78th Iron Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Date | November 30, 2013 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Season | 2013 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Stadium | Jordan–Hare Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Location | Auburn, Alabama | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Favorite | Alabama favored by 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Referee | Matt Austin | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Attendance | 87,451 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Network | CBS | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Announcers |
Verne Lundquist (play-by-play) Gary Danielson (color) Tracy Wolfson (sideline) |
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Nielsen ratings | 8.2 |
The Kick Six was the final play of the 78th Iron Bowl college football game played on November 30, 2013 at Jordan–Hare Stadium in Auburn, Alabama. The game featured No. 1-ranked and two-time defending national champion Alabama Crimson Tide (11–0, 7–0 in the SEC) as a 10-point favorite over the No. 4-ranked Auburn Tigers (10–1, 6–1 in the SEC). At stake was the outright SEC West title and a berth in the 2013 SEC Championship Game.
The game was notable for its ending; Auburn tied the game 28–28 with 32 seconds remaining. With one second remaining in regulation, Alabama missed a 57-yard field goal. Auburn's Chris Davis caught the errant kick and returned it 100 yards (under NCAA rules) to the opposite end zone, scoring a touchdown; the runback tied LSU's Odell Beckham Jr.'s record-setting 100 yard return that same season.
The game, which was televised by CBS, posted an 11.8 television rating during the final half-hour, which was the highest rating ever achieved during a college football broadcast at that time. Some sports writers argued that Davis' play was the single greatest moment in college football history.
The two teams came into the game after very different 2012 seasons. Despite an upset at the hands of Texas A&M, the Crimson Tide ultimately finished as SEC Champions after a close game against the Georgia Bulldogs and went on to soundly defeat Notre Dame 42-14 for their second consecutive national title, their third in four years. Meanwhile, two years after their own National Championship, the Auburn Tigers suffered through their worst season in 60 years, finishing 3-9 with an abysmal 0-8 SEC record, capped by a 49-0 loss to Alabama in the 2012 Iron Bowl. Head coach Gene Chizik was fired in favor of Arkansas State coach Gus Malzahn.