Alabama head coach Nick Saban and players celebrate after theirl game against Missouri, on Dec. 6, 2014, in Atlanta. Alabama won 42-13.ATLANTA – They did not get to be part of college football’s final Bowl Championship Series title game.
They will have a spot in the sport’s inaugural four-team playoff.
The top-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide punched their ticket to history Saturday evening inside the Georgia Dome, drubbing Missouri 42-13 in the Southeastern Conference championship game.
Alabama will learn the specifics of its playoff fate today at 12:45 p.m., but the Tide likely are headed to the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans for their national semifinal on New Year’s night.
Alabama improved to 12-1 but had five of its six games against SEC West foes in doubt in the fourth quarter. The lone blemish was a 23-17 loss at Ole Miss on Oct. 4.
“I’ve backed them when I needed to back them, and I booted them in the butt when we needed to boot them in the butt,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said, “but they’ve always responded the right way. I’ve never wanted a group to have a chance to be successful in a game as much as I did tonight in winning the SEC championship.
“I think that everybody sort of minimizes the importance of this game now and wants to talk about the playoff, but I’ll tell you what, it’s a significant accomplishment. I’ve been in this league for a long time, and it’s tough to win.”
That was highlighted moments before kickoff, when a video montage of Saturday’s showdown began with how last season ended, with both Alabama and Missouri losing to Auburn. Those memories didn’t exactly draw cheers from either fan base, but it did help explain why Alabama’s triumph was all the more sweet.
Alabama entered last year’s game at Auburn with an 11-0 record and a No. 1 ranking before falling 34-28 and watching its state rival play for the final BCS crown.
“The end of last season hurt,” Tide senior linebacker Trey DePriest said. “It was rough how it ended, so to come back and win this one is a great, great feeling.”
Missouri (10-3) hung around Saturday by outscoring Alabama 10-0 in the third quarter to pull within 21-13, but a 6-yard touchdown pass from Blake Sims to Christion Jones on the first play of the fourth quarter ignited a 21-0 closing run for the Tide.
Sims was spectacular, completing 23 of 27 passes for 262 yards and two touchdowns. His 85.2-percent completion rate set an SEC title-game standard, breaking the 77.1-percent clip Auburn’s Jason Campbell produced in 2004 when he led the Tigers to a 38-28 win over Tennessee.
The former tailback also became Alabama’s single-season passing leader with a 58-yard scoring strike to DeAndrew White early in the second quarter that put the Tide up 14-0. Sims has 3,250 passing yards this year, eclipsing AJ McCarron’s 3,063 yards set just a season ago.
“I’ve been with him for five years and can’t say anything bad about the guy, because he has developed so much as a leader and a player,” said White, who had a team-high 101 yards on four catches. “He’s a great guy, and he’s had a great chemistry with all of us this season.”
Said Sims: “This season and that record mean the world to me, and I’m happy I had the opportunity to get it. I feel very blessed right now. Hopefully I can put more yards up there between now and the end of the season.”
Amari Cooper had 12 receptions, an SEC title-game record, for 83 yards. Cooper now has 1,656 yards on 115 receptions, with his number of catches breaking the league’s single-season mark of 112 set last year by Vanderbilt’s Jordan Matthews.
Complementing Alabama’s passing attack against Missouri were tailbacks T.J. Yeldon and Derrick Henry, who combined for 188 yards and four touchdowns. Henry had 20 carries for a career-high high 141 yards and two scores.
Alabama grabbed a 21-3 halftime lead, with the big blow coming on the 58-yard touchdown pass from Sims to White. After Sims had thrown the ball, Missouri defensive end Shane Ray was flagged for targeting Sims and was ejected from the game.
The Tigers answered with a 33-yard Andrew Baggett field goal to pull within 14-3, but then Alabama countered with a 14-play, 75-yard march that culminated with Yeldon’s 2-yard touchdown run that made it 21-3.
The Tide took their opening possession 68 yards on 10 plays, grabbing a 7-0 lead on a 1-yard run by Yeldon. Sims was 5-for-5 on the drive for 39 yards, with four of his passes going to Cooper.
Alabama wound up gaining 504 yards while holding Missouri to 313.
“I think this is the second best game we’ve had this year,” DePriest said. “The Texas A&M game (a 59-0 win on Oct. 18) was the best we’ve had.”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.