Football is a game of numbers. Auburn football placekicker Alex McPherson knows that better than anyone.
On Saturday, though, only one number mattered to him. It wasn't 21.5, the number of points the Tigers were expected to lose by that day against Georgia. It wasn't 93,033, the number of screaming fans surrounding him, most praying that the moment would be too big for him. 55 wasn't the magic number either, which was the number of pounds lighter his 165-pound frame was two years ago, nearly to the day.
No, the only number that mattered to McPherson was 34, the number of yards between his holder, Auburn punter Hudson Kaak, and the uprights that could seal one of the biggest upsets in program history for his Tigers.
The math was not always so simple for McPherson, though. In fact, just two years ago, the 23-year-old was so sick that he wasn't sure he'd ever kick again.
"I would run to the bathroom 15-20 times a day," McPherson said last year . "I thought I just had the flu or a stomach bug or something going on. My weight was down. I had lost 20 pounds."
And that was just the first week. Over the course of a few months, McPherson underwent rigorous testing until April, when he was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. He was prescribed a popular medicine and was expected to improve, but things only got worse for the 21-year-old.
"I started to lose weight randomly, just out of nowhere," he recalls. "Then I started throwing up every day... They told me that there were two medications that they wanted me to try first. They said they usually work, but if they don't, we will have to look at getting your colon removed. I was like, there's no way I'll get to that point."
Early signs looked good; the second medication seemed to improve McPherson's condition.
"It was like a light switch flipped," says McPherson. "I felt immediately better."
However, as time went on, McPherson's condition worsened again, and after another round of failed medication, the surgery that was once a last resort seemed to be the only option.
When McPherson was finally admitted to the hospital, he weighed just 110 pounds.
"I definitely had moments where I was down, and it was really hard on me and my family," he says. "But my family, we're people of faith, and that's what I fell back on. No matter what happens, whether I'm able to play football again or not, life's going to go on, and I'm going to be OK."
Eight months after his initial diagnosis, McPherson underwent surgery that removed his entire large intestine and created a stoma, an opening in his abdomen, that allows waste to pass through into an ostomy bag, which he wears under his pads.
The road to recovery was a brutal one, and few thought he would ever see the field again, but McPherson had the full support of the Auburn family, along with his wife Hannah, whom he proposed to in May of 2024.
"She took care of me and has been such a big part of this," he says . "She was right there in the fire with me."
McPherson's best advice? Find someone who's been there before. For him, it was former San Diego kicker Rolf Benirschke , who kicked for the Chargers from 1977 to 1986 and, like McPherson, had ulcerative colitis that required surgery, though Benirschke actually needed two ostomy bags.
Dec 13, 1981; Tampa, FL, USA; FILE PHOTO; San Diego Chargers kicker Rolf Benirschke (6) in action against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Tampa Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Manny Rubio-USA TODAY Sports | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
"Whenever I was having a terrible day, it was important to tell someone what was going on, what I was actually going through," McPherson said . "That's been a huge part of this... If he can kick with two, I can kick with one."
And kick, McPherson did- after missing most of the 2024 season, McPherson came roaring back with the Tigers in 2025, making 20 of his 23 field goal attempts, including perfect, 35-for-35 consistency from extra-point range.
"It's been really fun, really excited just to be back to normal from where I was," McPherson said ahead of the 2026 season. "Just to have that strength back to kind of kick how I want to and how I used to. I think I'm kicking as good as I have since before I got sick, and it's just really exciting to be able to do that and play with the guys to the full extent."
And, in something of an ironic twist of fate, McPherson's game-winning field goal against Georgia was the shortest kick he had attempted in a game in the 2026 season. That doesn't mean Kirby Smart and the Dawgs didn't try to ice him in front of 93,000 screaming fans, so McPherson had an extra 30 seconds to think over the gravity of his situation.
After everything he'd been through, though, McPherson wasn't rattled by 30 seconds with a few barking students.
"I actually stayed away from everybody; I stayed in the middle of the field," McPherson said. "I kinda went through the same process that I had originally going up to the ball, and to be honest, I didn't have too many nerves up there. I knew my guys were gonna do their job for me, and all I gotta do is execute my job. They made it really easy."
The man who wears number 38 was good from 34 as time expired in Athens, sealing a win that not only changed the trajectory of Auburn's season but also potentially changed the program's future as a whole, as the Tigers snapped a nine-game losing streak to the No. 1 Bulldogs.
McPherson also netted SEC Special Teams Player of the Week honors for his instrumental two-field-goal performance against the Dawgs.
"It's hard to believe," he said after the game. "Two years ago, I was here, I was sick, and I wasn't playing. You tell me, two years from now, on the same night, you're gonna hit the game-winner, I wouldn't believe you. Just so blessed and grateful."
That win wasn't what made the recovery process worth it for McPherson, though.
"It means a lot," he said. "I've always said if I had to go through everything I had to go through to inspire one person or be an encouragement or an inspiration for somebody, then it was all worth it. What I went through definitely wasn't easy, but at the same time, it makes it all worth it if I can help somebody else."
That's why everyone on the Plains loves Alex McPherson: you just can't keep him down.
"A young man whose 2024 year got cut short," Auburn head coach Alex Golesh said . "Talk about overcoming adversity. Really shouldn't be playing football, and continues to fight through to be one of the best kickers in the history of Auburn, but at the same time, represents everything you want an Auburn man to be... He's an Auburn man as they come."
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/auburn as 34: The Alex McPherson Story .
