AUBURN, Ala. - Bo Jackson and Cam Newton showed up for the 80th playing of the Iron Bowl on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon inside Jordan-Hare Stadium.
So did Derrick Henry, and nobody stood out more.
Henry rushed a career-high 46 times for a career-best 271 yards in Alabama's 29-13 win over Auburn, scoring with 26 seconds remaining to extend his streak of at least one touchdown to 17 games. His attempts total broke Johnny Musso's Iron Bowl record of 42 set in 1970, and his yards output topped the 256 Jackson hung on the Crimson Tide in 1983.
"We really would like for somebody else to run the ball, but it got tough to take him out," Alabama coach Nick Saban said. "He seems like he gets stronger as the game goes on, and it's hard to take him out at the end. He's the go-to guy, and he didn't want to come out.
"My hat is off to him as a competitor. He really inspires everyone on our team."
Henry's rushing along with five Adam Griffith field goals and a stout Alabama defense that held Auburn to 91 rushing yards was way too much for the Tigers to overcome. Auburn began this season ranked No. 6 nationally but finished a 6-6 regular season and will head to a bowl game of a lesser variety.
The Crimson Tide, meanwhile, clinched their second straight SEC West title and will face Florida in this week's league championship game at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Alabama is 11-1 overall and has gone 7-1 in SEC play five consecutive seasons.
"Any time you beat Auburn, it feels great," Tide senior linebacker Reggie Ragland said, "and this is my last time beating Auburn. This will be my third time going to Atlanta, and I'm excited."
Henry further cemented his status as the leading Heisman Trophy candidate and now has 1,797 yards this season. That surpasses Alabama's single-season mark of 1,679 set in 2011 by Trent Richardson, who finished third in the Heisman balloting.
"There have been a lot of great players at Alabama and a lot of great running backs, and I don't know if they all got as many opportunities as he has," Saban said. "We've had some running backs here who were first- and second-round draft picks and are playing well in the NFL, but I would say that Derrick has made as significant of an impact on this team as any player we've had."
Said Tide senior center Ryan Kelly: "The guy never gets tired. He never complains about anything."
Alabama and Auburn combined for six field goals in the first half, with the Crimson Tide taking a 12-6 lead into intermission. A 34-yard touchdown pass from Jake Coker to ArDarius Stewart at the 5:14 mark of the third quarter gave the Tide some breathing room at 19-6, but the comfort wouldn't last.
A 77-yard touchdown pass from Jeremy Johnson to Jason Smith, in which Smith tipped the ball and benefited from a misjudgment by Tide defensive back Geno Matias-Smith, caused the crowd to erupt and got the Tigers within 19-13.
"We had the momentum of the game right there," Saban said. "It was third down and 8 or 9. We were in cover-2, and they were in empty, and we didn't get the right check on the empty side and the players were a little confused. Geno still had a chance to make the play but undercut the ball, and when it got tipped there was nobody left.
"That play reminded me of the play they made against Georgia the same year they made the kick return against us, but it was a good play. It counted for seven."
Auburn got the ball back down 19-13 early in the fourth quarter and got close to midfield before Johnson was sacked on third down. Alabama then drove 52 yards and took a 22-13 lead on Griffith's fifth field goal - from 47 yards out - with 10:04 remaining.
The Crimson Tide got 30 of those yards on a late-hit call on Justin Garrett and an unsportsmanlike-conduct flag after the play.
"It was close," Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said of the late hit. "It was right there on the edge. Their quarterback is a really good runner. I can't fault our guys. They gave great effort."
Saban said afterward that he couldn't be prouder of his team. In the other locker room, Malzahn was saying the same thing.
"We talked all week about getting the game into the fourth quarter and finding a way to win," Malzahn said. "We were right there and just didn't make the plays to win the game."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.