ATLANTA — Derrick Henry got any last minute resume fillers for his Heisman campaign he needed with 189 yards rushing in No. 2 Alabama’s 29-15 win over No. 18 Florida in the SEC Championship Game.
He carried the ball 44 times and only lost six yards. He scored once.
Oh, and he broke Herschel Walker’s single-season rushing record and is closing in on 2,000 yards on the season. He has 1,986 net yards rushing with at least one more game to play.
“I really don’t compare them,” wide receiver ArDarius Stewart said. “I just know there’s a Derrick Henry on our team.”
The team also has a Calvin Ridley on the team who made a leaping catch in double coverage to put Alabama on Florida’s 3-yard line late in the second quarter. Two plays later, Henry punched it in.
Stewart also made his own acrobatic catch in double coverage for a touchdown in the third quarter. It was one of two touchdown passes quarterback Jake Coker made on Saturday night.
“The ball, that’s all I saw. I saw it leave the tip of his fingers and it was my time,” Stewart said. “When it leaves his hands, it’s my ball so I went up and got it.”
The second passing touchdown came in the fourth quarter on a laser to wide receiver Richard Mullaney. Coker finished the night 18-of-26 with 204 yards. He was sacked twice.
Alabama held Florida to 180 yards of offense. The Gators netted 15 yards rushing on 21 attempts. The Crimson Tide had five sacks. Tim Williams had two of those.
The defense had 11 quarterback hurries and one interception.
For the second straight year, Alabama won the SEC. This year is a little different.
“It was awesome,” linebacker Ryan Anderson said. “That’s what we came here for. Like I said, me and all these guys we’ve been working all summer, you know, blood, sweat and tears. We’ve been through a lot of stuff together, and I’m just so happy that we was able to do it for the team, this team to do that, enjoy that. We still got a ways to go.”
The College Football Playoff ranking comes out Sunday at 11:30 a.m. CT on ESPN. As far as most people are concerned, Alabama is a lock for a top-4 seed.
“I certainly think that this team deserves being SEC champions — they were No. 2,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “I don’t know what they did out there tonight that would dispel their opportunity to play in a playoff.”
