‘Watch this’: Wooden puts his stamp on Auburn win with clutch play

‘Watch this’: Wooden puts his stamp on Auburn win with clutch play‘Watch this’: Wooden puts his stamp on Auburn win with clutch play
AU Athletics

AUBURN, Ala. – The momentum was starting to turn. After five straight 3-and-outs forced by the Auburn defense to start the second half, Texas A&M finally moved the chains with just under seven minutes to go. A touchdown would tie the game. The sold-out crowd inside Jordan-Hare Stadium was growing anxious. 

Colby Wooden wasn't going to let that happen. The senior defensive lineman went to some of his teammates during an injury timeout and called his shot. 

"Watch this," he said. "I'm going to go stab, club, and I'm going to go get it."

On the very next play, Wooden did exactly what he predicted. He blew by the offensive tackle, came up behind the quarterback and knocked the ball loose. Fellow defensive lineman Morris Joseph Jr. was there to pounce on it and give Auburn possession. 


The restlessness from the fans was replaced by jubilation. It was the loudest roar of the night outside of seeing interim head coach Carnell Williams lead the team out of the tunnel. 

"It's electric," Wooden said. "I don't have the words to describe it, but when you get there and you know you got it, it's like a relief. And then on top of that, you've got the crowd. It's just crazy."

"Colby told us he was going to do that," linebacker Cam Riley said. "Nobody in the huddle was really paying him attention. The next play he went out there and did exactly what he said he was going to do, and I was shook by that. I'm still shook right now that he actually did that."

"He surprised me with that. I ain't going to lie," added defensive lineman Marcus Harris. "He's that guy. I try to study some of the pass-rush moves he's got, but he's just different. It was amazing seeing that and how clutch it was at the right time."

It was the lone tackle of the night for Wooden, who still wreaked havoc with three quarterback hurries, but it could not have come at a more opportune time for Auburn. The turnover led to a field goal that all but put the game away, sealing Williams' first win as head coach. 

"Big-time play by Colby," Williams said. "To have that young man make that play – in my four years being here with him, I've seen him grow as a young man to what he has done and the leader that he is – I'm so happy for him. I'm so happy that he got an opportunity to make that play and give us life. He kind of put a stamp on it."

After the game, Wooden and Derick Hall presented Williams with the game ball. 

"For those young men to present you with that game ball is everything," Williams said. "I'm forever grateful."

It was only fitting to have those two do it on a night when the defense put together its best performance of the season. The Tigers allowed 215 total yards and 3.6 yards per play to Texas A&M, the fewest in both categories in an SEC game since 2011 against Florida. They shut out the Aggies in the first half, and through the first six drives of the second half, Texas A&M had -8 total yards and had failed to pick up a first down. 

"I don't know if that's something we really pay attention to," Hall said. "We just get down and play next play. That's the biggest thing for us. We try not to look at the scoreboard. We try not to look at who did this, who did that. We try to go out and play dominant defense."

"I was a little mad because I didn't want them to score," said Wooden. "I don't know how many 3-and-outs we had, but I didn't want them to get nothing. That's the mindset of this whole defense."

Hall and Wooden still have at least two games left in an Auburn uniform, but Saturday night's win will be one they remember for a long time. 

"It's huge," Hall said. "To be able to get a win under your belt, it's great. Just to get that feeling and that environment back because we're trying to get Auburn back to where it used to be. That's a start, and that's what we're going to build off."