Cannella gets his Iron Bowl moment

[aubiefifty 16,705]

al.com

Sal Cannella gets his ‘unbelievable’ Iron Bowl moment

Posted Dec 06, 2019

5-6 minutes

Sal Cannella took it way back — back to the 2018 season opener against Washington.

It was a case of déjà vu for Cannella, who in that game in Atlanta kicked off the 2018 campaign with a suave 10-yard touchdown reception on the sideline for Auburn’s first touchdown of the season an the first of his career. Only this time around, it was a different quarterback — Bo Nix, not Jarrett Stidham — and the stage was even bigger.

During Auburn’s thrilling 48-45 win against Alabama in the Iron Bowl last weekend, Cannella came through with another highlight-reel touchdown catch — a 14-yarder from Nix late in the first half that saw the senior receiver leap near the sideline and get both feet down inbounds for what was, at the time, a game-tying touchdown.

“Same play,” Cannella said. “That’s my play. I’m telling you. I told you back then. Same play.”

It was Cannella’s first touchdown of the season — his first since last year’s Liberty game — and it couldn’t have come at a more ideal time for the senior, who entered the game with just eight receptions for 137 yards on the year and no catches over the Tigers’ previous four games.

This one, though, was one that Cannella won’t soon forget after a wild, back-and-forth Iron Bowl win that vaulted Auburn ahead of Alabama in the penultimate College Football Playoff rankings and thwarted any hopes the Tide had of making the playoff.

“I mean, you couldn't write it up any better, man,” Cannella said. “Just, the whole year's been a grind. We've had a lot of ups and downs as a team. I mean, and this is one that really matters. We knew that and we knew just to have a good feeling about the year, we had to win this one. You couldn't write it up any better, man. Unbelievable game. Last game in Jordan-Hare, fans rushing the stadium, beating Alabama, it's just unbelievable.”

But back to Cannella’s catch.

The 14-yard toe-tap touchdown by Cannella capped a critical drive for Auburn, which had just ceded all momentum to Alabama late in the half.

After Smoke Monday’s pick-six off Mac Jones gave Auburn a 17-10 lead with 5:36 to go in the second quarter, Alabama quickly tied the game on Jaylen Waddle’s 98-yard kickoff return touchdown. Auburn running back Boobee Whitlow fumbled it on the Tigers’ ensuing drive, and the Tide retook the lead less than a minute later when Jones found Henry Ruggs for another touchdown with 4:12 to go in the half.

It was one of those series of events that made it seem like Alabama was on the verge of pulling away, especially with the Tide getting the ball back to start the second half. Auburn knew it needed an answer.

“Before the game even started, we knew we had to just make plays,” Cannella said. “And that was just the motto of the whole day. Offense, defense, special teams, we just had to make plays. Everyone just, when they had the opportunity, they got to go out there and do what they do. It was just cool to see everybody getting involved and everybody doing their thing. And we just kept driving the ball down the field, like we got to score touchdowns. We knew that, too, because we would get down the field -- we had like 500 yards against Ole Miss and we rarely scored the ball. So we knew we had to score to win and just driving the ball down the field, it was good seeing everybody getting after it.”

Auburn picked up a quick first down on the drive that followed Ruggs’ touchdown, but after two runs by D.J. Williams for a combined 3 yards, the Tigers faced third-and-7 at their own 38. That’s when Nix found Seth Williams down the left side of the field for a one-handed, over-the-shoulder catch for 37 yards.

After a timeout, Nix then completed another unlikely pass to Will Hastings, who seemingly appeared out of nowhere to haul in what appeared to be a throwaway for an 11-yard gain and another first down with 1:12 to go in the half. Auburn burned another timeout, and that’s when Gus Malzahn dialed up that same play call from last year’s Washington game.

Nix dropped back, pump-faked and then fired the ball toward the left side of the end zone, placing it where only Cannella had a chance to make the catch. The 6-foot-5 receiver had enough separation against Patrick Surtain Jr., leapt and got both feet down inbounds with 66 ticks left on the clock.

“I think it goes to show a lot about those three guys in particular, and our wide receiver corps in general,” Nix said. “They’re not talked about a lot, but they make plays when they have to make plays. And in games like that, that’s the difference.”

The touchdown was particularly meaningful for Cannella, since it came on senior day with both his parents, his brother and one of his closest cousins all watching from the stands. It also didn’t hurt that he “definitely” had the best catch on a drive chock-full of them, according to Seth Williams.

“It's just kind of fate that it happened that way,” Cannella said, “and I'm happy I went out like that.”

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.

[PowerOfDixieland 3,225]

Cannella transferred in with a fair amount of fanfare (which always amazes me about TE's in our current offensive scheme), but never seemed to get it rolling for one reason or another.  The one thing about this kid though is that he stayed with it and apparently worked his ass off relentlessly in spite of any sort of significant pay off.  For that reason alone I'm glad he had the chance to make a catch that his grandkids will one day tell his great-grandkids about. Thankful for "program guys" in the age of the Star Trek transfer portal.  

[johnnyAU 3,630]

Seth had one of the best catches we've seen all year. Then Hastings comes through. Then Sal finishes it off with one of the best and most clutch TD catches I think I've ever seen.

So happy for him.

[auburn4ever 1,266]

Sal made an unbelievable catch in the endzone while he was dragging his tiptoes for a touchdown.