Chris Davis on Kick Six, the Alabama player who almost got him and why AJ McCarron wasnât on field
There is no more talked about play in Iron Bowl history than the Kick Six.
On the 10th anniversary of the play, ESPN’s “College GameDay” featured the memorable on its broadcast on Saturday. Of course, you know details. The year was 2013. It was the 78th edition of Alabama-Auburn.
Tied with one second remaining, Chris Davis returned a missed field goal 109 yards for the winning touchdown on the final play.
On Saturday, the Auburn return man and Alabama punter Cody Mandel walked fans through the craziness of the play.
“It was the most gut-wrenching Iron Bowl for Alabama fans of all time,” Mandel said.
Tied at 28 with seven seconds left, Alabama’s TJ Yeldon took a draw to Auburn’s 38-yard line before being knocked out of bounds by Chris Davis.
“I was going to knock him out of bounds when time expired,” Davis said. “And (Alabama coach) Nick (Saban) fought for that one second, like any other coach would have.”
RELATED: Complete Kick Six coverage
Instead of making one last heave to the end zone, the Tide decided to kick a 56-yard field goal. But Cade Foster had missed three field goals already in the game. Cue Adam Griffith, the redshirt freshman.
Mandel revealed the conversation between Griffith and Saban prior to the kick.
“(Alabama quarterback) AJ (McCarron) was the regular holder,” he explained. “So Saban comes up to Adam and said, “You’re going to kick the next one. What’s your cutoff? 58, 59, 60 (yards). OK, cool.’
“He starts to walk away, and Adam goes in his deep polish accent, ‘Coach, coach, coach, coach, I’m not kicking the ball if AJ is holding it.’ Saban turns around and says, ‘What are you talking mean?’ ‘I’ll kick if Cody is holding.’”
As previously reported, after a timeout was called, that’s when Auburn decided to put Davis in the end zone.
The rest is history.
“Once I seen the ball coming down to me, I knew I had a chance to catch it,” he said. “Here we go. Here we go.
“They had bigger guys on the field. I knew they weren’t going to be able to change directions that good, so I set it up going toward the middle, then I bounced it to our side.
Mandel actually had the best shot at tackling Davis.
“My first reaction was is that a ball boy? Then, Oh sh–. Oh, sh– from Adam. Oh sh– from me. There’s a guy running down the field. Let’s go get him.
“I took off running down the field. I had a good line on Chris. Had I gone to the right 1 more degree, we wouldn’t be sitting here talking about this.”
Davis reacted, “He kind of got a hand on my jersey, but I knew it wasn’t enough to slow me down. After I knew I beat him, it was smooth sailing going to the end zone.”
Mark Heim is a reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim. He can be heard on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5 FM in Mobile or on the free Sound of Mobile App from 6 to 9 a.m. daily.