Column: Both NCAAF and the NFL seasons continue to entertain

This college football and NFL season has been packed with amazing plays and improbable comebacks.

A college football season to remember came to a close with a bang.

Nothing less was expected.

The most amazing play came in the Alabama-Auburn game Nov. 30.

With the score tied at 28, Adam Griffith was asked to attempt a 57-yard field goal.
Before that, Cade Foster, the other field-goal kicker, had missed three field goals for Alabama.

If Foster had made any of those field goals, Alabama would’ve been heading to the SEC championship game.

Griffith kicked the ball short and it was caught by Chris Davis, who was waiting in the end zone.

Davis returned the missed field goal 109 yards for a touchdown with no time remaining on the clock.

Now that is a way to lose a game.

Alabama Coach Nick Saban didn’t really assess the pros and cons of this play. He could’ve attempted a Hail Mary pass into the end zone for a touchdown that most likely wouldn’t have been returned by an Auburn player.  

Saban’s team had a kicker, a holder and many big, slow players on the field who weighed more than 250 pounds. They had no chance of stopping Davis on his return.

About a year ago, Davis tweeted that he needed to return the ball.

I’m sure he didn’t even know he would have an effect on such an important game.

One play can cost a team a game and even its season.

Prior to this game, it seemed as if Alabama would go to the SEC championship game and would be favored against the opposition.

If Alabama had won the SEC championship game, the team would have moved on to the BCS championship game.

Instead, Auburn is going to play Florida State for the title.

The NFL has also had its share of amazing comebacks and unexpected turns.

The comeback team of the year appears to be the New England Patriots.

Down 24-0 against the Denver Broncos at the half, the Patriots outscored the Broncos 34-7 in the second half and in overtime to pull off the improbable win.

Oh, how the tables turned from the first half to the second.

A team that fumbled nearly every time it possessed the ball in the first half scored four unanswered touchdowns and a field goal to take the lead in the fourth quarter.

Just two days ago, the Patriots were again down 26-14 against the Browns late in the fourth quarter.

Tom Brady threw two touchdown passes within the last 61 seconds to give the Patriots another comeback win.

The Patriots have won three straight games after trailing by 10 or more points in the second half.

According the ESPN, the odds of winning all three games is one in 18,248.

The team scored five touchdowns in the final two minutes and five seconds of the Vikings-Ravens game two days ago.

Marlon Brown caught the last of them with 4 seconds to go to give the Ravens the 29-26 victory.

This past football season has been one for the ages. It appears to be the year of the comeback.

Many fans have had heartbreak.

I hope it wasn’t you.

­— jayljohn@indiana.edu
Follow columnist Jaylen Johnson on Twitter @nelyaJohnsonIDS.