Florida, Alabama to meet for eighth time in SEC championship game

Alabam has had great running backs under Nick Saban.

Like the record books he’s stamping his name in, Auburn won’t soon forget the name Derrick Henry, even if they won’t call him King the way they do at Alabama. It wasn’t until Alabama’s last series that Henry got his touchdown.

Henry is also well on pace to break Humphrey’s school record for average rushing yards per game in a season. Auburn again drove into Alabama territory, but the Tide again forced a fourth-down field goal by Daniel Carlson. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that he’s now the current favorite for the Heisman Trophy.

There was a small amount of magic on Auburn’s side at Jordan-Hare Stadium Saturday, but the Tigers needed much more than a 77-yard prayer (more on that later) to compete with the Crimson Tide, who left town with a 29-13 win and a ticket to the SEC championship next weekend in Atlanta. He helped the Tide control the clock in the waning moments, as well.

“It was a lot closer than a lot of people were expecting, a lot of the fans were back behind the team too”, says Auburn fan Nate Lowmiller. The two-year argument over whether the Alabama dynasty ended the last time the Tide won a bowl game of any sort or whether it is ongoing loomed over the game.

Johnson, who has one year of eligibility remaining, said he learned about his “character” through this season. But, the regular season is.

Clemson survived a 37-32 scare against SC earlier in the day. The pass protection broke down, and Johnson was forced to scramble. The Huskies had just 138 yards of offense, including only 9 rushing yards. Alabama won three of four from 2009-12. Opponents have outscored the Gators 62-55 over their past four games, culminating with a 27-2 loss to Florida State on Saturday.

During Alabama’s win, Henry also rushed for two touchdowns which propelled him over yet another Trent Richardson record of most touchdowns in a single season in school history. The performance marked Cook’s eighth 100-yard outing of the season. Auburn never really managed to stop Henry and, in fact, the only thing that really managed to hamper them at all was some very questionable play calling at times and some bonehead penalties amongst the offensive line.

Henry made his best case for college football’s greatest individual honor with a career-high 271 rushing yards and 46 carries. No other two SEC teams have played in the championship game more than three times. Linebacker Reggie Ragland leads a stout Tide front seven the Gators may be hard-pressed to run on, while the Florida defensive backfield features a surefire first-round National Football League draft pick in cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III.

Against Oklahoma State on Saturday, Mayfield didn’t look like a quarterback who’d suffered a concussion the previous week.

The Tigers fumbled three times as their 18-point lead was cut to 28-25 with 12:19 left on Shon Carson’s 1-yard touchdown run and Lorenzo Nunez’s 2-point conversion. The Tide are on the brink of a second straight College Football Playoff appearance and need just to knock off the Gators, whose “little brother” status is reinforced by the men on the sidelines.

Mayfield, a former walk-on at Texas Tech, now has 42 total touchdowns on the year against just five interceptions.