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No. 2 Alabama, Derrick Henry run to SEC title

By Guy Curtright, The Sports Xchange

ATLANTA -- Derrick Henry enhanced his Heisman Trophy candidacy and Alabama is heading to the College Football Playoff as the SEC's first back-to-back champion in 17 years.

Henry rushed for 189 yards and a touchdown on 44 carries while passing former Georgia great Herschel Walker's SEC season yardage record and No. 2 Alabama defeated Florida 29-15 on Saturday in the title game at the Georgia Dome.

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The Crimson Tide (12-1) held Florida (10-3) to three first downs through three quarters and finished with 24 first downs to seven for the Gators while totaling 437 yards.

Quarterback Jake Coker threw two touchdown passes for Alabama and Henry scored a touchdown for the 18th straight game while winning the game's MVP award.

Henry, a 242-pound junior, has 1,986 rushing yards and 23 touchdowns. Walker gained 1,891 yards in 1981 -- the year before he won the Heisman Trophy.

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"He's had phenomenal season and he deserves every accolade that anyone could ever throw his way," Alabama coach Nick Saban said of Henry.

"My main focus is on finishing and helping this team win," said Henry, who had 25 carries for 121 yards in the second half. "I'm going to do whatever it takes."

It was Alabama's 10 straight victory and Saban now has four wins in the SEC title game -- one more than former Florida coach Steve Spurrier.

Alabama committed five turnovers in a 43-37 home loss to Mississippi on Sept. 19 but rebounded to win the West Division and came in as a 17 1/2-point favorite over surprise East winner Florida.

"I think this team has competed with tremendous character since the Ole Miss game," Saban said. "There's no team that I've ever coached that I wanted to win a championship more than this bunch and I'm so proud of them."

Florida, which needed a safety last week against Florida State to avoid its first shutout since 1988, took a 7-2 lead early in the second quarter on the longest punt return in SEC championship history.

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J.K. Scott's booming kick traveled 59 yards, but Antonio Callaway caught it on the move and sped up the middle 85 yards untouched through the Alabama coverage team.

From there, it was all Alabama.

"They took our offense out of it," said Florida coach Jim McElwain, whose team had 15 yards rushing and was 0 of 11 on third down.

The Crimson Tide's offense started slowly, but Adam Griffin kicked a 28-yard field goal and Henry bulled in from the 2-yard line after a 55-yard pass from Coker to Calvin Ridley for a 12-7 halftime lead.

Alabama's only points until then had come on a blocked punt by Keith Holcombe that went out of the back of the end zone for a safety.

The Crimson Tide also blocked a 40-yard field goal attempt in the first quarter, with D.J. Pettway getting a hand on Austin Hardin's kick.

Florida gained just a single net yard from scrimmage on 10 second-quarter plays and got off only five plays in the third quarter as Alabama took charge.

Alabama, which had the ball for more than 43 minutes, got a 30-yard field goal by Griffin and then a 32-yard touchdown pass from Coker to ArDarius Stewart that capped an 80-yard drive.

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Coker, who completed 18 of 26 passes for 204 yards, connected with Richard Mullaney from 9 yards early in the fourth quarter to pad the lead.

Florida made the score look a little more respectable on a 49-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Treon Harris to C.J. Worton with five minutes remaining.

Harris was sacked five times and completed only 9 of 24 passes, with an interception.

"I don't think there were a lot of people around the country that thought we would be playing in this football game," said McElwain, who was hired from Colorado State after the Gators won just 11 games in Will Muschamp's final two seasons. "We're a program on the rise. ... These guys built a great foundation for the future."

NOTES: The last previous school to win consecutive SEC titles was Tennessee, in 1997 and 1998. ... Alabama RB Derrick Henry is the first player to have back-to-back 100-yard rushing games in the SEC championship. He had 148 yards last year against Missouri. ... A team from the SEC East hasn't won the title since 2008, when Florida defeated Alabama behind Tim Tebow. ... Alabama and Florida have met eight times in the 24-year history of the SEC title game, each winning four times. ... McElwain, a former Alabama assistant, was the third coach to make the championship game in his first year, joining Les Miles of LSU in 2005 and Gus Malzahn of Auburn in 2013. ... The Gators were the biggest underdogs in the SEC title game since Florida was favored by 24 over Arkansas in 1995. The Gators won that game 34-3.

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