Derrick Henry Will Be Alabama's Difference-Maker in College Football Playoff

Derrick Henry is peaking at the end of the season for the second consecutive year, which is bad news for whichever three teams join Alabama in the College Football Playoff.

The breakout star of the 2014 Sugar Bowl took over in the second half of Saturday's SEC Championship Game, rushing for 102 yards and two touchdowns on nine carries during a three-possession stretch that saw the Tide extend their lead from 21-13 to 42-13. 

For the game, he had 20 carries for 141 yards and those two scores.

You do not want this man stampeding toward you:

The first two years of Henry's career have been atypical.

He was the leading rusher in high school football history at Yulee High School in northern Florida and came to Alabama as a 5-star recruit last season. But he didn't make an impact (in meaningful action) until the aforementioned Sugar Bowl, when he scored touchdowns of 43 and 61 yards in the second half of a 45-31 loss to Oklahoma.

The blogosphere erupted with high hopes for Henry in 2014—this author not being exempt—but he did not live up to his promise. He saw a decent number of carries and enjoyed moderate success but did not perform like a supposed dark-horse Heisman candidate.

Until now.

Henry rushed five times for 72 yards and a touchdown in the Iron Bowl win over Auburn last week, which means he has 213 yards and three touchdowns in his past two SEC games. And he only needed 25 carries to get there. He is averaging 8.52 yards per attempt.

That is basically a first down per carry.

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

The obvious rebuttal to Henry's success concerns timing.

Starter T.J. Yeldon wears down the defense in the first half, allowing Henry to exploit a tired group of tacklers in the second half. It's the same thing he did against Oklahoma, when you think about. And it means, in some ways, that his numbers are inflated.

And they are.

But so what?

So what if his numbers are inflated? So what if he's not 8.52-yards-per-carry good? It's not about what kind of stats Henry posts. It's about how scary Alabama's offense can be. And with Henry playing as well as he has these past two weeks, the Tide can be pretty darn scary.

No 6'3", 241-pound human being should run as fast or move his feet as well as Henry. Short of an actual rhinoceros, he is the last thing a tired defense wants to tackle. When he's plugged in fresh during the fourth quarter of a physical game, he is acid on top of a flesh-wound.

In hindsight, we probably should have seen this coming.

We should have known that Nick Saban was saving Henry for the end of the season, resting him a la Greg Popovich with Tim Duncan, ensuring he stays fresh for the games that matter most.

Scott Cunningham/Getty Images

"We have total confidence in [Henry] as a player," Saban said after Henry rushed for 24 yards on eight carries against LSU November 8, per Marc Torrence of Bleacher Report.

So why the heck did the rest of us start to waver?

Consider this reminder heeded.

Henry will make a difference when the calendar turns to January. And he might just be the thing that pushes Alabama over the top.

Follow Brian Leigh on Twitter: @BLeighDAT