No. 6 Auburn Rallies to Beat Alabama and Finishes at 11-0 : SEC: The Tigers, banned from postseason play, overcome 14-5 deficit for 22-14 victory.

Sixth-ranked Auburn rallied to defeat defending national champion Alabama, 22-14, and stake a claim to the national championship.

“I don’t know if I would want this team to go out and play Florida State or Notre Dame,” said Terry Bowden, who became the first to go 11-0 in his first season as a major college coach.

“But if someone votes us for it, I’ll take it.”

Auburn came back from a 14-5 deficit behind backup quarterback Patrick Nix, a sophomore who came in during the third quarter after starter Stan White suffered a knee injury.

Nix, who had thrown only 12 passes all year, completed a 35-yard touchdown pass play to Frank Sanders on his first play of the game to begin the Auburn comeback. James Bostic sealed the victory over No. 11 Alabama (8-2-1) when he ran 70 yards up the middle for a touchdown with 2:19 remaining.

Auburn’s season is over. NCAA probation bars the Tigers from postseason play, but it doesn’t prohibit them from being voted No. 1 in the Associated Press poll.

“If at the end of all the bowl games, if we are the only unbeaten and untied team in the nation,” White said, “we deserve a shot to be No. 1.”

With the aid of crutches, White remained on the field for the postgame celebration.

“The pain in my knee can’t spoil the joy I’m feeling right now,” he said.

Alabama, despite its first loss to Auburn since 1989, already had clinched the Southeastern Conference Western Division title because the Tigers, 8-0 in the SEC, are ineligible for the league championship. The Tide, which is 5-2-1 in the SEC, will play No. 8 Florida in the league championship game Dec. 4 for the right to play in the Sugar Bowl.

Bowden, 37, became the first Tiger coach since 1904 to beat Alabama in his first try and accomplished something that has eluded his father, Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden: an undefeated season.

Auburn had gone 10-11-1 the last two years, during which a play-for-pay scandal forced Coach Pat Dye to resign and led to NCAA sanctions before the season began.

But the Tigers went undefeated for the first time since 1957, when they were 10-0 and won the national title--despite being on probation.