AUBURN, Ala. – Shaun Shivers might have been the shortest player on the field, but in arguably the most important moment of Saturday's Iron Bowl, the sophomore delivered the biggest boom.
Down five with just over eight minutes remaining, Auburn called a jet sweep on 3rd-and-5 from the Alabama 11-yard line. Normally the jet sweep is designed for Anthony Schwartz or Eli Stove, but both players were unavailable due to injury. Next up after those two is fellow wide receiver Matthew Hill, but he too went out earlier in the game. That left Shivers, the fourth option.
At halftime, the coaching staff asked Shivers if he still remembered how to run the play.
"I do," he said.
"Well, get ready because we're going to need you to run it," Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn told him before the team went back on the field for the second half.
Sure enough, Shivers had his number called. And when the time came, he was more than ready. He sprinted to his right and took the handoff from JaTarvious Whitlow with the intention of getting around the corner. But he saw a hole open up first, so he turned and exploded through it.
"At first, I didn't see anybody," Shivers said. "Then I saw the safety coming down full speed, so I gathered myself up and said, 'This is going to be a collision right here.' I just finished it."
— F R E A K Y (@V8Blazing) December 1, 2019
Shivers put his head down and plowed through Alabama safety Xavier McKinney. The hit not only knocked McKinney back, it knocked his helmet off. Meanwhile, Shivers kept going and ran into the end zone for what proved to be the game-winning touchdown. At the time, he didn't even know the helmet came off. He was too focused on crossing the goal line.
"It just happened so quick," Shivers said. "I didn't even really notice until I looked up at the screen."
"Shivers had been doing that (play) earlier in the year, so we just plugged him in and he ran the guy over, knocked his helmet off and got in the end zone," Malzahn said. "That was a huge play."
Watching from the sideline was former Auburn running back Ronnie Brown. Fifteen years ago, it was Brown who ran over a Tennessee defender and dislodged the player's helmet on his way to the end zone in a play that most Auburn fans still remember today.
"I think that's the competitive spirit of how I try to approach the game," Brown said. "You're growing up and you always hear the coaches say, 'Be the hammer, not the nail.' Playing the running back position, you just never know where the hit is going to come from, so if you get an opportunity to deliver the blow, it's usually in your best interest."
At 5-foot-7, 179 pounds, Shivers has always been the hammer. Whether it was in pee-wee, high school or during practice at Auburn, he's never been one to shy away from contact.
Saturday was no different, and his touchdown run got Brown's attention.
"That's how you run the ball," Brown said. "You send a message and when you can, you deliver the blow. I was excited for him because he worked so hard to get that opportunity in that moment. And what it did, it electrified not only the sideline but the stadium. You could feel the energy shift."
"The sideline went crazy," added Shivers. "They were like, 'Yeah Worm, that's how you do it.' Everybody was just so hyped. That got the defense hyped as well. The defense went out and made plays, too, to seal the game."
For Shivers, it was his third rushing touchdown of the season and the seventh of his career. But none will be more memorable than scoring the go-ahead touchdown in the Iron Bowl.
"Now they know who Shaun Shivers is," Shivers said. "That's the person I am. I don't shy away from contact. I don't care how big or if this dude hits hard or if he goes to this school, I don't see none of that. You bleed just like I bleed. You're a man. I'm a man. It is what it is."
MOOD 😤#WarEagle x #RidefortheBrand pic.twitter.com/rVAIP3n5qT
— Auburn Football (@AuburnFootball) December 1, 2019