For exactly one minute and 21 seconds, Verne Lundquist let the moment breathe.

There was a sense of awe from his perch in the Jordan-Hare Stadium broadcast booth that November night 10 years ago. To his side, lead analyst Gary Danielson was going frame by frame through the replays to be sure nothing was missed because this was history in real time.

Chris Davis had just altered the course of college football history and this long-time CBS Sports tandem was the first to narrate what became known as the Kick Six. It was their voices that teed up the moment, but for 81 seconds after Davis crossed that goal line, they let the chaotic stadium chorus record the soundtrack in a masterclass of television production.

“It’s a seldom practiced art in my craft,” Lundquist said in a recent phone in interview. “Just shut up.”

A decade later, Lundquist and Danielson spoke with AL.com about that night in Jordan-Hare Stadium that’ll always be tied to their collective and individual legacies. From the build-up to the explosion and still-reverberating aftermath, this was a career-defining moment for a pair of broadcasting icons.

Lundquist, who retired from the SEC on CBS booth in 2016, has called some of sports defining moments in his 50-plus years of broadcasting. He was on the mic when 46-year-old Jack Nicklaus won the 1986 Masters, six years before he was courtside calling Christian Laettner’s iconic buzzer-beater against Kentucky.

Auburn 34, Alabama 28 on Nov. 30, 2013 topped them all.

Context must not be lost when considering this game’s place in history. Danielson and Lundquist were in the same booth two weeks earlier when Auburn stunned Georgia with the play dubbed “The Prayer in Jordan-Hare.” It was all part of Gus Malzahn’s reclamation project from the 2012 collapse that ended with a 49-0 loss to Alabama and Gene Chizik’s firing.

After toppling Georgia, Auburn was suddenly back in the SEC West race a year after going winless in league play. Ranked 4th entering Thanksgiving weekend, this showdown with two-time defending champion and No. 1 Alabama took on added significance. Called the “Mother of All Iron Bowls” in the pages of The Birmingham News, it was a dynasty crossing paths with an instant-rebuild on the stage of the sport’s most bitter rivalry.

And the game, often overshadowed by the final second, lived up to the hype.

Alabama took a 21-7 lead only to see Auburn score the next two touchdowns.

A 99-yard AJ McCarron-to-Amari Cooper touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter appeared to give Alabama the momentum it needed to finish off a thriller. Coming back from commercial after the Crimson Tide took the 28-21 lead, Danielson was taking it all in.

“We have a lot of time left,” he said on air as Alabama lined up to kickoff. “I’m going to enjoy every part of this one.”

Of course, the final minute is when this went from a classic to iconic.

There was Nick Marshall’s 39-yard touchdown pass to Sammie Coats with 32 seconds to tie the game and set up the moment that’ll live forever. Before the kick, there was the matter of the clock. Alabama running back TJ Yeldon took a handoff and scampered 24 yards toward the Tide sideline as the clock ticked down. Initially, the clock hit zeros, and this appeared to be headed toward overtime, but Saban insisted there was a second left.

And CBS Sports had a part in getting that final tick restored.

“I might as well blame myself because it’s true,” Danielson said.

He said he was leaning on the producers off-the-air to sync up the shots of Yeldon’s foot hitting the sideline and the clock to be sure there wasn’t a second remaining. The CBS production truck outside the stadium was working as fast as it could to get the referees the view it needed. Danielson recalls a conversation with longtime coordinating producer Craig Silver in the truck.

“We will get crushed forever if this isn’t accurate,” Danielson remembers saying. “This can’t be a miss. And he assured me before he put it on — because I wouldn’t let him put it on until he sent it to me — that they were synced by the machines so that put the one second on. That was a big part of the game and I guess CBS’ role in putting one second on the clock.

“It was our idea to sync it and we asked for extra time to do that.”

Meanwhile, Lundquist had the task of vamping for several minutes at the climax of tension while the gears of replay technology were grinding in the truck.

“Seven minutes later, Matt Austin, the referee, came back on — somewhat dramatically to fit the occasion — said ‘Please put one second back on the clock.’ Well, Gary and I both thought they’d go for a Hail Mary.”

Senior kicker Cade Foster had already missed three kicks that day including one that was blocked with 2:32. Instead of kicking what would have been a 30-yard just moments earlier to take a 10-point lead, Saban opted for a fourth-and-one run that was stuffed.

Viewers could hear the surprise in Danielson’s voice when it cracked noting “They’re going to try a field goal?” as the special teams unit jogged onto the field. Only it wasn’t Foster but freshman Adam Griffith who was tasked with saving the empire with a 57-yard attempt.

Lundquist reminded the audience of Van Tiffin’s 52-yard kick that won the 1985 Iron Bowl for Alabama as Griffith found his mark on the turf as teammates locked arms on the sideline.

A wide shot from the end zone showed Davis standing about five yards in front of the goalposts.

The moment was huge, but Lundquist said he didn’t have anything prepared in case this became the moment.

“I mean, who in the gosh dang would ever think ‘what am I going to say if this kid returns a missed field goal 109 yards,” Lundquist said 10 years later. “You just have to react to what’s going on in front of you.”

Danielson had a few different scenarios running through his head.

“Remember a blocked kick can go the other way,” he said just before the snap.

Then it happened.

“On the way …,” Lundquist said as the high arcing kick sailed through the air.

“No … returned by Chris Davis …”

Up the sideline and into history he ran.

“Chris Davis!” Lundquist said as he crossed the goal line. “No flags! Touchdown, Auburn! An answered prayer!”

Internally, he was instantly worried.

“I thought dear God, don’t let there be any flags,” Lundquist said. “I look back and of course, there weren’t.

To his side, Danielson was again working the producers off-air for all the replays.

“I have an isolation monitor so I was looking to see if people were dogging it,” Danielson said. “I was also looking to see if he stepped out of bounds and then, to tell you the truth, I was looking to see if he dropped the ball as he crossed the goal line. And everything was perfect.”

At that point, the two broadcasting veterans went silent.

“I literally put my hand over my mouth and tried to not say anything,” Danielson said.

Looking back, Lundquist was proud of how they handled it. The booth silence began after the “answered prayer” line as Lundquist let Silver and director Steve Milton go to work.

“We didn’t say a word and let Steve Milton go to work,” Lundquist said. “In my estimation, he should have earned an Emmy for that. He was like a symphony conductor. Wide shot. Tight shot. Reaction shot. Nick walking off. McCarron kissing his girlfriend. I mean, it was perfectly demonstrated and directed.

“And after a minute and 21 seconds, I just said ‘It might be worth another look.”

A decade later, we’re still rolling that tape back.

Still, it took some time for Danielson and Lundquist to fully contextualize the magnitude of what just happened.

“Not at that point,” Danielson said. “But after maybe 30 minutes, we do. This could be historic in proportions not even connected to other big games. This one would be remembered above all others.”

Lundquist remembers being asked where the Kick Six ranked in the immediate aftermath. Initially, he put it around third or fourth before reading a column by Mike Vaccaro in New York Post the following day.

“This may be the greatest finish to any sporting event in the history of any sport,” Lundquist remembers reading. “And I thought maybe I ought to reassess where I rank this thing.”

The rivalry.

The oddity.

The stakes.

They all add up to a moment part of this state will never forget while haunting the nightmares for everyone else.

For Danielson and Lundquist, narrating that scene was an exercise in both restraint and off-camera diligence.

Looking back, they’re proud of their part in his piece of history knowing they did the work and knew exactly when to just shut up.

Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.