A 4-6 Alabama side beat #11 Auburn 17-15 at Legion Field on 1 December 1984, and the reason has been argued about ever since.
Fourth and goal
Auburn trailed 17-15 late and drove to the Alabama one. On fourth down the call was a run to the right for Brent Fullwood, with Bo Jackson leading the block. Jackson went left. Fullwood arrived at the gap with nobody in front of him and Alabama’s Rory Turner met him there for no gain. Turner’s description of it afterwards — “I just waxed the dude” — is the line everyone remembers.
Auburn got the ball back and Robert McGinty’s 42-yard field goal attempt missed in the closing seconds.
What it cost Auburn
Auburn had begun the season ranked first in the country. They needed this win for a Sugar Bowl place against Nebraska, Florida’s conference title having been vacated under NCAA sanctions. They lost it, and went to the Liberty Bowl instead, where they beat Arkansas 21-15 to finish 9-4.
What it did not do for Alabama
The win did not rescue Alabama’s season. They finished 5-6 — a losing record either way, since 4-6 plus one win is 5-6 — with no bowl game, ending a bowl streak that ran back to 1959 and giving the programme its first losing season since 1957. Ray Perkins was in his second year.
What the result did do was demonstrate the thing the fixture demonstrates every few years: that the records the two teams bring into it are not much of a guide to what happens in it.