The joke, as they say, oftentimes writes itself. There's just something about Alabama and missing key field goals that has become a perpetual punch line. The latest example came in the Crimson Tide's 48-45 loss to Auburn in the Iron Bowl -- a rivalry with its own paper trail of special teams miscues for the Tide. 

With two minutes left in the game, Joseph Bulovas' 30-yard attempt bounced off the left upright and was no good. The doink was so loud even the field microphones picked up on it. Here's the failed kick below: 

Alabama had a pair of timeouts and was actually able to force Auburn to punt one more time with about a minute remaining. However, an illegal substitution penalty gave the Tigers an automatic first down and they were able to run out the clock. It was one of 13 penalties for Nick Saban's team in an uncharacteristically mistake-prone game. 

However, Alabama is no stranger to missed kicks under Saban. For as dominant as the Crimson Tide have been in this dynasty, it remains the one shortcoming that is inexplicable. The examples are notorious now. The kick six against Auburn in 2013 and the numerous missed field goals against LSU in 2011's "Game of the Century" are the two that come to mind in noteworthy Alabama losses. There have also been a number of missed field goals in wins, including one in the College Football Playoff National Championship two seasons ago against Georgia. That was nullified by Tua Tagovailoa's walk-off touchdown pass in overtime, but it did make things harder than it needed to be. 

Still, costly missed field goals are a thing at Alabama, and this is just the latest example.