'The Prayer at Jordan-Hare' still lingers for Georgia two years later

ATHENS -- They still can't believe it.

Two years have passed since "The Prayer at Jordan-Hare" happened. But those who participated in it still aren't over what occurred.

The scene: Georgia, on the road at Auburn's Jordan-Hare Stadium, was one play away from completing the greatest comeback in program history. Trailing by 20 points in the fourth quarter, Georgia rallied behind two Aaron Murray passing touchdowns and one Murray rushing score to take a 38-37 lead.

Georgia's defense put Auburn in a fourth-and-18 play from its own 27-yard line with 36 seconds to go. The game was seemingly over, with the Tigers needing a miracle to save their dream season and keep their BCS national championship hopes alive.

Then it happened.

Quarterback Nick Marshall heaved the football down the field with Georgia safeties Tray Matthews (now with Auburn) and Josh Harvey-Clemons (now with Louisville) in position to make the game-ending play. With Matthews about to pick off the pass, Harvey-Clemons reached his hand in and tipped the ball away. The ball then floated in the air momentarily with Auburn receiver Ricardo Louis tipping and snagging it for a 73-yard score.

"I hit my knees, and then my chest hit on the ground," Georgia head coach Mark Richt said. "I was like, 'What in the world is going on?' "

Place-kicker Marshall Morgan was standing near Richt when Auburn completed what would be the game-winning touchdown.

"I thought he actually fainted," Morgan said.

Morgan was in shock just like the rest of the Georgia sideline. It was one of those moments that would go on to define the college football season, considering it helped Auburn play for a national championship, which it lost to Florida State.

"No one could really believe it," Morgan said. "We were waiting on a flag or something. No one could believe that happened."

Defensive end Sterling Bailey was on the field for the play and shook his head when recalling it. The defense prevented the deep pass, and Louis should have never had a chance to catch the ball. Marshall actually had receiver Sammie Coates wide open near midfield on what would have been a much safer throw.

But Marshall elected for the gamble, and it paid off for the Tigers.

"When I saw him throw the ball, I turned my head and said, 'We're going to knock this down,' " Bailey said. "Then I saw it hit, and he kept running. It just took all the breath out of me because we fought so hard to come back. We had the game. That happened. It's just football."

The play has stuck with the Georgia players that were a part of that game, even though the Bulldogs blew Auburn out 34-7 a year ago.

"It was an unbelievable play," safety Quincy Mauger said. "It's a play nobody forgets. It was an amazing play by him. It's also a great play for a lot of people to learn from. It's one of those things where you have to go back to the smaller details on -- high-pointing the ball or just knowing the situation and knocking the ball (down), knowing your surroundings."

On Saturday, Georgia will go back to the location where "The Prayer at Jordan-Hare" occurred. In a strange twist, one of the two safeties on Marshall's deep ball -- Matthews -- is now playing for the other side.

The play itself became the story of the game, overshadowing Georgia's 21-point fourth-quarter outburst, which looked to have given the Bulldogs its greatest come-from-behind victory ever.

Sophomore running back Sony Michel was still in high school at the time and didn't watch the game. Of course, he saw the highlight of the play because it was inescapable as a sports fan. It's a play even he still can't wrap his head around.

"You just look at that type of play as lucky," Michel said. "Those plays don't happen much. When they do, they just happen. It's one of those plays you won't expect to happen."

This story was originally published November 10, 2015 at 8:58 PM with the headline "'The Prayer at Jordan-Hare' still lingers for Georgia two years later ."