Alabama vs. Mississippi State Complete Game Preview
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — It’s been an awful few days for the No. 20 Mississippi State football team, which went from enjoying a 31-13 victory at Missouri on Thursday night to mourning the loss of a teammate roughly 24 hours later.
Freshman defensive lineman Keith Joseph Jr. and his father, Keith Joseph Sr., died in a one-car accident Friday. Both had attended Pascagoula High School on the Gulf Coast and were en route to watch its game that night.
Mississippi State will host a memorial service honoring both—Keith Sr. was a linebacker for the Bulldogs from 1989-92—in Humphrey Coliseum on Thursday at 12:30 p.m. local time. The service is open to the public.
A moment of silence will be held before Saturday’s game against No. 3 Alabama, and Mississippi State players will wear a helmet decal honoring the Josephs with the letters “MJ.”
Head coach Dan Mullen was recruiting at a high school game when he got a phone call about the accident.
“The freshman group wanted to stay together,” he said during Monday’s press conference. “We made a game plan to meet and go to the dorms. My wife had all of the [freshmen] over to the house so they could be together. One of the things you see when you look at these guys, whenever they are in a tough situation, they are just 18-year-old kids who just lost a very close friend and family member. To keep them together, I thought, was really important.”
Sadly, Alabama has been through similar this season and wore a helmet decal with the number 28 against Tennessee after former Crimson Tide running back Altee Tenpenny died in a car accident.
Joseph Jr. was 18, his father 44.
Here’s everything you need to know for Saturday’s game:
Date: Saturday, Nov. 14
Time: 2:30 p.m. CT
Place: Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Mississippi
TV: CBS
Radio: Crimson Tide Sports Network, MSU Sports Radio Network, Sirius 84, XM 84
Spread: Alabama minus-eight, according to Odds Shark
Alabama Keys to Victory
1 of 6
Avoid any sort of letdown
It’s the theme of the week after Alabama dominated LSU on Saturday, 30-16, a home win that won’t mean anything if it turns around and loses to No. 20 Mississippi State.
“Coach [Nick] Saban’s message from today until we get to Starkville is you know, look we had a really good game in the past or last week, but thinking about that game doesn’t help you for this game coming up, so we know Mississippi State has a really good team,” senior center Ryan Kelly said. “So that’s going to be our goal all week, to keep high energy and just not letting anyone get content with where we’re at.”
That Mississippi State is ranked and nearly pulled off a comeback during last year’s game will likely help Alabama keep its focus.
“I don’t think it will be that hard,” Alabama senior linebacker Dillon Lee said. “Since Ole Miss lost, we’re kind of back in control of what happens from here on out and I think the guys will be more excited this week, going into the next game knowing that every game we win from here on out is taking us where we want to go.”
Contain Dak Prescott
Containment will be the Crimson Tide’s catch phrase his week, as Prescott isn’t just a good passer, but as a dual-threat is second in the SEC in total offense (307.7 yards per game). His 418 rushing yards lead the Bulldogs, as no one else has more than 2002 (Brandon Holloway).
Prescott ran for 82 yards last season against the Crimson Tide after being sacked just once. The goal won’t be to just put pressure on Prescott and make him uncomfortable, but also take away his escape routes.
Quiet the cowbells
Alabama has won seven straight in the series, including the last three games at Mississippi State. Between the cowbells, cranked up volume on the video board and the enclosed end zone with the latest renovations, it’s anything but a quiet place to visit.
“They’re loud,” Alabama junior running back Derrick Henry said. “We know it’s going to be loud. We just got to get ready for it.”
Mississippi State Keys to Victory
2 of 6
Dak has to be Dak
Quarterback Dak Prescott finished eighth in Heisman Trophy voting last year, and he’s already considered the best quarterback in Mississippi State history. He’s set 36 school records, has set 41 career touchdowns (rushing and receiving) and including those thrown has been involved in 100 touchdowns.
This season he’s completed 200 of 300 attempts for 2,351 yards with 18 touchdowns and just one interception, and he is third in the SEC in passing efficiency.
“This offense is very, very challenging,” Tide head coach Nick Saban said. “It's well-conceived. Dan does a good job with it. Their players do a good job of executing it. Last year they were one of the top offenses in the SEC and this year they are as well.
