Alabama's Extra Motivation to Beat Auburn in 2015 Iron Bowl

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — It was a play that no one watching will ever forget, now simply known as the “Kick Six.”

After a replay review of Alabama’s final offensive play determined that there was still one second remaining on the clock when running back T.J. Yeldon stepped out of bounds, head coach Nick Saban decided to go for a potential game-winning 57-yard field-goal attempt.

All eyes were on the ball as it came off Adam Griffith’s foot and sailed into the night air, but that was the problem for the Crimson Tide—hardly anyone on the field was thinking about what could come next.

At the last moment, Auburn coach Gus Malzahn inserted Chris Davis in the end zone in case the kick landed short, and that’s what happened. He caught it and returned it 100-plus yards to score the most unbelievable, if not improbable, touchdown in college football history.

“I just kind of walked off the field,” Alabama senior center Ryan Kelly recalled this week. “That’s all I want to talk about it. It wasn’t a great feeling. A lot of guys on this team were there then. You definitely don’t forget something like that.”

Dave Martin/Associated Press

Saturday, Alabama returns to the scene of the crime, if you will, Jordan-Hare Stadium, where the 2013 game between the No. 1 and No. 4 teams determined which between them would have a chance to win the Southeastern Conference and national championships.

Although Auburn didn’t draw chalk outlines of the Crimson Tide afterward, it did retrace Davis’ steps along the home team’s sideline and into the end zone, and fans stormed the field and did the equivalent of dancing on Alabama’s grave long into the night.

Meanwhile, below the stands, the visiting team was in shock.

“I just can’t believe it happened,” linebacker C.J. Mosley said while echoing what everyone in the locker room felt after the stunning 34-28 loss. “Nobody ever expected that.”

That went double for Mosley, who had come back for his senior year to try and lead Alabama to a possible three-peat after capturing the 2011 and 2012 national titles.

Dave Martin/Associated Press

Now imagine what it was like for the guy sitting in the adjoining locker.

“Any chance you get a chance to finish them, finish them off,” said linebacker Reggie Ragland, now a senior. “It's in the back of my mind. I know I remember being on the sideline, me and Landon [Collins] beside each other, and just watching the guy run down the field. You just drop your helmet and just walk off the field in disbelief and you're sad.

“You look in the eyes of some of the seniors and you see them crying in the locker room and stuff like that. That hurts your feelings, knowing that you didn't do your job enough to get the win for them. So we gotta come out, and we gotta do our job and gotta try to get this win."

Similar to 2013, and nearly every other year since Saban arrived in 2007, a lot’s at stake for No. 2 Alabama: another division title, another trip to Atlanta for the SEC Championship Game and potentially more.

Butch Dill/Associated Press/Associated Press/Associated Press

It’s also Auburn, and while the Tigers would like nothing more than to derail another Crimson Tide season and hurt running back Derrick Henry’s chances of winning the Heisman Trophy, the rivalry alone makes this a different game.

Unlike a lot of other high-profile games this weekend, like Michigan-Ohio State, there’s no state border involved. This divides communities, neighbors and families in the state that cares about nothing more than college football.

“My cousin, Wallace [Gilberry], played at Bama, so I was always a Bama fan,” junior linebacker Ryan Anderson said. “When I was younger, going to school, kids were holding up their thumb. What was it, six in a row, seven in a row [that Auburn won]? I really hated that. I hated it more than anything. So it means a lot to me.

“I don’t talk to my family that are Auburn fans.”

Saban was correct when he said, “I don't think what happened two years ago there has any impact on what's going to happen in this game,” but at some point, every Alabama player who was there in 2013 will remember what that day was like.

He’ll think of the play and the fans rushing the field, and he'll remember what the subsequent months were like.

And then the Alabama players will buckle down their chin straps and try to ignore that, the crowd and every single pain-in-the-rear thing Malzahn’s coaching staff dreamed up for them.

“I think that’s the biggest part of it—just playing your responsibilities,” senor cornerback Cyrus Jones said. “Nobody trying to do nothing spectacular or out of character or trying to make a big play—just doing your job, being in the right spot at the right time and being where you’re supposed to be. That’s what it’s going to come down to—just fundamental football.” 

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

Christopher Walsh is a lead SEC college football writer. Follow Christopher on Twitter @WritingWalsh.