Back on Track: Tide Dominates Mississippi State
Will Anderson bears down on Bulldog QB Will Rogers. Photo via @AlabamaFTBL
For the Alabama nation, last week was a long one. Dealing with the reality of losing to Tennessee for the first time in 16 years was a hard pill to swallow (specifically, any loss is a hard one to swallow for Tide fans), and last week showed Bama fans just how spoiled we have become. Thanks to a rejuvenated and motivated defense, Alabama got back on track and rolled over SEC West rival Mississippi State 30-6 on Saturday in Tuscaloosa. After giving up a shocking 52 points to Tennessee, the much maligned and questioned Tide defense answered the call and looked entirely different than they had two weeks earlier at Rocky Top. Will Anderson and the front seven provided the pressure while the secondary, led by LSU transfer and first-time starter Eli Ricks (5 pass break-ups) made plays on the ball in the air and limited State quarterback Will Rogers and the Air Raid offense to a total of 231 yards through the air and no touchdowns. MSU’s lone score came on the last play of the game and it was a run from a yard out. It was a much needed confidence-builder for the 6th ranked Tide.
The overall stats were not overwhelming. State outgained the Tide 293 to 290 yards, but struggled mightily on 3rd down, converting on just 7 of 22 attempts. Furthermore, as is custom with Mike Leach led teams, State gambled six times on 4th down, including once in the second quarter from their own 29 (they failed, and Bama capitalized four plays later to make the score 21-0) and completed only three of those attempts. In addition, Alabama cleaned up on several aspects that had been hurting them throughout the year. As one of the heaviest penalized teams in the country, Alabama was only flagged three times (two on State’s final drive of the game) and the receivers did not drop a pass. In addition, kicker Will Reichard had a tough previous two weeks, yet on Saturday was back to his previous form, nailing all three of his attempts. State’s Will Rogers ended the evening throwing 60 passes, completing 30 of them. No back or receiver stood out for either team.
Bryce Young finished 21 for 35, 239 yards and 2 touchdowns, doing most of his damage in the first half. The Alabama offense clicked in the first half, scoring 24 of their 30 points. In the second half, Young started to hold onto the ball too long and the offense, overall, looked tired and bogged down. No matter, the game was well in hand and although they didn’t run the ball well against Mississippi State (29 total yards for the game), there really aren’t many concerns about the Tide offense.
The scoring opened with Young finding JoJo Earle open in the endzone from 31 yards out after scrambling for more than 10 seconds at the 3:57 mark of the first quarter. State moved the ball well in the opening stanza, but came away empty. After MSU missed a 43 yard field goal, Alabama went up 14-0 on a Jahmyr Gibbs 19 yard run. Leach then went for it on 4th and 1 from his own 29, and after the Bulldogs failed, Bama took a commanding 21-0 lead on Young’s second touchdown pass of the evening, this time to Traeshon Holden from 6 yards out. After Reichard got back on track with a 50 yard field goal, the Tide entered the locker room up 24-0, and the game was essentially over. Bama would add just two field goals in the second half and the Bulldogs would score from a yard out on the last play of the game to bring the final tally to 30-6.
The Tide has now completed a critical four game stretch with an acceptable 3-1 record, and will enter another challenging stretch tied for first place in the West. The formula remains the same…win out and face either Georgia or Tennessee in the SEC title game for an almost guaranteed ticket to the playoffs. After a much needed week off, the Tide will travel to Baton Rouge to face Brian Kelley and his strong LSU squad on November 5th before traveling to 6-1 Ole Miss on the 12th. The results of those contests will decide the West.