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SEC Football: The best-ever moments of the SEC on CBS

By Griffin McVeigh

ATLANTA, GA - DECEMBER 01: Confetti falls after the Alabama Crimson Tide defeated the Georgia Bulldogs 35-28 in the 2018 SEC Championship Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on December 1, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - DECEMBER 01: Confetti falls after the Alabama Crimson Tide defeated the Georgia Bulldogs 35-28 in the 2018 SEC Championship Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on December 1, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
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AUBURN, AL – SEPTEMBER 18: Quarterback Cameron Newton #2 of the Auburn Tigers waits as Erin Andrews finishes her interview with head coach Gene Chizik after their 27-24 overtime win over the Clemson Tigers at Jordan-Hare Stadium on September 18, 2010 in Auburn, Alabama. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
AUBURN, AL – SEPTEMBER 18: Quarterback Cameron Newton #2 of the Auburn Tigers waits as Erin Andrews finishes her interview with head coach Gene Chizik after their 27-24 overtime win over the Clemson Tigers at Jordan-Hare Stadium on September 18, 2010 in Auburn, Alabama. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

Cam Newton’s run

When this happened, the entire nation knew they were watching something special with No. 2 playing quarterback for Auburn. What makes this play so special is that it shows Newton’s freak athletic ability and speed. Gary Danielson said what everyone is thinking when he said, “Oh did he accelerate! Oh my Goodness!” The head bob afterward is iconic from Newton’s Heisman-winning season and many consider it to be his Heisman moment in the 2010 season.

Game-winning field goal in the Game of the Century

Going into the 2011 meeting between Alabama and LSU, the two teams were the top-ranked teams in the country. With much more than an SEC championship birth on the line, they played an all-time classic in Tuscaloosa. A defensive showdown, the Tigers got the 9-6 win in the Game of the Century. As it is going through the uprights, Verne Lundquist calls out the iconic, “LSU remains, undefeated,” as the entire Tiger team storms Bryant Denny Stadium.

Johnny Manziel in Tuscaloosa

Another Heisman moment for a player, this time in the form of Johnny Football. While they were ranked No. 15 in the country, nobody expected Texas A&M to go into Tuscaloosa for their first trip as an SEC member and win. This play gave Aggies everywhere hope. Manziel looks like he ran into an Alabama sack and Lundquist even says “Got him.” Danielson is quick to say “No they don’t” right as Manziel fires to a wide-open receiver in the end zone. The Aggie sideline goes crazy, knowing they just pulled off something special. Manziel would go on to win the Heisman that season, with this play and win in Tuscaloosa that season his Heisman moment.

Amari Cooper TD vs. Georgia

One of the more underrated games in the history of the conference, the 2012 SEC Championship was a very important game. No 2. Alabama was facing No. 3 Georgia and the winner was going to the National Championship. With Alabama going on to steamroll Notre Dame in Miami the next month, this game may as well have decided the national champion. While the entire game as a whole is special, the game-winning score for Alabama is incredible. Amari Cooper was running a go route, quit on it in the middle of it, but caught up to the ball to secure another Crimson Tide championship.

Prayer at Jordan-Hare

Maybe the most underrated play in the history of the conference, the Prayer at Jordan Hare was a lot more than a rivalry win at home against Georgia for the Tigers. If Auburn had lost this game, the 2013 Iron Bowl would not have decided the SEC West. If that game did not mean so much, there would have been no Kick Six, Alabama would have been the team to roll through Missouri in the SEC championship, and Nick Saban may have been lifting his third straight national championship. This played shaped the 2013 season for the SEC and we will never see anything like it again.

Everyone, slow down. I know what you’re thinking. The Kick Six is no doubt one of the greatest plays to happen in the history of college football, let alone in the SEC. The only reason I did not include it is because the Auburn radio call makes the play 1,000 percent better. Lundquist’s call is good, but not as good as Rod Bramblett counting down the yard line and screaming “they’re not going to keep them off the field tonight.”

Another moment to not make it was when Ole Miss beat Alabama in 2014 in Oxford. That was no doubt a great victory for the Rebels, but the end of the game was anti-climatic. Ole Miss intercepted the ball in the back of the end zone but required an official review to confirm it. Watching people storm the field and tear down the goalposts in Oxford was a sight to see.

Finally, nothing from the Tim Tebow era made it due to how dominant they were. The Gators only lost two games in 2008 and 2009. One led to Tebow’s famous speech after a loss to Ole Miss and the other was against Alabama in the 2009 SEC Championship game. The other 26 wins game by an average of nearly 30 points a game. Tebow was no doubt one of the best to ever do it in the SEC, but he dominated too much to ever produce a special moment to define the conference.

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