Richardson powers No. 2 Bama past Auburn, 42-14

Trent Richardson and No. 2 Alabama have convinced Nick Saban that they’re worthy of competing for college football’s top prize. Richardson rushed for a career-high 203 yards and AJ McCarron threw three first-half touchdown passes to lift Alabama to a 42-14 victory over rival Auburn on Saturday in what amounted to a statement game. Let the lobbying begin. Saban said he thinks the Tide is one of the nation’s best two teams, Richardson’s the top player and `Bama deserves a second shot at LSU.

“This team lost one game in overtime to a very, very good team who’s No. 1 right now,” the Tide coach said. “And we lost in overtime. Everybody’s got to make their choices and decisions about that.

“But I think we’ve got a great football team and a great bunch of young men who have done a wonderful job and played some really dominant football on both sides of the ball. I think they deserve an opportunity, the best opportunity that’s out there for them.”

The Tide (11-1, 7-1 Southeastern Conference) has a week before finding out if its resume is good enough to secure a shot at a second national title in three years. No. 5 Oklahoma State, fourth in the BCS standings, and No. 1 LSU have big games remaining against No. 12 Oklahoma and No. 13 Georgia, respectively.

“That’s out of our hands but I think we’ve proven we should be there without a doubt,” said Alabama tight end Brad Smelley, who had six catches for 86 yards and a touchdown.

Richardson ran 27 times and caught a 5-yard touchdown pass in his final chance to impress Heisman voters. He had runs of 35 and 57 yards to set up second-half scores.