Auburn's Trickery in Drawing Last Alabama Penalty Was Actually Brilliant by Gus Malzahn
By Jerry Trotta
It was only fitting that special teams proved to be the final nail in the coffin of Alabama's College Football Playoff hopes, right?
Joseph Bulovas doinked his 30-yard, potential game-tying field goal with two minutes remaining off the left upright. After stopping Auburn on their ensuing possession, the Crimson Tide completely choked on a fourth-and-four, as they were flagged for having 12 men onto the field for the surefire punting situation to seal the victory for the Tigers.
Post game analysis, however, depicts that it was Auburn's bizarre (but brilliant) trickery formation that forced Bama's blunder.
Auburn lined up the punter at wide receiver to try to keep Waddle on the sideline. Bama noticed it late and took a penalty in the confusion. So simple, but so smart by Malzahn. Took the game straight out of Bama's hands pic.twitter.com/u0g87fz7as
— Alex Kirshner (@alex_kirshner) December 1, 2019
Lining up the punter at wide receiver was nothing short of a gutsy call by Gus Malzahn, but it worked out in his favor and he deserves all of the acclaim as it proved pivotal in Auburn's triumph.
Given the way that game had unfolded, Malzahn knew he had to do everything in his power to prevent giving the football back to the Crimson Tide, who already put up 45 points on his defense.
I suspect the real credit goes to Auburn's special teams coach, Larry Porter. In any event, I love it. Little schoolyard thing that knocked Bama out of the Playoff for the first time ever
— Alex Kirshner (@alex_kirshner) December 1, 2019
What a way to send Alabama packing and without a berth in the Playoff for the first time since its inception back in 2014.