AUBURN, Ala.—For 58 1/2 shocking minutes in Jordan-Hare Stadium, Alabama’s explosive offense was a dysfunctional mess. The nation’s No. 2 scoring team didn’t find the end zone once within that time, trailing three-touchdown underdog Auburn 10-3. After a deft Tigers punt was downed at the 3-yard line, the chances of the Crimson Tide going 97 yards in 95 seconds to tie the game seemed less likely than Nick Saban taking up stand-up comedy.
This looked like another houndstooth horror show at Jordan-Hare for Saban, more pain on The Plains. He owns the entirety of the Southeastern Conference, with the exception of this one plot of land.