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Crimson Tide Repeats As SEC Champs
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Defeats Florida Gators 29-15
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
The University of Alabama Crimson Tide (12-1) made it back-to-back SEC championships by beating the Florida Gators(10-3) today in the 2015 Southeastern Conference Championship game in front of a crowd of 75,320 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia. It's the first back-to-back SEC title in 17 years. This is the 25th SEC Championship in Crimson Tide history.
The Alabama defense was...well...the Alabama defense. The Tide held the Florida Gators to only 180 total yards, and a mere 15 yards rushing. The dominating defense posted five quarterback sacks, nine tackles for loss, intercepted a pass and forced a fumble. Linebacker Ryan Anderson led the Tide with four tackles and three quarterback hurries. Next was Marlon Humphrey with three tackles and an interceptions.
Running back Derrick Henry rushed for 189 yards on the day on 44 carries. His 2015 rushing total is now 1,986 yards breaking the SEC single-season rushing record that was previously held by Georgia's Herschel Walker with 1,891 yards set back in 1981. For his performance Henry was named the Most Valuable Player of the game.
Alabama quarterback Jake Coker completed 18 of 26 passes for 204 yards and two touchdowns. Wide receiver Calvin Ridley led the receivers with 103 yards on eight catches. Next was ArDarius Stewart with four catches for 64 yards. Richard Mullaney caught three passes for 22 yards and Kenyan Drake caught three for 16 yards.
Offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin threw in a new wrinkle or two just for this championship game. Derrick Henry was used as a decoy on several plays, Jake Coker was used as a runner on particular plays, and that wasn't including when he was forced to scramble because of the Florida pass rush.
Next up for the Crimson Tide? That will be determined Sunday morning at 11 a.m. CT when the seeds and pairings in the College Football Playoff will be announced.
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
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Nick Saban-Derrick Henry Post-Game Press Conference
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
Here is what Alabama head football coach Nick Saban had to say during the press conference following Alabama's dominating 29-15 performance against the Florida Gators today in the SEC Championship Game:
"As I said out on the field, I'm very proud of this team," Saban opened. "After the Ole Miss game, these players all said they wanted to be a different team. They wanted to do something special, and probably more than any other team I've ever coach, I wanted to see those guys succeed today and win the second back-to-back SEC Championship and have an opportunity to get in the playoff."
Saban continued, "I think there's a lot of people that deserve a lot of credit. These players have worked really, really hard. These coaches have worked really, really hard. We have a great team at Alabama...from our athletic administration, Bill Battle, all of our coaching staff, all of our support staff that works to help these guys be more successful in life...."
Saban spoke of running back Derrick Henry, saying, "I can't tell you how proud I am of this guy (pointing to Henry). He's had a phenomenal season and he deserves every accolade that anyone could ever throw his way."
Back to the game Saban said, "We knew this was going to be a tough game today, and it would take sort of our best focus, our best mental and physical toughness, our best discipline to execute and it was a tough game. Florida is a very good team. They should be congratulated for winning the east. They competed really hard out there today and I have a lot of respect for coach McElwain and their players, but I sure was happy...I made a statement earlier that the best fighter doesn't always win the fight. You've got to go fight the best fight, and that's why we needed to respond today...and our players certainly did that.
"What's Important Now? That spells win. W-I-N. And I think the players did all of the things they needed to do to prepare for this game, and I'm really proud of their performance out there tonight."
Derrick Henry was up next, and asked to comment his thoughts on the game and winning the SEC Championship. He said, "Like Coach said, I'm very proud of the team. It's a team effort. And like the coach said, after the Ole Miss loss I really feel like we came back together" He spoke of the team really wanting to get back to the SEC Championship Game. He said they had to work together and get better every week. "I'm just proud of the team. I'm proud of what we accomplished."
First question from reporters for Henry was asking him to rank the Florida defense against the others he had faced this year. He said, "I think it's the best defense we faced. They're very physical, very disruptive..." He said Florida had very athletic linebackers.
The next question dealt with why Henry seemed to get better as the games progressed. He responded, "My main focus is .... on helping the team win. I'm going to do whatever it takes to help this team win, whether it's me running the ball, catching the ball...I just want this team to win. It's a team effort."
Both Saban and Henry were highly complimentary of the Florida defense. They both spoke of the "team" effort by the Crimson Tide.
Congratulations. You are as humble as you are talented.
Roll Tide.
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Derrick Henry Wins SEC Championship MVP Award
Derrick Henry
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
Allie LaForce of CBS Sports spoke to head coach Nick Saban immediately following the game and asked, "Coach...what made this team so special?"
Saban replied, "Well, first of all I'd like to congratulate our team. They really deserved this, they really worked hard this year and fought a lot of adversity. So, more than any team I've ever coached I really wanted this group to have a chance to win a championship...and I'm just so happy and proud for them. Our fans were great today, Derrick was great, the team did a great job...just the character they have and how they complete."
Allie then spoke with Derrick Henry and complimented him on winning the single-season rushing record today. She asked how he was able to continue to be so dominate when teams know he's coming.
Henry replied, "Well, I'm not happy with my performance but I'm glad we got a win." He went on to say he credited it all to his team, God and his coaches. "Without them this wouldn't be possible," he added.
LaForce asked, "Will this team win a national championship?"
Henry responded, "We're going to keep working for it..." He also said they were going to keep working, enjoy this win, and keep working for the playoffs.
