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Milroe Miracle: Alabama clinches victory in 88th Iron Bowl

The 88th Iron Bowl did not disappoint, with the Crimson Tide coming out on top with a 27-24 victory in a matchup where all looked lost for Alabama at the end. After Alabama took over via an Auburn muffed punt trailing 24-20 in the game’s final minutes, an errant Alabama snap forced the Crimson Tide back to the 31-yard line with goal to go.

Down to its final chance on 4th and 31, Jalen Milroe delivered a perfect ball to the corner of the end zone to find Isaiah Bond for the Alabama score and put the Crimson Tide up by a field goal with just over 30 seconds left:

Alabama was able to make a stop at the end and come away with the win to end the regular season 11-1 and head to Atlanta next week to take on Georgia still with a chance to make the College Football Playoff.

Of course, most of the talk (and rightfully so) will be about the 4th down play, but this was one of the better Iron Bowls in history.

A back and forth first half saw Alabama leading 17-14 after the Tide threw the first punch on its opening drive via a Roydell Williams score to finish a phenomenal 8 play, 69-yard opening drive:

Auburn would wind up tying things via a Damari Alston 4-yard run later in the quarter after the Tide offense stalled out to finish off a 5 play, 68-yard drive for the Tigers:

Auburn would wind up taking the lead 14-10 in the final minutes of the first half after Ja’Varrius Johnson was able to escape and Payton Thorne found him wide open for a score. The lead did not last long, however, with Jalen Milroe finding Jermaine Burton for a bomb to put the Tide up 17-14 at the break:

Alabama would open up a 6-point lead early in the second half via a Will Reichard field goal, but it was the only points Alabama had until the 4th and 31 play. The second touchdown of the game for Ja’Varrius Johnson put Auburn on top 21-20, where they stayed until the bitter end for the Tigers:

They say there’s something about the Iron Bowl in this stadium, and recently, that’s proved to be the case. Alabama barely escaped in 2021 and now again in 2023 after losing in both 2017 and 2019.

But Alabama survives this one, and lives to fight another day in the race for the College Football Playoff.

Michael Brauner is a Senior Sports Analyst and Contributing Writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @MBraunerWNSP

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