AUBURN, Ala. — Jalen Milroe and Isaiah Bond rescued No. 8 Alabama's playoff hopes, connecting for a last-minute touchdown on fourth-and-goal from the 31 to beat Auburn 27-24 on Saturday.
Bond caught Milroe's desperation heave in the left corner of the end zone with 32 seconds left to give the Crimson Tide (11-1, 8-0 Southeastern Conference) a 10th straight win in the latest dramatic Iron Bowl at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Trailing by four with 1:43 left, Alabama had first-and-goal at the Auburn 7 before moving backward. The Crimson Tide lost 18 yards on a bad snap and were pushed back 5 more yards with an illegal downfield pass on third down after Milroe crossed the line of scrimmage.
Two years ago, Alabama needed four overtimes to beat the Tigers on the Plains, where the Kick Six went down in college football history a decade ago.
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Alabama nearly returned an interception for another touchdown on the final play. But this game will be remembered around the state for fourth-and-31, a play where Auburn didn't try to put any pressure on Milroe before he spotted Bond.
Ja’Varrius Johnson scored on a 27-yard touchdown catch and a 12-yard run to put the Tigers (6-6, 3-5) in position to win.
NO. 1 GEORGIA 31, GEORGIA TECH 23: Kendall Milton ran for a career-high 156 yards and two touchdowns, and Georgia held off Georgia Tech in Atlanta to cap its third consecutive undefeated regular season with its sixth straight victory in the state rivalry.
Georgia (12-0) extended its school-record winning streak to 29 games. The Bulldogs have won 19 of the last 22 against Georgia Tech (6-6), but this was more competitive than most recent battles for the Governor's Cup Trophy.
Quarterback Haynes King had two touchdown runs and Jamal Haynes also ran for a score. Eric Singleton Jr. had four catches for 96 yards as the Yellow Jackets gained 363 yards, including 205 on the ground.
King's 5-yard scoring run with 3:46 remaining cut Georgia's lead to 31-23. Georgia recovered an onside kick and relied on its running game, led by Milton and Daijun Edwards, to run out the clock. Milton's rushing total set a season high for a Georgia running back.
NO. 5 FLORIDA STATE 24, FLORIDA 15:Â Trey Benson ran for three touchdowns, including a 26-yarder on third down with less than three minutes to play, and Florida State won at rival Florida to extend its winning streak to 18.
Benson finished with 95 yards on 19 carries and helped take pressure off new quarterback Tate Rodemaker as the Seminoles (12-0) moved a victory from a potential spot in the College Football Playoff.
With star quarterback Jordan Travis watching from the visiting athletic director’s suite with his left leg in a walking boot, Rodemaker came up huge when it mattered most. He completed a dart to Ja'Khi Douglas with cornerback Jaydon Hill in tight coverage on a fourth-and-3 play from the Florida 34 in the fourth quarter. It set up a short field goal that put the Seminoles ahead for good.
KENTUCKY 38, NO. 10 LOUISVILLE 31: Ray Davis broke free for a go-ahead, 37-yard touchdown run with 1:02 remaining and caught two second-half touchdowns, helping Kentucky rally past host Louisville in the Governor's Cup.
Davis' third score capped a wild second half for the Wildcats (7-5) in which the Bluegrass State rivals combined for 42 points and closed alternating touchdowns. The winner came after Louisville (10-2) tied the game at 31 on Jack Plummer's 21-yard touchdown pass to Ahmari Huggins-Bruce with 2:33 remaining. Jarvis Brownlee Jr. set up that improbable opportunity for Louisville by intercepting Devin Leary's floating pass as he was hit by Ashton Gillotte.
Kentucky took the kickoff and quickly drove into Louisville territory, and Davis found room on the left side and was gone for his 20th score that broke Benny Snell's season record. Davis carried 14 times for 76 yards and caught four passes for 51 yards, including two 20-yard TDs from Leary.
NO. 14 LSU 42, TEXAS A&M 30: Jayden Daniels passed for four touchdowns and accounted for 355 yards of total offense against one of the nation's top defenses, and host LSU (9-3, 6-2) beat Texas A&M (7-5, 4-4).
Daniels completed 16 of 24 passes for 235 yards and ran 11 times for 120 yards — a fine day by most quarterbacks' standards but somewhat short of the Heisman Trophy candidate's usual production this season.
Time will tell if he did enough to win over Heisman voters, who will get an additional look at two other top candidates — Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. and Oregon QB Bo Nix — when their teams meet in the Pac-12 title game on Friday.
NO. 21 TENNESSEE 48, VANDERBILT 24: Joe Milton III threw a career-high four touchdown passes and ran for two more scores to lead host Tennessee over Vanderbilt (2-10, 0-8).
The game had several incidents late in the second quarter that led to skirmishes and six unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.
Milton passed for 383 yards, his top production in six seasons — three for the Volunteers and three for Michigan. Ramel Keyton caught four passes for 122 yards and two TDs to help Tennessee (8-4, 4-4) end a two-game losing streak.
CLEMSON 16, SOUTH CAROLINA 7: Clemson defensive back Khalil Barnes scored his team's lone touchdown and kicker Jonathan Weitz made his three longest field goals of the year as Clemson won its fourth straight with a victory at rival South Carolina.
Barnes, a freshman, jumped on a backwards pass thrown by Spencer Rattler that bounced off Xavier Legette's hands. The freshman scooped it up and went 42 yards for the touchdown 35 seconds into the game.
Weitz, called back to Clemson by coach Dabo Swinney in September, had his best game since the return, hitting from 50, 49 and 42 yards — all longer than his career-best of 41 coming in.
