Derrick Henry 1st Player to Run for 100 First-Half Yards in Title Game Since '08

Derrick Henry continues to dominate in the world of college football.

On Monday night, Alabama's Heisman Trophy winner became the first running back since Chris "Beanie" Wells to rush for over 100 yards in the first half of the national championship game, per SportsCenter.

Henry hoped to secure a different final result in the national title game than Wells did, though. His Ohio State Buckeyes lost to the LSU Tigers in 2008, and Wells ran for 146 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries.

Henry almost eclipsed Wells' numbers in the first half, rushing for 128 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries. One of those carries resulted in a 50-yard touchdown for the game's first score.

SportsCenter provided a clip of the first touchdown of the national championship game:

Henry finished with 36 carries, 158 yards and three touchdowns in Alabama's 45-40 win. 

It was that kind of season for Henry, who broke nearly every rushing record in the book for the Crimson Tide.

What's more impressive is that Henry had that much success against a Clemson run defense that had held opponents to less than 4.0 yards per carry this year. Henry's first-half output was more than the entire Oklahoma Sooners rushing attack could muster in the Orange Bowl, per Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports:

Alabama running backs haven't been good pro prospects in recent years, but there's something different about Henry. Maybe Rich Eisen of NFL Network can challenge him to a 40-yard dash later this year:

It would only be fitting if this was the last time Henry carried the load for Alabama. He was the main reason why the Tide were in the national title game, and he ended the season the way he started it: running through, over and between tacklers and giving defenses nightmares.