With the game tied late in Jordan-Hare Stadium, emotional displays all too familiar to Auburn fans started showing themselves again.
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Fans were clutching their fists, biting their nails, talking in nervousness and simply hoping that the Tigers would pull another win out in the 2026 season. The Auburn offense, led by quarterback Byrum Brown, started driving the football down the field, even getting a big 21-yard pass completion to Keshaun Singleton with 1:26 left in the game against the Arkansas Razorbacks.
Enter Alex McPherson with 37 seconds left, who headed to the right hash to attempt a 43-yard field goal that would give the Tigers the lead.
The Razorbacks called a timeout to ice him though, giving the senior from Fort Payne a little more time to think about the moment he was about to go through.
“As a former special teams guy myself, I've learned to totally leave those guys alone,” said Auburn Head Coach Alex Golesh after the game. “ Now we put them in pressure situations throughout the week. You can ask Alex, I've been known to stand right next to him and talk into his ear to try to simulate just some distraction.”
After the timeout, McPherson trotted back out on the field and set up. The ball was snapped, held and McPherson’s kick, despite being mere inches away from the right upright, slipped through and gave the Tigers the late advantage.
Three plays from scrimmage later, the Auburn defense forced a fumble on the Arkansas offense and recovered it after time expired, marking a 26-23 win for Golesh’s squad.
It was a getback moment for McPherson, who in the third quarter missed an extra point off the left upright that would have tied the game at 10-10.
After he missed that seemingly routine kick, Golesh instilled confidence back into his kicker and then let him do his thing.
“He’s what Auburn football is, man,” Golesh said. “Fight, perseverance, grit like that dude is as special a human being as they come. I said it three weeks ago. He's still the same guy, and to boink an extra point off of an upright, literally the only thing I said to him then was, ‘It's gonna come back down to you, just so you know.’ And otherwise, you leave him alone.”
This was McPherson’s second game-winning kick of the 2026 season. On Oct. 17 in a rivalry on the road at Georgia, the senior was called on to try a 34-yard kick to win the game as time expired. He did, and the Tigers upset the No. 1 team in the nation.
So when McPherson trotted out for this kick with time still left, there was a lot of confidence in his ability to make it.
“I knew it was going,” said Auburn quarterback Byrum Brown. “Best kicker in the nation. 38 baby.”
Just like the game against the Razorbacks, McPherson was also iced at Georgia. However, to McPherson, that is no amount of pressure compared to what he has faced in recent years.
In spring 2024, the kicker was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, having his large intestine removed, as well as part of his colon. In August 2025, he was then told he had Crohn’s disease, which sidelined him again and put his career in football in jeopardy.
McPherson worked to return to the field though, and has since made history that he will be able to talk about for years.
Knowing his journey, Golesh said this would never amount to the pressure that McPherson has faced in other aspects of his life.
“I think the icing thing is overrated, but that dude's so process driven, so mentally tough,” Golesh said. “To have gone through what he's gone through, that's nothing. That's just his everyday routine, and he's a special human. He's a really, really special human. I'm so glad he's an Auburn Tiger.”
The win moved the Tigers to 5-4 on the season and 3-4 in SEC competition, now one win away from bowl eligibility and extending McPherson’s final season of his college career by one game.
Auburn Undercover is an independent Auburn sports media company covering Auburn athletics, recruiting and insider news.
