We've had a LOT of great luck during Saban's tenure. Rocky Block, SEC championship 2012, Tua and 26, Gravedigger 4th and 31, it goes on and on. Thing is, we put ourselves in position to GET lucky. Gotta catch a card on the river, some hands.
What are some games that Alabama was lucky or very fortunate to win?
- Thread starter 81usaf92
- Start date
You put yourself in position for that luck to pay off with more than a single victory. But the luck is still luck. Football is a weird sport. Just look at the voodoo at Jordan Hare.
Ask LSU and others, not just Alabama, about the "Voodoo" at JH. You have to be 21 points better to win by 1. With gambling being legalized, well, it reminds me of the Black Sox/Kentucky Bball/Hornung days.
But how lucky REALLY is 2nd and 26?Has anyone mentioned 2nd and 26 or 4th and 31?
We should have won the game with a field goal in regulation, which is hardly "luck."
That 1999 season with Sean Alexander was the first full season I watched as a kiddo and will always be special. I thought back to that Michigan game with this years overtime loss.
Again, not to be "that guy", but....
1) Rocky Block (2009 Vols)
We had 2nd and 2 at their 4-yard line and failed to pick up a yard and settled for 3.
We fumbled at our own 43, giving them a short field, and they got a TD.
They recovered an onsides kick.
And we were playing a team that had the previous week off while we were slugging it out with #22 South Carolina, a game that we only put away in the final minutes.
What I'm saying is that you had a tired Alabama team and a rested Vols team....a team that only got back into the game because of the rare Mark Ingram fumble in the first place. AS BAD AS WE PLAYED, we still led them by 9 points with 3:29 left.
Had we converted that 2nd and 2 at the four into four additional points, that game is probably one of the most ho-hum in the history of TSIO.
2) 2012 SEC Championship
We had TWO HUNDRED more yards of offense prior to their last drive, that's not luck.
And the blocked FG for a TD only happened because the refs hosed us on a DPI.
Seriously - they get that one call right, we probably put it away then based on the 2nd half.
3) 4th and 31
We were lucky - yeah, we sure were lucky when they center snapped the ball 18 yards behind the QB.
And when the QB got flagged for an illegal pass.
It required both of those to set up 4th and 31, but we were just playing with them.
And we had well over 100 more yards of offense than they did, too.
I'm not saying I dismiss it altogether, but I'm not sure those actually count as "lucky to win", either.
I apologize that I haven't read the entire thread so I may have missed anyone already bringing this up..
2021 Iron Bowl
It didn't end on 1 miracle play or anything but it felt like we escaped by the skin of our teeth.
We were lifeless for almost the ENTIRE game trailing 10-0 until the 4th and trailing 10-3 until the final 1-2 mins.
Bryce finally led a 97 yard scoring drive thanks to a HUGE 28 yrd TD pass to Brooks.
Then we had to survive the new Mickey Mouse OT rules IN JH no less.
The game doesn't have the single big play like 2023 but it was every bit as miraculous in total to escape that one with a W.
2021 Iron Bowl
It didn't end on 1 miracle play or anything but it felt like we escaped by the skin of our teeth.
We were lifeless for almost the ENTIRE game trailing 10-0 until the 4th and trailing 10-3 until the final 1-2 mins.
Bryce finally led a 97 yard scoring drive thanks to a HUGE 28 yrd TD pass to Brooks.
Then we had to survive the new Mickey Mouse OT rules IN JH no less.
The game doesn't have the single big play like 2023 but it was every bit as miraculous in total to escape that one with a W.
I'd say UGA was lucky that we didn't put Tua in the game earlier.
He electrified our entire team and had Kirby and Uga backpedaling the rest of the game.
So, you are telling me you were absolutely confident we were going to win that game looking at a 2nd and 26? No.
To quote Saban after 4th and 31 in the Auburn game:
"That is a play we actually work on but I must admit that you need a little luck,"
"That is a play we actually work on but I must admit that you need a little luck,"
That's not the question.
"Lucky or fortunate to win" - I thought we'd win when he came up for the snap on first down.
Okay, he didn't. But that's not the question here.
Alabama SHOULD have won the game in regulation.
We weren't hanging around like 2013 Auburn in the IB and then hitting the inside straight.
Saban did a lot of mismanagement in 2017, quite frankly.
Given what Tua did to UGA, it's worth asking why he didn't do it in the Auburn game tbh with you.
But Hurts....liked him but just plain awful in that UGA game. Cost us an early TD.
In all honesty, I've long wondered whether or not the score to put us in a 13-0 hole wasn't the blessing we needed to push Saban into the move. If it's 6-0....does he?
That's a fair assessment. Even if everyone does their assignment correctly, you need a bit of luck.
Maybe 2nd and 26 wasn't luck, but at the time it felt like a miracle. It is the closest that I have come to tears of joy over a sporting event in my adult life.
All I can tell you is sitting threw both games I remember having the sinking feeling that, although we were the better team, we were going to let the Barners do what they do best and live to beat us again.I can’t comment on the other old threads, but I revived this one because I thought it would be fun to discuss the lucky wins of the past 3 seasons instead of participating in the anxiety about the future of the team.
I listed the 4th and 31 game in my last post in this discussion. Which game vs. Auburn was a luckier win: 2023 or 2021? ESPN gave us a 0.1% chance to win late in the 4th in both games.I thought we had lost in 2021 after our offense failed on 4th and short near the end of regulation. We were lucky to have Bigsby go out of bounds (which Jordan Battle was partially responsible for
), convert the 4th downs on the final drive in regulation, connect on the long TD pass to force OT, have Reichard kick a high pressure FG in OT to extend the game, and then win the 2 pt conversion contest!
The biggest difference for me is who we had at QB in 2021 and last year. I always had supreme confidence in BY to pull of a miracle. And maybe it's because it was most recent, but what led to 4th and 31 AND considering how JM struggled the whole game made me feel hopeless as that play unfolded.
Exactly my thoughts. We basically beat them with one half of football after we mashed the Tua button.
If we had lost that game, to me it would have been because we ran out of time.
Also, the pass Tua threw was actually pretty routine for his talent and remember how "wide open" Smitty was? Not really luck on that IMO.
Agreed, but I remember a feeling close to despair when the kicker missed the FG to win the game at the end of regulation. It just felt like it wasn't going to be Alabama's day. Then Georgia hits the very long FG, then the sack. Yeah, I was pretty down when Tua took the snap on 2nd and 26.
I still get goosebumps when I watch that play.
New Posts
-
Daytona 500 2025. Why is there no interest in the upcoming NASCAR season.- Latest: OakMtn4Bama
-
-
Joke thread - including cartoons, memes, and misc - Part IX- Latest: Slowpoke Catracho
Fubo TV Free Trial - Cut the cord!
Latest threads
-
-
SEC, Big Ten building momentum to further expand College Football Playoff to 14 or 16 teams- Started by Huckleberry
- Replies: 13
-
-
Daytona 500 2025. Why is there no interest in the upcoming NASCAR season.- Started by bamaga
- Replies: 5
-
4 Nations Face-Off hockey game: USA vs Canada- Started by Bazza
- Replies: 1
-