“I think they're probably passing the ball more efficiently is probably the one thing I see that they're doing better. Not that they were ever bad at that, they were very good at it, but I think that's one of the things that I think they're doing even better."
The secondary can’t give up big plays
Injuries have bitten the Bulldogs in the secondary, where senior cornerback Will Redmond and senior safety Kendrick Market are both out for the season with torn ACLs.
That leaves senior cornerback Taveze Calhoun leading a unit that’s getting younger, as redshirt freshman Brandon Bryant is starting at strong safety ahead of true freshmen Mark McLaurin and Jamal Peters.
Look for Alabama offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin to take some shots downfield.
Don’t lose in the trenches
Mississippi State has a big defensive line with ends Ryan Brown (6'6", 266 lbs) and A.J. Jefferson (6'3", 277 lbs) and an interior of Chris Jones with Nelson Adams/Nick James. Jefferson leads the Bulldogs in tackles for a loss with 12.5, Brown has the most quarterback hurries with eight, per cfbstats.com, and Jones—last week’s SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week, who is listed as 6’6”, 308 pounds—is just plain nasty.
Although Alabama is coming off a terrific performance against LSU, playing ranked physical teams on back-to-back Saturdays is never easy.
“I think it was the most overall complete game we’ve played as an offense,” senior center Ryan Kelly said. “We’ve got a big test this week and have to get better.”
Alabama Players to Watch
3 of 6
Defensive lineman A’Shawn Robinson
If one of Alabama’s team awards were for most intimidating player, Robinson (6'4", 312 lbs) would win it hands-down. Seriously, the man leaped over a center to block an extra-point attempt and also served as Derrick Henry’s fullback for two of his touchdown runs against LSU.
Senior defensive lineman Jarran Reed has posted better numbers, but Robinson appears to be coming on strong as the season progresses.
“I'm not really scared of him, but sometimes I have to tell him to calm down a little bit,” running back Derrick Henry said. “I'll be running the ball and he'll hit me and squeeze me. I have to say, 'Hey, you're a little too big to be squeezing me like that.' But he's a great player.”
Linebacker Tim Williams
Mississippi State runs a spread offense and isn’t exactly known for its running game (147.1-yard average, 11th in the SEC), so look for a lot of passing and Alabama to unleash its pass-rushers. It leads the SEC in sacks with 29.
Defensive end Jonathan Allen has a team-high six, but Williams is right behind him with four and should get more opportunities this week. Mississippi State left tackle Rufus Warren injured his left leg in the closing seconds of the first half against Missouri last week but is expected to play against Alabama.
“We have a nice combination of guys there,” Nick Saban said. “We have some guys that have experience. We have some guys that have ability that are young players that we can type into a role that they've been effective in, whether it's Tim Williams or Rashaan Evans, Ryan Anderson.
“It's helpful that we're able to play more guys and stay fresh and have fresh guys in on third down. We've even had the luxury at times of taking Reggie [Ragland] out on third down if he's tired in the game. We've had some good teams around here before that were good defensive teams that we haven't been able to do that. I think that's important.”
Running back Derrick Henry
The Heisman Trophy contender, if not front-runner, averaged 155.5 rushing yards per game in October and then topped that with his 210-yard performance against LSU. The Tigers went from ranking sixth in the nation in rushing defense to 16th.
It’ll be interesting to see what Henry can do for an encore against the Bulldogs, who are 10th in SEC rushing defense (167.7 yards allowed) and 68th nationally.
“We enjoyed that game,” Henry said. “We have a 24-hour rule. It's time to start getting ready for the next game. They're a great opponent, and a great team so it's time to prepare and get ready for the next game.”
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Mississippi State Players to Watch
4 of 6
Wide receiver De'Runnya Wilson
Both Wilson and Fred Ross have been solid for the Bulldogs, as both are ranked in the top 10 in the SEC in receiving yards and receptions (Wilson fifth and 10th, Ross eighth and first, respectively). They’re also coming off 100-yard performances against Missouri.
Wilson in particular is challenge since he’s 6’5” with a long reach. Last year he had eight receptions for 91 against the Crimson Tide.
