1. Dee Milliner's and C.J. Mosley's interceptions

The game at Cowboys Stadium was comical in some sense.

No. 8 Michigan came into the game against the No. 2 Tide prepared to show the defending national champs that Michigan was back. It didn't take long for the Wolverines to go back into hibernation.

Alabama raced to a 31-0 lead in the second quarter before Nick Saban began to hold back in the eventual 41-14 win.

Dee Milliner made a key interception and returned it 35 yards to set up a touchdown and Mosley picked one off and returned it 16 yards for a touchdown to make the score 31-0.

Mosley's touchdown was the third interception return for a score in his career tying Antonio Langham's (1990-93) school record.

2. Christion Jones' 99-yard kickoff return for touchdown against Rebels

Alabama had not been used to trailing very much this season and when the Tide fell behind 7-6 it only took 15 seconds to jump back on top due to Christion Jones' 99-yard kickoff return.

The return, which tied for the eighth-longest kickoff return in Alabama history, was the first for a touchdown by Alabama since a 91-yard return by Trent Richardson against Duke in 2010.

When Alabama trailed 7-6 it was the first time the Tide had faced a deficit in regulation since last season's Tennessee game on Oct. 22, 2011.

3. Yeldon's lightning striking run in Missouri Monsoon

The town of Columbia, Mo., was excited to be able to host the top-ranked Tide but it didn't last long.

Alabama bolted out to a 27-0 lead with freshman running back T.J. Yeldon tip-toeing down the sideline for a 15-yard touchdown with 8:40 remaining in the second quarter.

At that point, lightning forced an evacuation of the stadium and after a delay of 38 minutes only about 15,000 of the original crowd of 71,004 decided to return.

After the delay, the steam was taken out of the Crimson Tide with some less than stellar play, but the damage was done on the way to a 42-10 win. Yeldon with 144 yards and Eddie Lacy with 177 rushing yards both set, which at the time were, career highs.

"I felt going into the game, as I was watching film last week, that they are one of the best teams I've ever seen since I've been coaching," Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said. "Time will tell as it goes on, but they're a team that doesn't really have any weaknesses."

4. Cooper's touchdown reception on old Rocky Top

Alabama led 23-10 at halftime and were in control but didn't put the game the game out of reach until the third quarter when Amari Cooper showed again that he is a freshman with amazing ability.

Cooper, who opened the scoring for the Tide with a 23-yard reception from A.J. McCarron, connected again with a 42-yard reception where he simply just ran past the Tennessee defender.

Cooper caught seven passes for 162 yards and his best play of the game never made it into the record books. On a third-and-14 at Tennessee's 30, he caught a short pass from McCarron, slipped a Vols' defender who was grasping air, and zipped down the sideline for a score.

The play was called back for an illegal formation.

Cooper was well on his way to leading the Tide in receiving. Only three freshman in the last 40 years prior to Cooper have led Alabama in receiving in a season: Ozzie Newsome (1974), David Palmer (1993) and Julio Jones (2008). Not a bad group for Cooper to be hanging out with.

5. Yeldon's dance to the end zone

Things were not looking good for the top-ranked Tide in Death Valley on Nov. 3.

LSU had just taken a 17-14 lead and Alabama took over on its own 28 with 1:34 remaining.

A loss in Baton Rouge would have derailed any hopes the Tide had of making it to the SEC Championship Game or a return trip to the BCS National Championship Game.

But McCarron, who had played poorly most of the game, engineered the game-winning drive that ended with Yeldon scoring on a 28-yard touchdown on a screen pass with only 51 seconds remaining.

The crowd at Tiger Stadium became deathly silent.

"I'm really proud of that last drive," Saban said after the game. "It's something I'll never forget."

6. Texas A&M's Johnny Football teach Tide a lesson

Not a pleasant memory for Alabama fans, but a critical one to the season nonetheless.

Texas A&M freshman quarterback Johnny Manziel, who would later go on to win the Heisman Trophy, ran and passed his way around the Crimson Tide's top-ranked defense for a 29-24 upset win.

