But before Henry strolled back to the Alabama sideline, the junior turned to Auburn’s deflated student section and waved his right hand. “Henry… [showed] surprisingly light feet to bounce runs outside, as well as the vision and patience to find creases and the burst to plant his foot and explode upfield”, Rang wrote. That’s all, folks. Goodbye, upset bid. But the richness of the series provides a depth that makes it a memorable series, especially considering their shared SEC Championship Game history.
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Henry rushed for 271 yards and a punctuating touchdown in the closing minutes of the Iron Bowl, giving Alabama a 29-13 victory over Auburn while boosting his own Heisman argument along the way.
The Crimson Tide (11-1, 7-1 SEC) face No. 12 Florida in the SEC title game next Saturday. That setback seemed to shake the very foundation of Alabama’s program.
“Jim McElwain has done a very nice job with the players that they have”, Saban said Sunday evening on the SEC championship coaches teleconference.
“That play reminded me of the play they made against Georgia the same year they made the kick return against us”, Saban said. In fact, after the national guys got through interviewing Henry after the game, he ran down the field, knees pumping, toward the locker room. Our best workhorse is a running back….
“I’ve got to tell you, it’s a miserable time of year in this profession because there’s a lot of great coaches that have done great things at the different places they’re at”, McElwain said.
36-Years since Temple last won 10 games. A much-maligned Tigers defense limited the Tide in the first half, standing strong in the red zone and forcing them to settle for four field goals. Nick Saban’s squad are 17.5-point favorites to beat the Gators. Griffith converted all five his field goal attempts including a 50-yard field goal and other than Henry, he was the most consistent aspect of the game for the Tide. However, Auburn’s defense held strong.
Sophomore quarterback Treon Harris has regressed in the past month, completing just 52 percent of his passes with six turnovers and only three touchdowns. After that Alabama leaned heavily on its running game. Alabama gave Henry the ball a school-record 46 times, including on 20 of 21 plays in the fourth quarter. Hes also already set the school mark with 1,797 yards and 17 consecutive games with a TD.
The Heisman Trophy candidate produced his fourth 200-yard game of the season against an SEC defense. But each time, Henry shook off the offer.
“As I was running, I was like, ‘Man, no way, ‘” Smith said.
Henry, in fact, could prove to be one of the more polarizing prospects in the 2016 draft.
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As has been the case for the past five years, Florida’s defense tried to carry the load again Saturday. “For us to go in and have that opportunity to play in Atlanta, it’s something that the Gator fans around the country and this football team, based on what they’ve done, deserve”. Only this time, no SEC or national title shot was on the line. Saban and most of the Tide’s players harbored painful memories of this stadium and the pitfalls it could represent. “We had faith in our kicker, thought we were going to be able to pull it out, but it was a really close game and everybody stayed excited”. “I think maybe he might have looked at the rush a little bit”. They are the superior team and have shown their loss to Ole Miss was a fluke and they deserve to be in the four-team College Football Playoff for a second straight year.
