AUBURN | It was vintage Trent Richardson.

With nearly 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter and the University of Alabama holding a steep 21-point advantage over Auburn, Richardson unleashed three runs that largely tell the story of why the junior running back will probably be invited to the Downtown Athletic Club in New York City in a couple of weeks as a Heisman Trophy finalist.

The first carry went for 13 yards. The next, 4. Then he uncorked a 57-yard highlight-reel run, outrunning most of Auburn's defense, crossing from the left to the right side of the field and finally literally throwing a Tiger defender out of bounds all before being brought down at the 16. He flashed every ounce of his awe-inspiring athleticism on that series: speed, balance, power and agility.

He finished the night with a career-high 203 yards rushing on 27 carries, notching his school record-tying ninth 100-yard game of the season and moving him into second in single season (1,583) rushing yardage and fifth in career rushing yardage (3,034). He is only 76 yards from eclipsing Mark Ingram's single-season leading 1,658 yards in 2009, the year he won Alabama's only Heisman.

Asked about where Richardson should place in the Heisman voting, Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban made his opinion clear.

"To me, Trent's the best football player in the country," Saban said. "You love saying that about someone who's such a good person, who does so much to serve other people. He's a great teammate. He's a leader. He cares about everyone around him. His performance and production pretty much speaks for itself. And he'll be the first one to tell you that the offensive line does a pretty good job of getting them blocked up front. That's why he has a lot success."

In fact, Richardson said exactly that.

"I feel like the team played well; William Vlachos, Barrett Jones and the entire offensive line. I don't think I did it. The team did it," Richardson said.

It was slow going for Richardson in the first quarter with 13 yards on four carries, as Alabama mainly relied on the passing game to the move the ball against a struggling Auburn defense.

He picked it up in the second quarter, totaling 61 yards rushing at the half. But he really kicked into gear in the second half, exposing a porous Auburn rush defense that came into the game ranked 98th against the run.

After three quarters, Richardson had 129 yards rushing and his 57-yard run in the fourth gave him 203 yards. He didn't play the rest of the game.

"Anything it takes to win," he said. "If that's what it takes to win, I will do it. I'm a team player, and I will gladly stick my neck out for my team."

Jones returned at left tackle after missing the previous two games with an ankle injury, helping solidify an imposing line. Behind Jones and left guard Chance Warmack, Richardson went to work.

"I think Trent's a great player," Jones said. "I don't know about all these awards, but certainly if I had a vote I'd vote for him for everything. He's a great player, a great guy and a great leader. It's great blocking for a guy like that.

"We definitely wanted to run the ball today. We know they've limited us the past few years. We kind of wanted to go out there and impose our will. I think we had a great plan. Early on we loosened them up with some play action, and then Trent started doing his thing."

Reach Aaron Suttles at aaron.suttles@tuscaloosanews.com or at 205-722-0229.