One of Manziel's highlight reel plays was when he bobbled the snap, ran in a circle and then was able to right himself by throwing a 10-yaerd touchdown to Ryan Swoope for a 14-0 lead. The Aggies pushed the lead to 21-0 before Alabama scored two touchdowns in the second quarter.

"He's magnificent," Alabama's Damion Squire said. "He's great and he's going to continue to be great."

Alabama wasn't out of BCS title game consideration for long thanks to upset losses suffered by Kansas State and Oregon.

7. Tide opens 42-0 halftime lead on Auburn

Two years ago, Alabama led Auburn 24-0 at home before suffering a gut-wrenching 28-27 loss.

There was no threat of that happening this time.

Alabama opened a 42-0 halftime lead and Saban allowed his starters to post one more third quarter touchdown before calling off the dogs in a game where the Tide could easily have won 100-0.

"We didn't take our foot off the gas," Lacy said. "We kept going and going."

The setback completed the process of Auburn coach Gene Chizik losing his job. He was fired the next day. For Alabama, it secured the SEC West crown at set up a national BCS "semifinal" game against Georgia in the SEC Championship Game.

"This was a great team victory," Saban said. "Everyone contributed. We asked for everyone to play their best game. When you make a commitment to something it comes from the heart, and I really thought our players did that."

8. Lacy's big second-half runs

Alabama knew it was in for a dogfight with Georgia in the SEC title game when Lacy began to take charge in the third quarter.

Lacy, the junior, who was probably at his healthiest he had been all season broke off consecutive runs of 32, 14 and 15 yards with Georgia leading 21-18 that turned the momentum back in the Tide's favor.

Lacy, the game's MVP, rushed for 181 yards on 20 carries while freshman Yeldon ground out 153 yards on 25 carries. Alabama rushed for 350 yards on 51 attempts in the game.

"Behind Mark (Ingram) and Trent (Richardson), you can't do nothing but learning from them," Lacy said. "They played on this stage and they played on the next stage as well, so I've been watching them make plays and that's one thing you can do to get momentum on your side."

But heading into the year did he ever think that would result in an SEC title game MVP Trophy?

"That's a thought that never crossed my mind," Lacy said.

9. Amari Cooper's glorious touchdown reception

Alabama trailed Georgia 28-25 in the final minutes of the SEC Championship Game when the Tide began setting up the game-winner to Cooper.

Yeldon ran for three yards against an eight-man front, McCarron hit Michael Williams for two yards and then Yeldon ran for yards to earn the first down. Then, Saban decided to go deep.

"I said, ‘Let's try to take the clock and the game and make a first down or two and then take one deep," Saban said. "They kept playing the same thing trying to stop the run … then we took the shot and AJ made a great throw and Coop made a great catch."

McCarron connected with Cooper from 45 yards out to five Alabama a 32-28 lead. Cooper, a freshman, caught seven passes for 127 yards on the day.

"Coop, he's supposed to have a post, and I saw him going on a straight ‘Go' route," McCarron said.

"I launched it out there and he went and made a play."

10. Mosley's tipped pass in final seconds against Georgia

Milliner thought he got his hands under the ball to cradle a game-winning interception over the Bulldogs. The only problem was the replay officials didn't agree.

With new life, Georgia began to drive down the field for its own potential game-winning score.

"I was definitely celebrating," Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart said after Milliner's play. Scary … that's what it was. That's a life lesson. It ain't over."

Georgia marched deep to Alabama's 8-yard line.

Smart said he wasn't sure what defense to call in the situation but made a call he knew worked well in practice against Alabama's offense in two-minute situations. It worked.

Rushing Mosley deflected the ball that was headed toward the back of the end zone and Georgia's Chris Conley caught it on the five-yard line instead and the clock ran out.

"We said we would do it if we had the situation and it played out perfectly," Smart said. "Probably a good thing the guy caught it. Otherwise, they get another snap. It cost them the game."