DALLAS (FWAA) – The Auburn Tigers
(11-1) stunned No. 1, unbeaten and two-time defending national
champion Alabama, 34-28, in one of the most memorable finishes
in college football history to earn the Tostitos Fiesta
Bowl National Team of the Week honor for games of the
weekend of Nov. 30.
The announcement came exclusively on SiriusXM Radio's "College
Sports Today," hosted by Mark Packer and Eddie George.
On the Iron Bowl's final play, Chris Davis returned a missed
Alabama field goal attempt from the back of the end zone –
officially 100 yards – for a touchdown to give the Tigers a
berth in Saturday's Southeastern Conference Championship Game
against Missouri. Auburn had rallied to tie the game at 28 when
Sammie Coates caught a 39-yard pass from Nick Marshall with 32
seconds left.
It was a second consecutive game in which Auburn won with a
play for the ages. Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn said he didn't
see Ricardo Louis' 73-yard catch that beat Georgia 43-38 on Nov.
16, but he got a front-row view of Davis' return as he bolted
down the Auburn sideline.
"The first thing I'm looking at is does it have enough
distance. I saw it didn't have enough distance, and my eyes kind
of got on Chris," Malzahn said. "They had their field goal team
out there and it had some big guys on it. I thought he made a
couple of guys who could tackle miss and made some good blocks
and went down our sideline to score the touchdown."
Other Tostitos Fiesta Bowl National Team of the Week nominees
for the weekend of Nov. 30 included:
• San Jose State (6-6): David Fales was
37-of-45 passing and threw for a school-record 547 yards and
six touchdowns as the Spartans ended No. 16 Fresno State's
undefeated season with a 62-52 win. It was SJSU's first win
over a ranked opponent in 13 years, and the Spartans are
eligible to go to a bowl game in consecutive seasons for the
first time since 1986-87.
The Football Writers Association of America has named a national
team of the week since the 2002 season. This is the ninth season
that the award has been sponsored by the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.
Members of the FWAA All-America Committee decide the weekly honor.
Each Monday during the 2013 college football regular season,
the FWAA has named the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl National Team of the
Week. This is the final selection of the 2013 season.
Founded in 1971, the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl has hosted seven games
that have decided the college football national championship, including
four Bowl Championship Series title games. This season, the Tostitos
Fiesta Bowl will be played on Jan. 1, 2014, at University of Phoenix
Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., and the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl will
be played on Dec. 28, 2013, at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Ariz.
The Football Writers Association of America, a non-profit organization
founded in 1941, consists of more than 1,200 men and women who cover college football.
The membership includes journalists, broadcasters and publicists, as well as key
executives in all the areas that involve the game. The FWAA works to govern areas
that include gameday operations, major awards and its annual All-America team. For
more information about the FWAA and its award programs, contact Steve Richardson
at tiger@fwaa.com or 972-713-6198.
For more information on the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl National Team of
the Week, go to footballwriters.com or fiestabowl.org.
2013 FWAA ALL-AMERICA
COMMITTEE |
Mark Anderson |
Las Vegas Review-Journal |
Mountain West |
Greg Barnes |
Inside Carolina |
ACC |
Kirk Bohls |
Austin American-Statesman |
Big 12 |
Joseph Duarte |
Houston Chronicle |
Conference USA |
Lee Feinswog |
Sports225.com |
SEC |
Tommy Hicks |
Mobile Press Register |
Sun Belt |
Joey Johnston |
Tampa Tribune |
American |
David Jones |
Harrisburg Patriot-News |
Big Ten |
Lindsay Schnell |
The Oregonian |
Pac-12 |
George Schroeder |
USA Today |
National |
Phil Steele |
Phil Steele Publications |
National |
John Wagner |
Toledo Blade |
Mid-American |
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