Alabama’s starting cornerbacks are listed at 5’10”, 196 pounds (Cyrus Jones) and 6’1”, 192 pounds (Marlon Humphrey). Look for a lot of true freshman Minkah Fitzpatrick (6,’1”, 195 lbs) in the nickel package as well.
Quarterback Dak Prescott
During the past three games, he’s 82-of-118 (69.5 percent) for 998 yards, 10 passing touchdowns, 198 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns. Prescott’s 66 passing yards shy of becoming the 12th player in FBS history with 8,000 passing yards and 2,000 rushing yards.
“They’re very tough,” senior linebacker Reggie Ragland said. “Any time you’ve got a quarterback like that and you’ve got guys like Wilson who can go up and get it at any time they need a big play.
“The guys up front have to give the guys in the back time to cover, and the guys up front have to get to [Dak Prescott]. If we keep him contained, I think we’ll have a good chance to stop him.”
Linebacker Richie Brown
The junior linebacker has been a little bit of a surprise for the Bulldogs in that he was the first player since Mario Haggan in 2002 to reach double digits in tackles during both of his first two games as a starter. He leads the defense with 73 tackles and 5.5 sacks after notching two against Missouri.
That has him sixth in the SEC in tackles and third in sacks. He’s also tied for second in tackles for a loss.
What They’re Saying
5 of 6
Nick Saban on facing Mississippi State:
“Any time you have an emotional win, you've got to get your team to respond the right way and make sure that they're focused on what they need to do to play just as well the next week or better against a very good Mississippi State team that's, you know, ranked and is a very, very good team.
"Dan Mullen has done a really good job there. They're a very physical team. They're well-coached. They play well in every aspect of the game. Very good on special teams. Defense is ranked in the top whatever in scoring defense, giving up like 17 points a game. They're very physical on defense, they do a lot of things, create a lot of problems.
“Offensively, Dak Prescott has been playing there for a long time. Has a lot of experience. Does a really good job of executing their offense, and certainly his pass efficiency—and their ability to pass the ball effectively to go with their running game—has been something that is going to be a real challenge for us.
"He can also run the ball, and he's one of the leading rushers on their team. And they have several really good receivers. This is an outstanding team all the way around. This is not the time for anyone to think that OK, just because we had what some would call a big win, there's any reason to think that the next game is not the most important game that we play and everybody's got to focus and get prepared to do the best job to play even better in that game.”
Dan Mullen on facing Alabama:
“This week’s game will be a tough matchup playing Alabama. They have 5-star players across the board. They have a pretty explosive offense and great playmakers in the perimeter. They have a big, physical running back. Their quarterback manages in the right situation. They have all-star offensive linemen. They have the best defense in America to go along with it. It is going to be a huge challenge for us.
"We have improved every week with a young football team. I know over the last four games we have seen significant improvement from one week to the next. We are going to have to take another huge step forward this Saturday and play at an extremely high level to put ourselves in a position to win.”
Mullen on last year’s game at Alabama, when MSU was No. 1:
“We had not been in that big of a game before in this program. I think we came out and played a little tight in the first quarter-and-a-half of trying to almost be too perfect, instead of just going out and playing football. I think that is one thing all of the guys learn. A lot of that is on me.
"I’m making sure that they are ready to go play in the situation they are going to go play in. Our guys needed to be loose. I think after the middle of the second quarter there was a real change in demeanor of everybody. I have to make sure we have that feeling from the beginning. I had our guys a little worried about being too perfect. When you are in a big game situation, the last thing you want to do is play uptight.”
Prediction
6 of 6
It’ll be an emotional day at Davis Wade Stadium, and Mississippi State would like nothing better than to get Alabama back for knocking it from No. 1 last season.
Alabama players almost always call the LSU game the most physical they play, so there can be a tendency for the Crimson Tide to be a little flat the following week. But this team knows what’s at stake and survived the grueling October intact.
Mississippi State will have a tough time running against Alabama, but look for Dak Prescott to do everything he can to keep the Bulldogs in it until the very end.
Prediction: Alabama 27, Mississippi State 22
Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
Christopher Walsh is a lead SEC college football writer. Follow Christopher on Twitter @WritingWalsh.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
