Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Auburn Tigers

It’s set – Alabama is the champion of the SEC West and will match up with Florida in the SEC championship game. That setback seemed to shake the very foundation of Alabama’s program. That’s exactly what the Tide did by beating Auburn, the program’s ninth straight victory since falling to the Rebels.

Henry may be the best running back in the FBS, and his head coach pretty much defined him as the most valuable player of the No. 2 team in the nation.

Rivalry games can cast spells on the best of teams, and Alabama didn’t look flawless for the first 30 minutes Saturday.

Auburn junior QB Jeremy Johnson completed 10-of-23 passes for 169 yards and a touchdown in Saturday’s 29-13 loss to Alabama. Another 15-yard penalty was assessed to Auburn for unsportsmanlike conduct after that play, moving the ball to the Auburn 34.

Griffith made field goals of 26, 40, 26 and 50 yards in the first half.

The pass appeared to be just out of the reach of Jason Smith, but the receiver tipped the ball twice, ran by Alabama safety Eddie Jackson and had nothing but green grass – the same turf Louis traversed two years ago – between him and a touchdown. After that Alabama leaned heavily on its running game.

Derrick Henry, meanwhile, continued laboring as No. 2 Alabama’s tireless leading man. He ran a school-record 46 times for 271 yards against Auburn, the third-most in a game for a ‘Bama back and the most against the Tigers. The Heisman Trophy candidate produced his fourth 200-yard game of the season against an SEC defense. “This year we have struggled at times more, there some things we have done well and some things we haven’t done as well. You might make a mistake, but stay focused, ‘” Smith said.

Statistically, Henry was Alabama’s star to that point, but Coker truly impressed on that drive.

Sure, Alabama beat four teams that were ranked in the Top 10 at the time of the game-Wisconsin, Georgia, Texas A&M and LSU.

The Tigers have little to play for other than pride, but you can bet they’d love the chance to knock their arch rivals out of a playoff spot.

The Tigers face their toughest challenge of their season against a stingy Crimson Tide defense, and they need to have an effective ground game if they want to pull out the upset this weekend. He made sure to call Jordan-Hare Stadium “Cam’s house”.

Adam Griffith kicked five field goals for Alabama (11-1, 7-1) two years after his last-play attempt touched off Auburn’s Kick Six, a 109-yard, game-winning return by Chris Davis.