Nick Saban Says Auburn Drawing Alabama Penalty at End of Iron Bowl Was Unfair

No. 15 Auburn beat No. 5 Alabama 48-45 in the Iron Bowl on Saturday for numerous reasons, but the final blow was the Crimson Tide's five-yard substitution infraction penalty (12 men on the field) to give Auburn a game-sealing first down with 1:06 remaining.

The Tigers were punting with a 4th-and-4 at that juncture, and Alex Kirshner of Banner Society explained more context behind what happened:

Alabama head coach Nick Saban didn't take too kindly to that move, however.

"Pretty unfair play at the end of the game," the head coach remarked to reporters after his team fell to 10-2.

He further explained his stance:

"They substituted the punter as a wide receiver so we put the punt team in. And then when the quarterback was still in there, we tried to put the defense back in.

"I thought they should have given us a little more time to substitute and get [Jaylen Waddle] out as a returner and we get called for having 12 guys out on the field. So, that was very disappointing. We are responsible for that as coaches but it was a very unusual circumstance to say the least. Sometimes when you have those, they should be viewed that way."

Without the penalty, Alabama would have gotten the ball back with under a minute left and a chance to tie or take the lead.

That would have also granted Alabama wideout Jaylen Waddle, who was back to return a punt, a chance to score his fifth touchdown on the day.

Instead, the infraction gave a first down to Auburn, which ran out the clock for the stunning victory.

AL.com's Michael Casagrande paraphrased Auburn's Gus Malzahn postgame in regard to his rationale for the play.

"Auburn's Gus Malzahn said they had been sitting on that play call for weeks and sprung it at the perfect time," Casagrande wrote. "The idea was to keep Waddle off the field for a punt return and the illegal substitution was an unintended side effect."

The penalty isn't the only reason Alabama lost, though, with examples including a pair of interception returns for touchdowns, a missed 30-yard field goal in the fourth quarter and Auburn running back JaTarvious Whitlow's 114 rushing yards.

The Crimson Tide fell to 10-2 in defeat, with their College Football Playoff hopes officially dashed. Auburn improved to 9-3 with the win.