Verne Lundquist recalls the SEC football moment that stands above the rest
Verne Lundquist retired from calling the SEC game of the week on CBS, but he hasn’t completely left sports broadcasting. Lundquist still calls The Masters, so with ESPN College GameDay at Augusta National, Uncle Verne got an opportunity to talk college football on a fall Saturday.
In a segment with Tom Rinaldi, Lundquist recalled some of his iconic calls from the gridiron and the green. When it comes to college football, Lundquist didn’t hesitate when naming the moment that stands above the rest.
“It’s easy, Tom — Alabama-Auburn in 2013,” Lundquist said. “When Matt Austin, the referee, famously said, ‘Please put one second back on the clock.’ All of the sudden, Nick Saban, who was irritated — to put it mildly — with his senior placekicker, put a redshirt freshman to attempt a 57-yard field goal.
“And it was not a bad kick, a little short, and Chris Davis grabbed it and got an escort down the left sideline. At the end of that run, I said, an answered prayer.”
Whether you heard Lundquist or the late Rod Bramblett call “the Kick-6,” you remember where you were when the play unfolded.
Verne Lundquist didn’t hesitate when asked for his favorite college football play call.
The 2013 Iron Bowl. pic.twitter.com/1XVWMMnovz
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) November 14, 2020
I miss some of Verne’s sayings…like that Whoa Nellie, etc. Seems like most of today’s announcers have lost a lot of the human-quality that made those older announcers comments memorable.
I think “Whoa Nellie” was Keith Jackson, but yes, the quality of commentating has gone down considerably over the years.
Remember the call well while in Afghanistan and then the defeat of the NC game on my way home at Manas AB.
I know where I was on the 45 yrd line in the student section. I will never forget seeing frat guys superman diving into the bushes.