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Iron Bowl memory lives on in Jordan-Hare

AUBURN, Ala. -- "There goes [Chris] Davis. Davis is going to run it all the way back. Auburn’s going to win the football game. Auburn’s going to win the football game. He ran the missed field goal back. He ran it back 109 yards. They’re not going to keep them off the field tonight. Holy cow. Oh my God. Auburn wins."

That was the last play Auburn radio announcer Rod Bramblett called inside Jordan-Hare Stadium -- the infamous "Kick-Six" -- the play that beat rival Alabama in the Iron Bowl and paved the way to Atlanta for the SEC championship game.

As Bramblett predicted, the fans poured onto the field after the game, creating a scene that won’t soon be forgotten on the Plains.

"The imagery of that field covered in orange and blue just captured the moment, captured the sheer jubilation of something special they had witnessed," Bramblett said later.

A new season is upon us, and Auburn is focusing more on the 13 seconds left when Florida State scored the go-ahead touchdown in the BCS title game rather than the one second that was still on the clock when Davis returned the field goal to beat Alabama.

However, Saturday will be nine months to the day since that play happened, and it will surely be on the fans’ minds as they return to Jordan-Hare Stadium to watch the Tigers open the season against Arkansas. It will be the first game back home since the Iron Bowl.

"We’ll be excited," Auburn running back Cameron Artis-Payne said. "I don’t know what it’s going to be like. We’ve got the greatest fans, so I know it’s definitely going to be a great atmosphere. I’m just looking forward to it."

"I think in terms of season openers, home openers, the electricity and the atmosphere will probably be at an all-time high," Bramblett added. "I just think it’s going to be an incredible scene."

There is a strong possibility that the replay of the kick-six, accompanied by Bramblett’s call, will be shown on the scoreboard before the game, and though the players will likely be in the locker room, Artis-Payne believes he will know when it comes on.

"I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to hear them," he said.

As of Wednesday, Bramblett hadn’t come up with his signature lead-in that he does before every game, but he was confident this first one of the season would include last year’s Iron Bowl in some form or fashion.

Auburn meanwhile is hoping for a similar result in the win-loss column, but it could do without all the drama this time around.