakes must have been enormous (see GLS). And third, it had to have a certain level of stunning shock and awe rather than "well, ho hum" (Flutie's play).
Given those criteria....how would you now rank PTSNB now?
3) Five Laterals Through The Tubas, 1982
OK, now, let's just get something straight here......yes, it was a great play.....but....
a) it was between two .500 ball clubs going nowhere (so who really cares?)
b) the game was shown on the USA Network, not exactly a bastion of college football even back then
c) almost nobody even knows ANYTHING about the game EXCEPT the final play........they don't know the final score, they don't know what led up to it, many folks don't even know the names of the two teams in the game.......or that what set it up was a sensational drive by Stanford QB John Elway (who was never heard from again), including converting a 4th and 17 at his own 13-yard line...
All anyone really knows is the announcer screaming, "THE BAND IS ON THE FIELD!!!" They don't know why, don't even know who scored the touchdown....literally 99% of fans don't know anything about the play EXCEPT.......the play itself.
So now that we've dispensed with those, what else qualifies? Teague's got the ball is memorable (indeed, it's the most memorable moment of that game) but technically that play never actually happened. Prothro's catch was insane, but you'll see one like that about every five years or so. Miami and Duke had a multiple lateral game just a few years ago. Goal line stands happen all the time.....but...
Never in the entire history of college football had ANY game EVER ended like the 2013 Iron Bowl
In the previous 120 years of NCAA football, I think that type of play had only occurred maybe three times. NEVER had a game ended that way. It was a case of where a team lined up thinking they were playing for the win and - quite literally - wound up losing BECAUSE of the play.
It was the most watched game of the regular season (13.8 million viewers).
It was a winner-take-all match for the Western division.
Because of the two-team BCS format in its final year, the loser was going to be dead (nowadays, we end up in the playoff and pulverize the opposition in anger).
It ended Alabama's bid to become the first legitimate three-peat college football champion.
In a sense, this very moment was the thing that makes baseball so exciting (when it is). In other sports, a team that's 18 points ahead with two minutes left bores you to death with fouls (basketball) or kneel plays (football). In baseball, there is no clock, and you MUST get 27 outs to win. A team can be down by 12 runs with one out left and still win the game. The pitcher can't hold onto the ball and let the clock expire.
In this particular game, the team with the ball set up and likely figured the odds of LOSING on that play were maybe 2%, especially since Auburn didn't even try to block a ball that would need a low ascent in order to succeed in the first place. Once the ball was kicked, it is doubtful any Alabama fan was entertaining the thought of losing ON THAT PLAY.
But it happened.
Give Auburn credit. On that particular play, they beat Saban with what he usually beats other teams with - thinking ahead and turning the situation to their advantage.
I think a strong argument can be made for that play, yes.
