What Gus Malzahn said about the final penalty on Alabama

Auburn used a brilliantly designed punt formation to trick Alabama into an illegal substitution penalty on Saturday afternoon in the Iron Bowl, sealing a dramatic victory.

After the game, Alabama coach Nick Saban called the play, which had the Auburn punter lined up at wide receiver, “unfair.”

Auburn coach Gus Malzahn also weighed in on the play, which gave the Tigers a first down and allowed them to kill the rest of the clock. He said it’s something he was tempted to use earlier in the game, but saved it. He added that the Tigers have worked on it all year (via AL.com):

“We’ve had it, but this kick returner will make you do things you normally wouldn’t do,” Malzahn said. “Our whole goal was not to let him beat us, of course he house-called the one, that was huge. We were just trying to find different ways…. We’ve been working on that all year.”

It was the perfect time to call the play, and it worked just as expected. Now, Auburn has a huge win that it can carry over into its bowl game and the 2020 season.

ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky also broke down the deciding play on Twitter:

Had to go and re-confirm it for my own eyes how well this was done by Malzahn for @AuburnFootball at the end of the #IronBowl
He messed with Saban as he puts “2 different personnel’s on the field” Bama played D & has Waddle back as PR. @finebaum @PeterBurnsESPN @Auburn247 pic.twitter.com/phJggYR9jg

— Dan Orlovsky (@danorlovsky7) December 1, 2019

Adam Spencer

Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.