The Extra Point: Remembering the 2014 SEC Championship

On December 6, 2014 Alabama defeated Missouri en route to a spot in the inaugural College Football Playoff

Quarterback, Blake Sims, avoiding Missouri defenders / Jamie Martin/Associated Press

Conference championship week is here and it draws many similarities to 2014, being that it was the inaugural four-team College Football Playoff season, and this year is the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff. On this date in 2014, Alabama defeated the Missouri Tigers in the SEC Championship game by a score of 42-13. 

Alabama came into the game ranked no. 1 in the nation with an 11-1 record. Missouri was ranked 16th with a 10-2 record. Missouri did not have a path to the playoff regardless of the outcome, but everything was on the line for Alabama. After missing the SEC Championship and a shot at playing in the BCS Championship in 2013 due to a certain play at Jordan Hare, Alabama had everything to lose in this game. Being a 12-1 SEC champion was almost certainly a recipe to be a lock for a playoff birth.

Alabama started off hot, with a TJ Yeldon rushing touchdown on the first drive of the game. In the second quarter, Blake Sims threw a long bomb to DeAndrew White for a 58-yard touchdown. The next drive, Missouri kicked a field goal, but TJ Yeldon ran in for another touchdown as a response. The third quarter saw the Tigers put up 10, but the hope of a comeback was short lived, however. Alabama scored 21 points in the fourth quarter and shut out Missouri for the rest of the game. Two of the three touchdowns scored in the fourth, were rushing touchdowns from Derrick Henry. 

Alabama is not playing in Atlanta this year, and does not have its path to the playoff in its control. Currently sitting at eleventh in the penultimate CFP rankings, the Crimson Tide are in a good spot, but nothing is final until Sunday. Like 2014, it is a season of firsts, and Alabama hopes to be on the right side of history yet again.