College Football

Comically stunned shock from Georgia side of Auburn's miracle

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 7:56 p.m. ET

Phil Kropoth

Saturday's Georgia-Auburn game will be remembered for one of the greatest catches in recent memory, but it also proved just how cruel football can be.

The game was literally in the Bulldogs' hands.

Problem was, there were too many involved.

Two Bulldog defensive backs appeared to cross signals as they moved in to intercept a Hail Mary, and instead of bringing in the ball â or even knocking it to the ground â they deflected Nick Marshallâs fourth-and-18 heave into the hands of Tigers WR Ricardo Louis for the winning TD.

The reaction of Georgia's coaches was priceless:

All Bulldog players could do was place heads into hands.

Or put hands on top of heads.

For Auburn, elation. For Georgia, disbelief.

And deflation.

For Aaron Murray and Co. to come so far, to dig their way out of a 20-point hole, just to walk off like this:

''That's a freak play,'' Murray said. ''It's like a nightmare. You try to wake up, and we are celebrating victory. It's tough. This is going to be a tough one to get over.''

While the Bulldogs may feel like this moment couldn't be forgotten soon enough, what shouldn't be overlooked is that it takes two teams to play a fantastic football game.

And even though the outcome doesn't seem fair, and might even seem downright cruel, for those who come up on the short end of a loss like this, the unfortunate side to an uplifting victory always exists.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.