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. Missouri was the designated home team, and the game was televised by CBS for the fourteenth straight year. In the game, Alabama defeated Missouri 42–13 and captured their 24th SEC football championship.

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.

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.

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.

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