Here are the best and worst coaching decisions from the SEC championship game:

GOOD MOVE

Alabama head coach Nick Saban and offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin made a brilliant decision to attack the Missouri defense with short, quick passes, neutralizing the Tigers dangerous pass rush in the process. Quarterback Blake Sims got the ball out of his hands before Missouri’s defensive line was ever able to apply pressure, and the cushion given by the Mizzou’s defensive backs allowed for those quick throws to remain effective time and time again. Eventually the Tigers defense began to inch closer to the line of scrimmage, and that’s when Saban and Kiffin burned Mizzou with a deep play-action bomb over the top to DeAndrew White for a 58-yard touchdown in the second quarter. The Crimson Tide coaches countered Missouri’s defense with the perfect game plan, resulting in a 29-point victory.

BAD MOVE

Sometimes a coach will call a play that he’s certain is going to work before his team even breaks the huddle. Lane Kiffin has now been that coach for two straight weeks. He was spotted signaling a touchdown in Alabama’s Week 14 win over Auburn before Blake Sims unleashed a pass to Amari Cooper (Cooper did indeed score on the play) and he prematurely signaled for a touchdown once again on White’s long reception. The play call was brilliant, but coach Kiffin may want to wait until his team is in the end zone before celebrating. Do you think he’d be okay with one of his players prematurely celebrating a touchdown? It’s unlikely. Thus, the play is a “good move” but the celebration is a “bad move” from Saturday’s win. Here’s the play and Kiffin’s premature celebration, in case you missed it the first time.

GOOD MOVE

Missouri trailed Alabama 21-3 at halftime of Saturday’s game, but drove 74 yards on its opening drive of the second half as it tried to pull closer on the scoreboard. The Tigers drive stalled at the Alabama 1 yard line, and head coach Gary Pinkel was posed with a difficult decision as Mizzou faced a critical fourth down. Had Pinkel kicked the field goal, he might have forfeited points on Missouri’s best drive of the day; had he gone for the touchdown and failed it might have sealed the Tigers fate. Pinkel pulled the trigger and left his offense on the field, then called a brilliant pick play to open up Bud Sasser for a much-needed touchdown. He took a risk and it paid off, and even though Missouri was still blown out it kept the game close into the fourth quarter thanks to that play call and the execution of the Missouri offense.

BAD MOVE

Pinkel made a great play call on Mizzou’s only touchdown of the day, but his play-calling in the first quarter is ultimately the reason the Tigers fell behind by 18 points early in the action. Pinkel called for eight passes in Missouri’s first 12 plays, and the Tigers managed just two completions and one first down in that span. Quarterback Maty Mauk short-armed his first throw of the game and was wildly inaccurate on a handful of other throws on the Tigers first few drives, yet Pinkel continued to insistently attack through the air rather than trying to establish a threat in the ground game with Marcus Murphy and/or Russell Hansbrough. Pinkel put the game in Mauk’s right arm from the opening kick, acting as if Mizzou was already trailing at the time. Mauk did not respond to the moment, and Missouri’s offense had one of its worst showings of the year on its biggest stage of 2014.