Book Excerpt: Iron in the Blood: How the Alabama vs. Auburn Rivalry Shaped the Soul of the South
Iron in the Blood: How the Alabama vs. Auburn Rivalry Shaped the Soul of the South
By Jay Busbee
Published by Matt Holt Books/BenBella Books
Hardcover
Introduction
There’s a small square of turf in the north corner of Auburn’s Jordan-Hare Stadium that’s some of the most hallowed ground in recent college football history. That stretch of grass has raised hopes and shattered dreams, inspired celebrations and broken hearts. Europe has cathedrals; America has college football stadiums. And that little swatch of green in a tiny town in eastern Alabama is one of the most sanctified spots of them all.
In November 2013, Auburn’s Chris Davis stood about 109 yards away from that particular stretch of grass, in the opposite end zone, his feet right on the E in TIGERS. The sun had gone down an hour before, and with it Auburn’s apparent hopes for a national championship. There was only one second remaining on the clock, one second standing between Auburn and oblivion.
Alabama — dreaded, feared, loathed Alabama — was lining up for a long field goal to break a 28-28 tie. Kicking is always dicey business in college football. Kicking has probably caused more heart attacks in the South than smoking and fried foods combined. Kicking is salvation or damnation, no middle ground.
With that 0:01 showing on Jordan-Hare’s dated scoreboard, foot met leather. The ball flew into the Alabama night, and it was clear from the moment of impact that this kick wouldn’t fly far enough. This was the Alabama-Auburn rivalry in microcosm: Alabama unable to escape the gravitational pull of Auburn; Auburn hanging on by its fingernails until a miracle occurred. As the ball traced an arc that would fall short of the crossbar, Auburn fans sighed with relief and Alabama fans grumbled; the game would go to overtime and they’d settle it there.
Only…the ball was still in the air. And Davis was still back there, waiting for it to fall. He caught the short field goal attempt, his heels nearly out of bounds…and he ran from that end zone straight into college football history and Auburn legend. Kick Six, they called it then, and they will forever.
Ten years almost to the day, Alabama’s Jalen Milroe looked out on that same corner of the end zone. Milroe, a cannon-armed quarterback from Katy, Texas, faced even more dire circumstances than Auburn had. Alabama, a national championship dark horse, was losing 24-20 with just over 40 seconds remaining in the game. Down to his last snap, 31 yards from the end zone, Milroe had only one option: heave it north and pray.
He threw it deep — nearly half the length of the football field — and there, waiting in the end zone, almost exactly where Davis had crossed the goal line, stood Alabama’s receiver Isaiah Bond. The play was known internally as Gravedigger — because it would bury the opponent — and on this night, it worked to perfection for Alabama. Bond caught the ball, struck a James Bond-style pose — Bond, get it? — and Alabama won a most improbable Iron Bowl.
When you’re making a list of college football’s greatest plays, Kick Six ranks right there at the top. And although no one knew it at the time, Gravedigger would turn college football upside down, locking marquee programs out of the College Football Playoff and leading — directly or indirectly — to hundreds of major and minor coaching changes, and the total upheaval of several blue-chip programs.
Two plays. Endless ripples throughout college football. All from one corner of one end zone.
Excerpted from Iron in the Blood, copyright © 2025 by Jay Busbee. Reprinted with permission from Matt Holt Books, an imprint of BenBella Books, Inc. All rights reserved.
Quillbilly Tim
Tim Lowe is a writer, book expert, retired seaman (you said seaman), retail worker, and renaissance man.
He is currently traveling the country and working on his forthcoming book.
