Mississippi State vs. Alabama: TV Info, Spread, Injury Updates, Game Time, More
The lone SEC powers that control their own inaugural College Football Playoff fates meet in Tuscaloosa Saturday in what has the look of the game of the year.
Mississippi State leads the way in the CFP Poll with a 9-0 mark, while Alabama comes in at No. 5 thanks to four consecutive wins after an early October upset at the hands of another team from the state of Mississippi, Ole Miss.
Given the wealth of implications for the conference and beyond, College GameDay will be present in Tuscaloosa:
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Dak Prescott is on the hunt for a Heisman moment in Tuscaloosa akin to those before him such as Cam Newton and Johnny Manziel. If he fails, there is an outside chance the SEC misses out on the CFP. Catch this one at all costs.
SEC-Style Staring Contest
The quarterback that blinks first Saturday will doom his team.
On one side is Prescott, arguably the top dual-threat quarterback in the nation. The junior reminds plenty of Tim Tebow, as he is potent through the air (2,231 yards and 18 touchdowns) and brutal on the ground (779 yards, 11 touchdowns).
For Prescott, the base numbers do not do his abilities justice. The same goes for the Alabama defense, though, which ranks No. 2 in the nation with just 13.9 points surrendered per game on average. A breakdown from Sharon Katz of ESPN.com speaks volumes as to the heavyweight struggle set to unfold:
"Prescott has an SEC-high 45 plays, including 15 touchdowns, of 20 yards or longer. He has at least three plays of 20-plus yards in every game this season, including 17 against three ranked opponents. Alabama has allowed an SEC-low 25 plays (three touchdowns) of 20 yards or longer. The Tide have held their opponents to fewer than three 20-yards plays in four of nine games.
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Alabama trots out Blake Sims under center, who has had his fair share of struggles in his first year as starter. That said, the senior has improved after the loss to the Rebels, throwing nine touchdowns to no interceptions in the four games since. That said, he did complete just 44.4 percent of his passes last week against LSU.
Sims is less of a dual-threat option than Prescott but can do so when asked, hence his two rushing scores in that same span.
One area Sims beats out Prescott is sheer talent around him. He has the luxury of leaning on Amari Cooper, who has 79 grabs for 1,215 yards and 10 scores this season as he makes a serious bid for the Heisman, too.
In a contest that will see the smallest of mistakes magnified, whichever quarterback commits the first error will put his team at a serious disadvantage.
Wire to Wire
This one seems destined to come down to the wire.
With that in mind, one has to only look back to Alabama's loss to Ole Miss for a cause of concern. There are times when the Crimson Tide look shaky down the stretch. In that contest, Saban's team was outworked in the halftime-adjustments department and scored just three points in the second half en route to the loss.
Just last week it was much of the same for the Crimson Tide in Death Valley. They mustered just three points in the second half, the field goal coming with three seconds left in regulation before the eventual win in overtime.
It appears this version of Saban's team struggles in big games to keep things going for a full four frames. One only has to recall the erratic play in a 14-13 win over Arkansas to point out that it can happen any week.
The visitors have had no such issues so far. The Bulldogs routinely blow the hinges off in the early goings and never look back, such as a 21-point first quarter a while back to take down Auburn. Prescott and Co. sound ready to do the same Saturday.
"It means everything," Prescott said, per ESPN.com's Alex Scarborough. "Playing big time games in November, that means you’re playing for championships. To go into [Tuscaloosa] and being the hunted going in there, that’s a challenge we’re willing to take."
It has been a trying season for the Crimson Tide. Should any of their consistency issues to date crop up again, the Bulldogs can and will make them pay, road game or not.
When: Saturday, November 15, 3:30 p.m. ET
Where: Bryant-Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Television: CBS
Betting Lines (via Odds Shark):
- Over/Under: 52
- Spread: Alabama (-8)
Team Injury Reports
| Shelby Christy | WR | 08/31/2014 | will miss the entire season | Out | knee |
| Dezmond Harris | LB | 10/20/2014 | will miss the remainder of the season | Out | knee |
| Cedric Jiles | CB | 08/15/2014 | is out indefinitely | Out | hamstring |
| Damien Robinson | T | 08/19/2014 | will miss the entire season | Out | knee |
| Ronnie Clark | DB | 10/16/2014 | will miss the remainder of the season | Out | Achilles |
| Kenyan Drake | RB | 10/05/2014 | is out indefinitely | Out | ankle |
| Kurt Freitag | TE | 08/28/2014 | is out indefinitely | Out | toe |
| Alphonse Taylor | G | 11/09/2014 | is questionable for Saturday's game against Mississippi State | Questionable | concussion |
| T.J. Yeldon | RB | 11/09/2014 | is questionable for Saturday's game against Mississippi State | Questionable | ankle |
Injury reports per The Sports Network, via USA Today.
Prediction
If there is one player in the nation who could single-handedly take down the superb Crimson Tide defense, it is Prescott.
No defense to date has been able to slow Prescott, including great units such as the LSU defense. His ability to make plays with his arm or keep it and gain effective yards between the tackles—not to mention his penchant for big plays when his team needs them most—give the Bulldogs a serious edge.
Alabama's consistency issues and Sims under center are liabilities that will shine through against an elite team, just as they did earlier this season in the loss to Ole Miss.
Mississippi State gets the win in Tuscaloosa and Prescott gets his Heisman moment.
Prediction: Bulldogs 28, Crimson Tide 24
Statistics and info courtesy of ESPN unless otherwise specified.
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