AUBURN, Ala. — Trent Richardson and No. 2 Alabama have convinced Nick Saban that they’re worthy of competing for college football’s top prize.
The Crimson Tide will have to wait a while before the final decision is rendered.
Richardson rushed for a career- high 203 yards, and AJ McCarron threw three first-half touchdown passes to lift Alabama to a 42-14 victory over rival Auburn on Saturday in what amounted to a statement game.
Let the lobbying begin. Saban said he thinks the Tide is one of the nation’s best two teams, Richardson is the top player and ‘Bama deserves a second shot at LSU.
“This team lost one game in overtime to a very, very good team who’s No. 1 right now,” the Tide coach said. “And we lost in overtime. Everybody’s got to make their choices and decisions about that.
“But I think we’ve got a great football team and a great bunch of young men who have done a wonderful job and played some really dominant football on both sides of the ball. I think they deserve an opportunity, the best opportunity that’s out there for them.”
The Tide (11-1, 7-1 Southeastern Conference) has a week before finding out if its resume is good enough to secure a shot at a second national title in three years. No. 5 Oklahoma State, fourth in the BCS standings, and No. 1 LSU have big games remaining against No. 12 Oklahoma and No. 13 Georgia, respectively.
In the end, the win might have given the Tide enough style points to hold on to No. 2 in the BCS rankings whatever happens next weekend.
The Tide dominated statistically but didn’t put Auburn (7-5, 4-4) away until Dee Milliner’s 35-yard interception return early in the fourth quarter. Alabama entered the quarter with a 309-44 advantage in total yards but also gave up touchdowns on a fumble recovery and a kick return.
The Tide still did more than enough to end Auburn’s streak of 14 straight wins at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
“I’ve got a locker room full of guys right now and coaches that are hurting and a lot of fans that are hurting as well,” Tigers coach Gene Chizik said. “So this is a tough day.”
