2014 SEC Championship Game

The 2014 SEC Championship Game was played on Saturday, December 6, 2014, in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia, and determined the 2014 football champion of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The game was played between Western Division Champion Alabama and Eastern Division Champion Missouri.[5] Missouri was the designated home team, and the game was televised by CBS for the fourteenth straight year.[6] In the game, Alabama defeated Missouri 42–13 and captured their 24th SEC football championship.[7]

2014 SEC Championship Game
Conference Championship
2014 SEC Championship logo.
Alabama Crimson Tide Missouri Tigers (11–1) (10–2) 42 13 Head coach:  Nick Saban Head coach:  Gary Pinkel AP Coaches CFP 1 1 1 AP Coaches CFP 14 13 16
1 2 3 4 Total Alabama 7 14 0 21 42 Missouri 0 3 10 0 13
Date	December 6, 2014
Season	2014
Stadium	Georgia Dome
Location	Atlanta, Georgia
MVP	QB Blake Sims, Alabama[1]
Favorite	Alabama by 14.5[2]
Referee	Tom Ritter[3]
Attendance	73,526[3]
United States TV coverage
Network	CBS[4]
Announcers	Verne Lundquist (play-by-play) Gary Danielson (color) Allie LaForce (sideline)

2014 Southeastern Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Eastern Division
No. 14 Missouri x		7	–	1					11	–	3
No. 9 Georgia		6	–	2					10	–	3
Florida		4	–	4					7	–	5
Tennessee		3	–	5					7	–	6
South Carolina		3	–	5					7	–	6
Kentucky		2	–	6					5	–	7
Vanderbilt		0	–	8					3	–	9
Western Division
No. 4 Alabama x$^		7	–	1					12	–	2
No. 11 Mississippi State		6	–	2					10	–	3
No. 22 Auburn		4	–	4					8	–	5
LSU		4	–	4					8	–	5
Texas A&M		3	–	5					8	–	5
Arkansas		2	–	6					7	–	6
No. 17 Ole Miss*		0	–	3					1	–	4
Championship: Alabama 42, Missouri 13
^ – College Football Playoff participant $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions * Ole Miss vacated all wins (except for Presbyterian) due to NCAA violations. Rankings from AP Poll

Notes

The winner of the SEC Championship Game had competed in the last 8 BCS National Championship games, posting a 6–2 record. This was the inaugural season of the College Football Playoff, replacing the Bowl Championship Series. The winner of the game, if not selected for the playoff, would normally have played in the Sugar Bowl. However, because that year's Sugar Bowl was to host a national semifinal playoff game, the team would be sent to either the Cotton Bowl, Peach Bowl, or the Fiesta Bowl.

Teams

Alabama

The Tide began their season with a 4–0 start before being upset by No. 11 Ole Miss on October 4. Since then, they won their last seven games, including knocking off No. 1 Mississippi State. Alabama closed out the regular season with a 55–44 win over No. 15 Auburn to avenge last year's loss, and finished 7–1 in conference play, 11–1 overall. The Crimson Tide are entering their 9th SEC Championship Game, having won in their last two appearances (and eventually the BCS National Championship Game), and have a 4–4 overall record in the game. Alabama was able to clinch the Western Division on November 29 prior to the Iron Bowl game kicking off, as Ole Miss defeated Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl to drop Mississippi State to 6–2 in SEC play.[5][8]

Missouri

The Tigers got off to 4–2 start to open the year, suffering early home losses against Indiana and No. 13 Georgia. The Tigers then won six consecutive games to finish the regular season with a 7–1 conference record, and 10–2 overall record. The Tigers are making their second straight appearance in the SEC Championship Game; last year's team fell to eventual national runner-up Auburn 42–59. The Tigers were able to clinch the Eastern Division after defeating Arkansas on November 28.[4][5]

Game summary

Alabama scored on the game's opening drive to take a quick 7–0 lead, and a long touchdown pass from quarterback Blake Sims to receiver DeAndrew White early in the second quarter extended the lead to 14–0. Missouri's offense pieced together a response, but the drive fizzled out and ended in a field goal. Another Bama touchdown late in the quarter gave the Crimson Tide a 21–3 halftime lead. Missouri fought their way back into the game in the third quarter, ripping off 10 points to cut the Alabama lead to 8. Unfortunately for the Tigers, they would fail to score for the remainder of the game, as Alabama scored three unanswered touchdowns to secure a 42–13 victory. The win gave Alabama its 24th SEC Championship, Sims set an SEC Championship Game record for completion percentage, and wide receiver Amari Cooper set both the SEC record for most receptions in a single season and the record for most receptions in the SEC Championship Game. [9]

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP Alabama Missouri 1 11:24 10 68 3:36 Alabama T. J. Yeldon 1-yard touchdown run, Adam Griffith kick good 7 0 2 11:48 1 58 0:10 Alabama DeAndrew White 58-yard touchdown reception from Blake Sims, Adam Griffith kick good 14 0 2 8:30 9 58 3:18 Missouri 33-yard field goal by Andrew Baggett 14 3 2 2:47 14 75 5:43 Alabama T. J. Yeldon 2-yard touchdown run, Adam Griffith kick good 21 3 3 11:00 10 75 4:00 Missouri Bud Sasser 1-yard touchdown reception from Maty Mauk, Andrew Baggett kick good 21 10 3 4:37 9 46 3:43 Missouri 33-yard field goal by Andrew Baggett 21 13 4 14:55 10 64 4:42 Alabama Christion Jones 6-yard touchdown reception from Blake Sims, Adam Griffith kick good 28 13 4 7:38 8 90 4:37 Alabama Derrick Henry 26-yard touchdown run, Adam Griffith kick good 35 13 4 3:38 5 62 2:46 Alabama Derrick Henry 1-yard touchdown run, Adam Griffith kick good 42 13 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 42 13

Source: [3]

Statistics

Statistics[3]	Alabama	Missouri
First Downs	28	10
Total offense	504	313
Rushing yards–TD	242–4	41–0
Passing yards–TD	262–2	272–1
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	23–27–0	16–34–0
Fumbles: Number–Lost	3–0	2–1
Penalties: Number–Yards	2–10	6–60
Punts: Average Yardage	3–43.3	7–43.4
Kickoffs: Average Yardage	7–58.6	4–64.2
Sacks: Number–Yards	0–0	2–12
Field Goals: Good–Att	0–1	2–2
Points off turnovers	7	0
Time of Possession	36:43	23:17

References

1. MVP
2. Odds
3. Boxscore
4. "Mizzou Pregame" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-12-14. Retrieved 2014-12-06.
5. ESPN Pregame
6. SEC Pregame
7. Aschoff, Edward (December 6, 2014). "No. 1 Alabama routs Missouri to claim its 24th SEC title". ESPN.com. The Associated Press. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
8. "Bama Pregame" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-12-14. Retrieved 2014-12-06.
9. Low, Chris; Schlabach, Mark (December 6, 2014). "No. 1 Alabama routs Missouri to claim its 24th SEC title". ESPN.com. The Associated Press. Retrieved December 10, 2014.