AUBURN, Ala. — They never believed this was supposed to end in torment, even as the 20-point lead vanished, even as hope to put together one last drive disappeared, even as everything they had envisioned for themselves came down to one more snap.
These Auburn players already had been through enough of that and come out the other side as college football's best story, riding the kind of roll that comes along once in a lifetime.
BOX SCORE: Tigers 43, Bulldogs 38
FOR THE WIN: Watch epic Hail Mary
Why not make a play to win, the way they have all season? Why not trust in the power of hard work and preparation and even a little bit of destiny? Why not, after figuring out how to go from 3-9 to the top-10, go ahead and figure out fourth-and-18?
"I looked around (the stands) before the play and it looked like everybody was sad, heads down," receiver Ricardo Louis said. "And it kind of hurt me, because we wanted to keep what we've been having going on."
