Every true comeback story has a point at which the physical reality of it becomes nearly impossible to comprehend. Between the snap and the swing of his right leg, Auburn senior kicker Alex McPherson made a 34-yard field goal as time ran out, splitting the uprights and giving the unranked Auburn team a 27-24 victory over the top-ranked Georgia Bulldogs. Before he returned to the locker room, Toomer’s Corner was covered in toilet paper.
The two years that preceded it are what elevate this to more than just a fantastic college football moment. Just months after being named a Freshman All-American and a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award, college football’s highest award for kickers, McPherson started feeling ill in the spring of 2024. Not practice-too-hard sick. Something much worse.
Fifteen to twenty times a day, he ran to the restroom. His clothing no longer fit. Perhaps it was a stomach ailment that would go away, he reasoned. It failed. He was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, two inflammatory bowel diseases that can worsen suddenly and mercilessly. They quickly got out of control for McPherson.
In just a few months, he lost 55 pounds from his playing weight to 110 pounds. He hardly looked like the athletic young kicker who had been attracting attention throughout the SEC when he was admitted to the hospital. In a recent interview with The Athletic, he stated, “Skin and bones, pretty much.” It’s difficult to avoid seeing that picture and experiencing its weight.
His large intestine was eventually removed completely by doctors. He now has an ileostomy bag underneath his uniform, strapped to his waist in a pouch he purchased online. This detail was mostly overlooked on Saturday night until the kick landed and everyone began to wonder who this kid was.
To his credit, he was always thinking about football. McPherson reportedly talked about returning even during the worst of it. He spent the better part of two years working his way back toward something approaching normal, whether that was a coping strategy or just a competitive instinct—probably both. That kind of pull is not present in every athlete in that position. Some quietly leave and never come back. That’s not how McPherson was constructed.
He sounded as though he had truly earned his comeback by July 2026, at SEC Media Days. He stated, “Just to have that strength back to kind of kick how I want to and how I used to,” in the calm, almost subdued voice of someone who doesn’t have to endure his own agony for an audience. He had endured enough. He was aware of its significance. We were all just catching up.
The McPherson family has a respectably high baseline for pressure kicks because his brother Evan McPherson has been kicking for the Cincinnati Bengals since 2021. In Cincinnati, people still have positive memories of Evan’s 2022 playoff run. However, Alex’s chapter is unique in that it has more to do with what this young man had to go through in order to return to a football field than it does with family heritage.
Auburn was an 18.5-point underdog going into the Georgia game. 18.5 points. On paper, that isn’t a close game, and Georgia wasn’t exactly acting that way. Playing at home at Sanford Stadium, the Bulldogs, who were ranked first, were boisterous and full of anticipation. By all standards, Auburn had no right to win that game. However, traditional logic has never been very important to football. In the ensuing chaos, new head coach Alex Golesh was searching for someone to embrace after McPherson ended it with a single kick.
“Alex McPherson, if they’ve never had to go through what you have — this is for life, not football,” Golesh said bluntly in front of his team in the locker room afterward. That’s not what a coach says when he’s reading from a script; it’s what he says when he truly means it. Watching that video gives me the impression that everyone in the room knew exactly what he was getting at.
Since 2001, an unranked Auburn team had not defeated the best team in the country. On a Saturday night in Georgia, McPherson’s leg put an end to that 25-year drought.
It’s still unclear whether this moment will lead to an NFL career, whether his body can withstand the rigors of professional football, or whether the Bengals will ever have both McPherson brothers on the same roster. Most likely, no one is aware. However, it is impossible to divorce the kick from the circumstances that led to it. The hospital room. The weight reduction. The procedure. The gradual, uncertain return to everyday life. Because of this, October 17, 2026 felt like more than just a football game.
It was something you dream about as a young child. And occasionally, in defiance of all reasonable expectations, it does occur.
FAQs
Q1: What illness did Alex McPherson suffer from?
He was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease in spring 2024.
Q2: How much weight did Alex McPherson lose due to his illness?
He lost 55 pounds, dropping to a low of 110 pounds.
Q3: Did Alex McPherson have surgery because of his illness?
Yes, doctors removed his entire large intestine.
Q4: What did Alex McPherson achieve in his comeback game?
He kicked a 34-yard game-winner to beat No. 1 Georgia.
Q5: Is Alex McPherson related to any NFL player?
Yes, his older brother Evan McPherson kicks for the Cincinnati Bengals.