Alabama beat Missouri 42-13, winning their third SEC Championship under Nick Saban and are heading to the inaugural college football playoff as the number one seed.
Missouri trailed the whole game, and were down 21-3 at the half. Missouri got within eight early in the third quarter, after they scored 10 unanswered points to make the game 21-13. Alabama woke up shortly scoring 21 unanswered points.
Missouri got a tough break early, when start defensive end Shane Ray got ejected from the game for targeting.
Blake Sims was the player of the game, the Alabama quarterback finished 23 of 27 for 262 yards and two touchdowns. Sims had his best game of the year away from Bryant-Denny Stadium and he will need to continue to perform great, if he wants to lead Alabama to a National Title.
Derrick Henry led Alabama in rushing with 141 yards on 20 carries and two touchdowns. It was the best Henry has looked in a long time. T.J. Yeldon added 47 yards on 14 carries and two touchdowns, Yeldon has struggled with an injury late this season and that’s why Henry got more carries.
Amari Cooper set an SEC Championship record with 12 reception, he added 83 yards to that, but didn’t score a touchdown. I think he needed a bigger game to have a shot at winning the Heisman, but I still expect him to finish in the top three. DeAndrew White led Alabama with 101 receiving yards on four catches and a touchdown, including the impressive touchdown below.
Missouri quarterback Maty Mauk struggled the whole game, except when he was throwing on the run. Mauk completed 16 of his 34 passes for 272 yards and throw one touchdown. Running back Russell Hansbrough had one of his worse games of the season, rushing for just 21 yards on 13 carries. Hansbrough longest run was just six yards. Senior receiver Jimmie Hunt had a big game, catching six passes for 169 yards, but he never got in the end zone.
Alabama will have to wait until tomorrow to see who they play in the first round of the college football playoffs. It could be a number of team, as anything could happen tonight.
I have Missouri going to the Citrus Bowl right now, with them playing Wisconsin. Missouri is a good team, but it was made clear who the best team in the country is.
