Call it what it is. Gravedigger. That’s the name of the last play Alabama ran according to the man who finished it with his own two hands. It was the last chance to avoid crawling into a new hole with a tombstone on top in the elephant burial ground known as Jordan-Hare Stadium.

You can picture the engraver putting the final touches on the epitaph with the ball in the air: Here lies the Crimson Tide’s 2023 national championship dreams. Rest in pieces.

Call it what it was. Fourth and 31. At that down and distance, staring into the same end zone where Chris Davis crossed the mortal plane as he completed the Kick Six a decade earlier, the chances were slim and none.

Honesty is the best policy when you’re trying to capture history in a hurry. Just the facts, m’am, because man, the feelings write themselves.

Call it what it will be. Fourth and Forever. That’s how long that play and this game will be discussed and debated, derided or celebrated depending on your personal allegiance. Make a place for it in the Iron Bowl Pantheon next to the Kick and the Kick Six, Wrong Way Bo, Bo Over The Top and all the rest.

In the starkest terms, it was Alabama 27, Auburn 24. In other words, victory and defeat entered the transfer portal and changed sidelines at warp speed.