SEC Championship Game 2015: Alabama wins SEC to secure playoff spot, Derrick Henry clinches Heisman

The Alabama Crimson Tide beat the Florida Gators in the SEC Championship Game to secure a spot in the College Football Playoff and Derrick Henry likely locked up the Heisman Trophy.

It didn’t look pretty at the beginning of the SEC Championship Game, but Alabama turned it on after a sloppy first quarter to beat Florida to win the SEC and lock up a spot in the College Football Playoff. This is the third SEC Championship in the last four years for Alabama.

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Derrick Henry was the game’s MVP and scored a touchdown for the 18th straight game and finished with a staggering 44 carries and 189 yards as the junior running back likely clinched the Heisman Trophy on a day he passed Herschel Walker for the SEC single-season rushing record. Henry enters the playoff with 1,986 yards and should be the runaway winner in next Saturday’s Heisman ceremony.

Alabama quarterback Jake Coker threw a pair of second-half touchdowns to ArDarius Stewart and Richard Mullaney and played efficient football on 18 of 26 passing and added 23 rushing yards on eight carries.

Those numbers were just what Alabama needed to complement the tough running by Henry against a very good Florida defense, that ranks fifth in scoring and total defense, who did their best to keep the Gators in the game when their offense was non-existent.

Florida quarterback Treon Harris hamstrung the Gators offense with his inability to do much of anything against an Alabama defense that ranks second in scoring defense and third in total defense. Jim McElwain’s offense was 0-11 on third down, 0-1 on fourth down and was held to negative rushing yards until a Harris run with less than four minutes remaining got Florida to 15 rushing yards on 21 carries for a .7 yards per carry average.

It was that kinda day for Florida, but at least they covered the 17.5-point spread.

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Alabama will play either Oklahoma or the winner of the Big Ten Championship, most likely in the Cotton Bowl on Dec. 31 from Arlington, Texas.