Derrick
Henry ran for 141 and two scores and Blake Sims passed for 262 yards
and a pair of touchdowns on his way to MVP honors as Alabama captured
its 24th SEC championship, 42-13 over Missouri Saturday afternoon at the
Georgia Dome.
Alabama
(12-1) is expected to be one of the four teams selected for the
first-ever playoff in FBS and perhaps no team will go into the bowl
season playing better. The Tuscaloosa school won its eighth consecutive
game, six of which have come against ranked teams, and did it by
out-scoring Missouri 21-0 in the fourth quarter to break open a close
game.
The
Eastern Division champion Tigers (10-3), which have lost in the title
game in each of their first two seasons in the league, trailed just
21-13 with 4:37 to play in the third after Andrew Baggett’s 33-yard
field goal.
But
the final period belonged to the team making its ninth appearance in
the conference’s annual winner-take-all game. Alabama used a steady dose
of Christion Jones on the ensuing drive and it started with the senior
taking the kick off from the goal line to the Alabama 36. Jones then had
a pair of catches, one a 17-yard grab that took the Tide from around
midfield to the 32 and the last an 18-yard catch where Jones started
left and cut back towards the middle of the field and to the Missouri 1.
Jones
capped the 10-play, 64-yard possession with a six-yard touchdown grab
on the first play of the fourth and Alabama built a 28-13 cushion. It
was 35-13 midway through the period after Henry galloped 26 yards for
the first of his two scores, which sealed a 90-yard drive.
“Those
two were statement drives from their standpoint. They came right back.
That’s what good teams do,” said Missouri coach Gary Pinkel.
The
Tigers had scored 10 straight third-quarter points, getting to within
21-10 on a touchdown toss from Maty Mauk to Bud Sasser on
fourth-and-goal from the one. That was followed by Baggett’s field goal
and it was a one-possession game. Missouri wouldn’t score again.
“(Missouri)
did a great job of battling back in the third quarter,” said Alabama
coach Nick Saban. “It was a real credit to our guys to respond to that.
They’ve always responded the right way.”
Alabama marched down the field on its first offensive possession and took an immediate lead on a stunned Missouri defense.
The
Tide went 68 yards in three and a half minutes with Sims completing all
six of his throws, four of which went to Amari Cooper, including a
10-yard toss that set up first-and-goal at the Missouri 4. Two players
later, T.J. Yeldon scooted in from a yard out and it was a 7-0 game.
Cooper’s 12 catches set a new SEC title single-game record.
Both
defenses tightened up over the next quarter of play, though Alabama had
a chance to make it a 10-point game before Adam Griffith was wide left
on a 43-yard field goal attempt early in the second quarter.
After
a Missouri punt, Sims found a wide-open DeAndrew White on the ensuing
play from scrimmage and the senior wide out did the rest, scoring
un-touched from 58 yards to put the Tide up 14-0. On the play,
Missouri’s Shane Ray, a junior defensive end and the conference’s sack
leader, was hit with a personal foul, targeting penalty when he hit Sims
after the throw. That led to Ray’s ejection, though Missouri responded
with its first scoring drive.
Jimmie
Hunt made a great catch along the sideline for 33 yards to the Alabama
15, but the drive stalled after that. With eight and a half minutes to
go until halftime Missouri settled for a 33-yard field goal by Baggett
to pull to within 14-3.
Those were rare highlights in a frustrating first half for the Tigers, who collected just four first downs and 108 total yards.
“Alabama played well, they’re a great football team,” said Pinkel.
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