Top 10 Tide Moments of the Decade: No. 4, Derrick Henry Wins Heisman

As a junior, Derrick Henry ran for a school- and SEC record 2,219 yards en route to winning college football's biggest award

The play was one that a lot of people probably overlooked, but indicted just how much progress Alabama junior running back Derrick Henry had made during his career.

It was the season opener against Wisconsin and Alabama had first down at the Wisconsin 32-yard line early in the third quarter. The Badgers blitzed up the middle and with Jake Coker dropping back the senior quarterback could have potentially been in serious trouble … only Henry stepped forward and promptly stonewalled the charging linebacker.

It didn’t hurt that the running back was actually bigger than the player he was blocking, T.J. Edwards, who had all of his momentum vanish on impact. But even Henry admitted afterward that it was not a play he would have successfully made a couple of years previous.

“Probably not, because I wasn’t experienced,” he said. “But like every player, the more you experience the more you learn and the better you get.

“Pass protection is very serious and we take it seriously here. That’s what they want me to do – pass protect when I can. I’m glad it worked out.”

Actually, it was one of the things that kept him from playing more as a freshman. During Henry’s debut game against Virginia Tech at the Georgia Dome it was obvious that things like pass blocking were foreign concepts.

He had broken Ken Hall's 51-year-old national rushing record with 12,124 yards after rushing for 4,261 as a senior at Yulee High School in Florida, but it wasn’t until Alabama went back to basics at the start of bowl practices that things started to really come together for him at the collegiate level.

Every Crimson Tide fan remembers what happened next. After moving up to second on the depth chart he had an impressive 100 rushing yards on eight carries and turned his first career reception into a 61-yard touchdown against Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl. 

Henry averaged 12.5 yard per rush and 17.9 yards per touch, and even had a tackle on special teams.

“By his own admission, one day he told me, 'Coach, all they ever did was just toss me the ball and I ran with it,’” Coach Nick Saban said. “So all this other stuff that I need to learn about playing running back like pass protection and catching the ball out of the backfield and all those kinds of things, I really need to learn.' I think those are the areas he's really improved on dramatically.”

As evidenced by his play in 2015, when he became the workhorse for the offense, Henry became more of a complete running back, and more than just an offensive weapon. In addition to having 147 rushing yards on just 13 carries and three touchdowns against Wisconsin the block he made to nullify the blitzer led to an 11-yard scamper by Coker for a first down.

“Any time you can look up and see No. 2 running down the field with a whole bunch of guys chasing him, that’s an awesome feeling,” senior center Ryan Kelly said.

“Oh man, Derrick the whole game was pretty impressive,” Coker said.

Despite the Alabama offense having nine new offensive starters, everyone except Kelly and sophomore left tackle Cam Robinson, he averaged 11.3 yards per carry against the Badgers.

Moreover, the nationally televised game was another example of Henry often standing out the most when the spotlight was the brightest. For example, during the previous season’s SEC Championship Game he ran for a career-high 141 yards despite not being the starting running back against Missouri.

“When the lights come on, he’s going to go out there and be productive for us,” junior tight end O.J. Howard said. “He’s one of those guys. You can’t really say enough about him when the lights come on.”

Derrick Henry ran for 12K+ yards in HS, and won a Heisman and Nat’l title at Alabama. Next up? Dominating the NFLhttps://t.co/vUgMJ3mviZ

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 30, 2016

As for the touchdowns against Wisconsin, they too demonstrated different aspects of his game.

He only needed a seam during the second possession to score a 37-yard touchdown.

His second touchdown pretty much broke Wisconsin physically, if not its spirit. On Alabama’s second offensive snap of the second half he went 56 yards, which also put him over the 100-yard mark for the sixth time of his career. Four of those had been in neutral-site games.

The third score he just plowed through the left side for a 2-yard touchdown. The Badgers didn’t seem too interested in trying to stop him any more, and the Crimson Tide obliged by pulling him later in the third quarter.

“That’s what we expect out of him and he played a real good game,” senior linebacker Reggie Ragland, who had to face Henry every day in practice. “It’s tough.”

Coming in a lot had been made of the running back matchup with Corey Clement having a career 7.0 average per carry and Wisconsin’s top running back exceeding 1,600 rushing yards in each of the past four seasons.

However, Clement never got going. Limited by a groin injury he managed just 16 rushing yard on eight carries, and reserves Taiwan Deal and Dare Ogunbowale combined for 14 carries for 30 yards.

Overall, Alabama outgained the Badgers on the ground 238-40. It could have been a lot more lopsided had Alabama wanted to pad Henry’s numbers, but with an extremely difficult schedule looming coaches opted to keep him as fresh as possible, for as long as possible.

He still ended with a whopping 395 carries and smashed the Crimson Tide single-season records for rushing yards and rushing touchdowns with 2,219 and 28 en route to winning Alabama’s second Heisman Trophy. Trent Richardson had the previous marks at 1,679 and 21 just four years previous.

“He usually plays better as the game goes on in terms of workhorse-type guy,” Alabama head coach Nick Saban said.

Our best stats on Alabama's Derrick Henry.. check out those 999 yards 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 contact pic.twitter.com/lDlf79T4u7

— CFB Film Room (@CFBFilmRoom) April 25, 2016

Of that there had been little doubt as it’s how Henry went about everything since arriving on the Capstone as an early enrollee in January 2103. His roommate back then was Howard, who would wake up in the middle of the night and see Henry doing pushups.

When asked if he had a sequel to that story Howard simply referred to the Wisconsin game.

“That’s the new updated story,” Howard said. 

This is the seventh story in a series that will appear before New Year's Day, counting down the top 10 Alabama football moments of the 2010-19 decade.

Some of the information in this story originally appeared in "Decade of Dominance"

10. Alabama Owns Third Saturday in October

9. Alabama Snatches Victory in 2012 SEC Title Game

8. Nick Saban Becomes the Dean of SEC Coaches

7. The Redemption of Jalen Hurts

6. Alabama Crushes Notre Dame for National Title

5. An Onside Kick Helps Alabama Bounce Back