On December 23, 1972, the Pittsburgh Steelers, trying to become a factor in the NFL after years of futility, had finished an excellent regular season and faced the Oakland Raiders in the AFC playoffs. With less than 30 seconds remaining and fourth down with the Steelers in possession of the ball, quarterback Terry Bradshaw heaved the ball downfield for John “Frenchy” Fuqua, his running back. Safety Jack Tatum came up and belted Fuqua just as the ball arrived. The ball allegedly bounced off Tatum’s shoulder pads (which was confirmed later) and was floating to the ground. Amazingly Franco Harris, the running back who was trailing the play, pulled in the ball right before it hit the ground and raced for the end zone. He scored and the Steelers won an amazing game 13-10 over the Raiders. The Steelers didn’t win the Super Bowl that year, it went to the undefeated Dolphins, but it set up the Steelers for greatness as they went on to win four Super Bowls in the ’70’s and establish one of if not the greatest pro football legacy of all time.
Well, the immaculate reception happened again on Saturday and it took place on the Plains. On fourth and 18 and 30 seconds left, the great Nick Marshall threw it deep for Ricardo Louis, who told Nick to get him the ball. Two Georgia defenders, Josh Harvey-Clemons and Trey Matthews looked like they were going to either intercept it, or just knock it down, but Harvey-Clemmons tipped the ball away from Matthews who was waiting for the interception and it jumped in the air over the two defenders. Louis never took his eyes off the ball and as the ball floated in the air for a second or two Louis ran under it gathered it in and ran it in for one of the most incredible plays in college football history as the Tigers moved to 10-1 with the 43-38 victory over the Dawgs. It was magical at Auburn. Wow, it was electric. AU snatched victory from what sure looked like defeat and kept their magical season alive and now await the Crimson Tide who will come into Jordan-Hare Nov. 30 at 11-0 for all practical purposes and play the Tigers in a titanic tilt with SEC and national championship aspirations on the line.
Gus Malzahn has magic. There is no doubt. Alabama struggled to get by a State team that played really inspired football. ‘Bama coming off the big LSU victory just couldn’t get it together on offense, winning 20-7 over the Bulldogs. They turned it over four times, with fumbles by T.J. Yeldon and Kenyan Drake and two interceptions thrown by A.J. We’ll see how the Tide regroups this week and gears up for the biggest Iron Bowl in many years.