Alabama kicked out of playoff by losing Iron Bowl to Auburn

AUBURN, ALA. – Another wild Iron Bowl finish turned Auburn's field into a teeming mass of orange and blue.

A missed Alabama field goal again had much to do with it.

Shaun Shivers scored on an 11-yard run with 8 minutes, 8 seconds left to put No. 15 Auburn ahead and another failed kick wiped away the fifth-ranked Crimson Tide's playoff hopes in a 48-45 Tigers victory Saturday.

Auburn (9-3, 5-3 Southeastern Conference) survived a final, marathon Alabama drive when Joseph Bulovas' 30-yard field-goal attempt hit the left upright with two minutes left.

Auburn couldn't get a first down on JaTarvious Whitlow's three runs while Alabama (10-2, 6-2) burned its final two timeouts. But the Tide was called for illegal substitution on fourth-and-4 after the Tigers lined up with the punter joining the offense, setting off confusion for the Tide and a fist-pumping celebration for coach Gus Malzahn.

"That's the craziest game I've ever played in," Shivers said.

Alabama coach Nick Saban was unhappy with the final penalty. "I really feel that it was a pretty unfair play at the end of the game where they substituted the punter as a wide receiver," Saban said. "So we put the punt team in. And when the quarterback was back in there, we tried to put the defense back in."

"When we play at home and we play them, we get to the fourth quarter, we find a way to win — 2013, 2017," Malzahn said. "It kind of held true to the script tonight and our crowd has a lot to do with that. Our guys believed and our crowd willed us."

The Crimson Tide had made the first five College Football Playoff fields, but its case was damaged with a 46-41 loss to No. 1 LSU. Auburn delivered the final blow, handing Alabama multiple regular-season losses for the first time since 2010.

Saban deflected questions about the playoffs. "I think the lesson to be learned is how important it is to be accountable," Saban said. "When you play against good teams, that's when these things bite you."

Alabama worked more than six minutes off the clock before settling for Bulovas' attempt, the latest costly kicking mishap for Saban and the Tide.

Quarterback Mac Jones, who had replaced injured star Tua Tagovailoa, scrambled for 18 yards on fourth-and-7 to get the Tide into easier field goal range. But Jones also threw a pair of pick-sixes earlier.

"It's my fault," Jones said. "And those two turnovers ended up being pretty big, so that's on me."