AuburnFamilyNews.com: Daniel Carlson confident he would have made field goal that led to Kick-Six

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Daniel Carlson confident he would have made field goal that led to Kick-Six


If the shoe was on the other foot, Daniel Carlson doesn't believe the Kick-Six would have ever happened.

Carlson has been established as one of the best kickers in the country for three years now, and he was on Auburn's roster in 2013 -- redshirting as a true freshman that season -- when Alabama's Adam Griffith missed a 57-yard field goal as the final second ticked off the game clock, setting up Chris Davis' famous Kick-Six return. Carlson, who has family ties to the Tide and grew up an Alabama fan, wanted to go to Alabama but was never offered a scholarship by Nick Saban.

Had he been offered, it's possible Carlson would have been the one attempting that potential game-winning field goal in the Iron Bowl that season. He seemed pretty confident that his attempt would have been more fortuitous than Griffith's.

"I mean, I like to think so," Carlson said when asked if he would have made the 57-yarder.

Gus Malzahn: This year's high-stakes Iron Bowl 'feels exactly' like 2013

Carlson's career-long is 56 yards, which he made in Auburn's season opener against Louisville in 2015. He has made four field goals of at least 50 yards this season, and he has said in the past that he's "definitely" comfortable from 60 yards and in.

Auburn coach Gus Malzahn has even previously entertained the idea of Carlson kicking a 60-yarder in games.

As things turned out, of course, Griffith was the one attempting the field goal for Alabama that season, and it came up short, with Auburn's Chris Davis returning it 100-plus yards for the game-winning touchdown to clinch the SEC West and send Auburn to the league title game. After redshirting at Auburn that season, Carlson assumed kicking duties for the Tigers and has become the program's and the SEC's all-time leading scorer.

With top-ranked Alabama (11-0, 7-0 SEC) visiting Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. to take on No. 6 Auburn (9-2, 6-1) with similarly high stakes, Carlson is confident he'd be successful if a comparable situation arises this weekend.

"Maybe I'll get an opportunity Saturday," he said, "but we'll see."

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



from Auburn Sports Impact http://bit.ly/2jJrNIv

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