Peppered with questions about Alabama’s place in the inaugural College Football Playoff after Saturday’s 42-13 win over Missouri on Saturday at the Georgia Dome, Nick Saban felt the need to remind one and all that his team had secured a championship right then and there.
“I think that everybody sort of minimizes the importance of this game now once you start talking about the playoff,” said Saban, who claimed his third SEC title at Alabama, and the Crimson Tide’s 24th. “But it’s a significant accomplishment. I’ve been in this league for a long time. It’s tough to win, it’s tough to win your division and it’s tough to win in this game.”
Even Saturday’s game was tougher than the final score may appear. The Tide led only 21-13 with just over four minutes remaining in the third quarter. But they outscored Missouri 21-0 in the final period.
The late-game domination was exactly what the College Football Playoff selection committee needed to see. Already designated the No. 1 team coming in, the Tide (12-1) did nothing to devalue that distinction. Depending on how the committee views Bama in comparison with No. 2 Oregon — which won big over Arizona on Friday night — the Tide could play in the national semifinals Jan. 1 in the Sugar Bowl.
The teams and seeding for the first playoff will be revealed at 12:30 p.m. Sunday on ESPN.
But Alabama was bent on savoring this one victory for at least a day or two, especially its quarterback.
Fifth-year senior Blake Sims, who hails from Gainesville, waited a long time for this opportunity. After signing to much fanfare five years ago, this season was his first to start for the Tide.
His performance was worth the wait. He completed 23 of 27 passes for 262 yards and two touchdowns to earn most valuable player honors.
“It’s a great feeling,” said Sims, who starred for the Gainesville Red Elephants. “Back in high school, I played here in my last game and we lost. Pretty much I was playing everybody down the road.”
Sims was one of a cavalcade of offensive stars on display for Alabama. Wide receiver Amari Cooper established an SEC Championship game-record with 12 receptions and added one run for a total of 92 yards. Tailback Derrick Henry got loose for 141 yards on 20 carries and scored two touchdowns. T.J. Yeldon also had two scores as the Tide’s Lane Kiffin-run offense rolled up 504 yards.
Alabama played some pretty good defense, too, limited Missouri to 41 yards rushing and 313 overall. The biggest play of the game was made by junior safety Landon Collins, who forced a fumble and recovered it while bringing down receiver Darius White. Instead of a big gain into the Tide’s territory, the ball went back to Bama and set up its final score.
Missouri (10-3), the SEC Eastern Division champion, was making its second consecutive appearance in the SEC title game in its third season in the league. But the Tigers still haven’t claimed any sort of championship since 1969 when it shared the Big 8 title with Nebraska.
Missouri’s cause was not helped by the actions of Shane Ray in the second quarter. The star defensive end was ejected for a targeting foul on a high hit on Sims. Unfortunately, the penalty came milliseconds after Sims had delivered a 58-yard touchdown pass to White to give Alabama a 14-0 lead with 11:48 remaining until halftime.
“We’ve had personal fouls in these games, penalties,” Pinkel said. “We’ve had them the last three or four weeks also, and you get in big games like this, and it’s not very good. I mean, it’s not … I’m responsible for that. We had other penalties in the game that hurt us, and you play a good team like this, you do those kinds of things, you’re going to pay for it, and we did.”
Missouri made it interesting for a while, though. Quarterback Maty Mauk turned into a magician on third down in the second and third quarters and found Jimmie Hunt on several big plays. None were bigger than their 63-yard hookup on third-and-9 to the Alabama 1. It took four plays, but the Tigers finally punched it in to make the score 21-10 just four minutes into the second half.
The Tigers’ defense finally got a stop and quickly got the ball back. Another third-down conversion pass from Mauk to Hunt — this one for 47 yards — set them up at the Alabama 15. But the Crimson Tide held and Missouri had to settle for a 33-yard field goal and an eight-point deficit with 4:37 remaining in the third quarter.
The Tigers would never get closer. The third quarter ended with Alabama on Missouri’s 1, and the game ended with the Tide taking a knee with their backup quarterback in Missouri territory. In between were three more scores and a ticket punched for the playoffs.
“They answered,” Pinkel said. “They did what they had to do. Those were statement drives.”
