2012 SEC Championship Man of the Hour: Alabama running back Eddie Lacy

Alabama Crimson Tide running back Eddie Lacy (42) scores on a 41 yard touchdown run during the SEC Championship game. (John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports)

The Alabama Crimson Tide played inspired football en route to its twenty-third SEC title on Saturday. They overcame deficits three different times to beat Georgia 32-28 in what is already being called the greatest SEC Championship Game ever to be played thus far.

The victory was a total team effort, and picking a single Man of the Hour is a tougher task than finding a coach willing to take the Auburn head coaching position.

HaHa Clinton-Dix picked off Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray. Barrett Jones and Jesse Williams both played through painful injuries. Freshmen T.J. Yeldon and Amari Cooper performed like SEC championship veterans. And AJ was Mr. Clutch, as usual.

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However, sometimes it’s not what you do; it’s how you do it.

What Eddie Lacy did was gut the Georgia Bulldogs’ defense for 182 yards rushing and two touchdowns.

How he did it is another story.

From the opening drive, Lacy was plowing over defenders and spinning out of tackles. Alabama’s offense couldn’t get anything going in the first half and was down 7-0 when Lacy decided enough was enough. He burst through a hole and raced 41 yards for his first touchdown of the day and 15th of the season.

It was just the beginning of Alabama’s SEC Championship Game record 350 yard rushing performance.

After a blocked field goal gave Georgia a 21-10 lead, T.J. Yeldon gained 47 yards on a crucial drive and got the two-point conversion to pull the Tide within four.

Alabama held Georgia to a three-and-out and got the ball back on the 26. The Tide would not even need to attempt a pass on the ensuing drive because Lacy had entered into his zone.

On the first play of the drive, Lacy broke outside for 32 yards and channeled his inner Trent Richardson by plowing over a Georgia defender. He would then pull out his inner Mark Ingram six plays later for an Alabama touchdown.

It was a career-defining drive for the junior from Louisiana. Lacy ran with an inhuman intensity that will go down as one of the greatest big-game rushing performances in Crimson Tide history.

Lacy will more than likely only suit up in the crimson and white one more time at Alabama, but this time, the Crimson Tide’s second BCS title in two years will be on the line.

Roll on to victory.

Eddie Lacy has hit his stride.

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