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Wasson: Picking Alabama’s Top 5 last-second scoring plays in recent history
By David Wasson
Published:
When contemplating some of the greatest last-second plays in recent Alabama history, one first must realize that there haven’t been a lot of them. After all, the Crimson Tide – who won 6 national championships in retired coach Nick Saban’s 17 years on the Alabama sideline – usually won by comfortable margins.
But there has been plenty of last-second magic over the past 10 years in favor of the Crimson Tide, as witnessed just last weekend when 17-year-old Ryan Williams pirouetted his way to a 75-yard touchdown to rip the hearts back out of Georgia.
That’s a sure-fire Top 5 play, and you can rank them all however you’d like, but here are the rest …
2017: DeVonta Smith vs. Mississippi State
Situation: 1st-and-10 at the Mississippi State 26, 31 seconds remaining in 4th quarter, tied 24-24
Result: Jalen Hurts 26-yard touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith, Alabama wins 31-24
Legacy: The top-ranked Tide went to Starkville not expecting the dogfight they got from No. 16 Mississippi State. The Bulldogs grabbed a 24-17 lead early in the 4th quarter, and while the Tide tied it up with 9:49 remaining, it was still very much in the balance when Alabama got the ball back with 1:09 to go.
Enter Jalen Hurts, who hit Calvin Ridley on a 3rd-and-15 dart for 31 yards to get to the State 26. MSU sent a blitz, but Hurts stood tall and found true freshman DeVonta Smith on a 26-yard TD for a 10th straight win in 2017 and a 10th straight win over the Bulldogs.
“Sometimes you need hard,” Saban said postgame. “If we’re going to beat really good teams, if we’re going to compete, we’ve got to learn how to compete in close games where every play counts. Where you’ve got to play every play for 60 minutes.”
2018: Jalen Hurts vs. Georgia to win SEC Championship
Situation: 1st-and-10 at the Georgia 15, 1:11 remaining in 4th quarter, tied 28-28
Result: Jalen Hurts 15-yard touchdown run, Alabama wins 35-28
Legacy: In a dramatic reversal from the previous season, which saw Tua Tagovailoa replace Hurts at halftime of the national championship game against Georgia, it was Hurts who got the call this time after Alabama’s sweet Hawaiian prince went down to injury.
Hurts, who hadn’t griped or pouted or transferred but instead was the ideal teammate all season, calmly stepped in with just over 11 minutes remaining to guide the offense like the player who went 26-2 as a starter before losing his job. Hurt threw a game-tying 10-yard touchdown pass to Jerry Jeudy, but saved his best for last – improvising on a 15-yard touchdown scamper to win the game and secure a chance at a second straight national title.
“It’s unprecedented to have a guy that won as many games as he won … start as a freshman, only lose a couple of games the whole time that he was the starter, and then all of a sudden he’s not the quarterback,” Saban said postgame. “How do you manage that? How do you handle that? You’ve got to have a tremendous amount of class and character to put team first, knowing your situation is not what it used to be.”
2023: Isaiah Bond vs. Auburn
Situation: 4th-and-goal at the Auburn 31, 43 seconds remaining in 4th quarter, Auburn leads 24-20
Result: Jalen Milroe 31-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Bond, Alabama wins 27-24
Legacy: “The Gravedigger” isn’t just the most recent insane play in the insane Alabama-Auburn rivalry, but also one of the most dramatic in Iron Bowl history. The final gasp for the Crimson Tide at Jordan-Hare Stadium against the 6-5 Tigers, Milroe and 8th-ranked Alabama had been pushed around all game by the home team and were backed up to the Auburn 31.
Auburn only rushed 2 defenders, giving Milroe over 5 seconds to survey the field – and plenty of opportunity for Bond to head to the corner of the end zone. He out-jumped DJ James Jr., and CBS play-by-play voice Brad Nessler exclaimed “Bond! Isaiah Bond!” to rip the hearts out of Auburn players and fans.
“We’ve been on both sides of the good fortune and the misfortune, and I’ve gotta admit, we had good fortune,” Saban said postgame. “But it still comes down to ability to execute.”
2024: Ryan Williams vs. Georgia
Situation: 1st-and-10 at the Alabama 25, 2:31 remaining in 4th quarter, Georgia leads 34-33
Result: Jalen Milroe 75-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Williams, Alabama wins 41-34
Legacy: 4+2=6.
That’s a simple math problem any 2nd-grader can handle, but it is also quickly turning into the winning calculus for the 2024 Alabama Crimson Tide. Jalen Milroe (No. 4) and the 4th-ranked Tide jumped out to a 28-0 lead but then absorbed a furious 2nd-half comeback by No. 2-ranked Georgia late in the 4th quarter. Enter Ryan Williams (No. 2), who should be a senior at Saraland High School. Milroe saw his freshman WR facing 1-on-1 coverage, and lofted a pass that Williams had to spin in mid-air to collect – not to mention somehow make both Georgia defenders collide with each other trying to lay a hand on him – before racing 75 yards for the eventual game-winning score.
“We expect to win these games,” Tide coach Kalen DeBoer said postgame. “Of course the locker room is full of excitement, but I also want to make sure they realize that’s the expectation. There’s a lot of season left.”
2018: DeVonta Smith vs. Georgia to win CFP national championship
Situation: 2nd-and-26 at the Georgia 41, overtime, Georgia leads 23-20
Result: Tua Tagovailoa 41-yard touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith, Alabama wins 26-23
Legacy: The play that arguably started Alabama’s recent ownership over Georgia, and one also introduced the world to Tua Tagovailoa and DeVonta Smith, should have never happened.
Trailing 23-20 in overtime after Georgia settled for a field goal on its possession, Tagovailoa took a 16-yard sack that clearly infuriated Saban on the Tide sideline. But Alabama’s sweet Hawaiian prince, who took over for the ineffective Hurts at halftime, didn’t flinch – noticing fellow true freshman Smith on the left edge facing man coverage, looking off the safety and lofting a perfect 41-yard touchdown for Alabama’s 5th title under Saban and 17th overall.
“I could not believe it,” Sasban said postgame. “There’s lots of highs and lows. Last year we lost on the last play of the game and this year we won on the last play of the game. These kids really responded the right way. We said last year, ‘Don’t waste the feeling.’ They sure didn’t, the way they played tonight.”
An APSE national award-winning writer and editor, David Wasson has almost four decades of experience in the print journalism business in Florida and Alabama. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and several national magazines and websites. He also hosts Gulfshore Sports with David Wasson, weekdays from 3-5 pm across Southwest Florida and on FoxSportsFM.com. His Twitter handle: @JustDWasson.
