Alabama's Lacy goes over 1,000

photo Alabama running back Eddie Lacy (42) scores a touchdown as Auburn defensive end Dee Ford (95) pursues during the first half of a NCAA college football game at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Saturday, Nov. 24, 2012.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Junior tailback Eddie Lacy became Alabama's fourth 1,000-yard rusher in the past five seasons during Saturday's 49-0 rout of Auburn.

A 7-yard run on Alabama's final scoring drive early in the third quarter gave the 6-foot, 220-pounder 131 yards for the game and 1,001 for the season. Lacy rushed 18 times against the Tigers, averaging 7.3 yards a carry, and scored twice.

"I didn't find out until right before I came in here," Lacy said. "It feels good, but all the credit goes to the offensive line and the wideouts and the tight ends blocking downfield. Without them, you can't get started, and they were opening big holes for me."

Lacy redshirted in 2009, when Mark Ingram rushed for 1,658 yards, and he was Trent Richardson's backup last season when Richardson rushed for 1,679. The year before Lacy arrived at Alabama, Glen Coffee rushed for 1,383 yards.

Alabama has yet to have two 1,000-yard rushers in the same season but could with Lacy and freshman T.J. Yeldon, who rushed eight times for 38 yards Saturday and has 847 overall.

Bell goes down

The only downside to Alabama's resounding win occurred with 9:45 left in the second quarter, when Crimson Tide junior receiver Kenny Bell suffered a broken leg and was carried immediately to the locker room. Alabama coach Nick Saban said the injury would require the insertion of a rod.

"The doctor thinks it's probably going to be at least five or six weeks before he can even start running, so he is going to be out," Saban said.

Bell had one catch for 15 yards before getting hurt, and he has 17 receptions for 431 yards and three touchdowns this season. His average of 25.4 yards a catch leads the team.

"It hurts us to see him go down, because we know he wants it as bad as any of us," fellow junior wideout Kevin Norwood said. "It's a shame."

Warmack heads home

Alabama will play Georgia this week in the SEC title game. The Crimson Tide list 19 players on their roster from the Peach State, with none more prominent than senior guard Chance Warmack.

Rivals.com rated Warmack as a three-star prospect and the No. 29 player in Georgia when he came out of Westlake High. He had scholarship offers, according to Rivals.com, from Alabama, Auburn, Rutgers and South Carolina, but he did not have an offer from Georgia.

"I'm not going to say I wasn't interested in Georgia at that time," Warmack said, "but I chose the right team, and I'm happy that I'm with the team I am right now. To play those guys is going to be an amazing feeling for me."

Tide/Tiger tidbits

Alabama improved to 42-34-1 in the Iron Bowl series with just its second win in seven tries against the Tigers at Bryant-Denny Stadium. .... The Crimson Tide's four shutouts this season are the most since they posted five in 1979. ... AJ McCarron's four touchdown passes extended his Alabama single-season record to 25, and the 44 in his career are three shy of the program mark set by John Parker Wilson from 2005 to '08. ... On the game's final play, Auburn sophomore tailback Tre Mason gained 5 yards, giving him 82 for the game and 1,002 for the season.

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