The victory gave the Crimson Tide the SEC’s Western Division title and earned Alabama a berth in the SEC Championship Game against the Florida Gators next Saturday, December 5, in Atlanta’s Georgia Dome.
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After the Crimson Tide forced Auburn to a punt on the game’s first drive, Alabama running back Derrick Henry broke for a 30-yard gain deep into Auburn territory.
Henry is now also Alabama’s single-season rushing touchdown leader with 22. Henry has rushed for 1,526 yards and has scored 21 touchdowns. Wide receiver ArDarius Stewart caught a game-high eight catches for 81 yards and a score while wideout Calvin Ridley had 90 yards receiving on six catches. “We just did what we could and we played against a good team today”.
LSU 19, Texas A&M 7 • Leonard Fournette ran for 159 yards and a touchdown to help host Louisiana State win in what some thought might have been Les Miles’ final contest with the team.
The season started poorly for Auburn as the team was ranked in the top 5 in preseason and now is fighting just to make a bowl appearance after the regular season. The defense registered seven quarterback hurries and four pass breakups.
The Crimson Tide finished with 57 total tackles and three sacks. The touchdown continued Henry’s record of 17 consecutive game with a touchdown.
But it was the shattering of one of the most unlikely narratives – Alabama’s seeming inability to find a competent fied-goal kicker – that helped the Tide build a lead and eventually win the game, 29-13.
He ran the ball a school-record 46 times against Auburn for 271 yards.
Alabama ends the first half with, yes, a field goal – its fourth, the sixth overall, of the half. Even down-and-distance may not matter much with Henry.
According to oddsmakers from online sports book Mybookie.ag, the Crimson Tide is a 14.5-point road favorite versus the Tigers after Auburn opened as a 13-point home underdog.
Griffith made field goals of 26, 40, 26 and 50 yards in the first half.
While both teams have won national titles (Alabama 15, Auburn 2), both have also seen all too often how this rivalry can alter their national title hopes. “They just came in and played a good game”. Auburn is 11 in rushing defense (180.9) and ninth in pass efficiency defense. Not only did Coker show incredible will to get away from danger, but he displayed a cannon of an arm to hit his open man in the end zone.
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Newton was greeted by fans as he made his way into Jordan-Hare stadium, with a few hecklers there to give him a hard time. With the extra point, Alabama took a 19-6 lead. The Tigers have the 85th-ranked offense in the nation, averaging 377 yards per game, with 200 of those yards coming on the ground.
