Alabama vs. Mississippi State: Game Grades, Analysis for Crimson Tide, Bulldogs

The Alabama Crimson Tide manhandled the Mississippi State Bulldogs 31-6 Saturday in a key SEC West showdown. 

Behind a dominating defensive front seven and star running back Derrick Henry, Alabama overcame a poor start to wear down the Bulldogs. The Crimson Tide now need to defeat Auburn in two weeks to clinch a spot in the SEC title game against Florida. 

Here is a look at how each team graded out by unit.

Unit	First-Half Grade	Final Grade
Pass Offense	C	C+
Run Offense	C+	B
Pass Defense	B	B
Run Defense	A	A+
Special Teams	B+	B
Coaching	B	B+

Pass Offense 

Alabama relies on its running game, so it uses the pass offense to balance out the offensive attack. Quarterback Jacob Coker was only OK in filling that role, as he finished with 144 yards and an interception on 15-of-25 passing. Nearly half of his yards came on this 60-yard touchdown to Calvin Ridley, who put on some brilliant moves to get into the end zone: 

Coker was under pressure for much of the game, which affected his rhythm. However, he will need to be more of a threat in the future if Alabama plans to win a conference and national championship. 

Run Offense

Henry continued to bolster his Heisman resume Saturday. He racked up 202 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries, including scoring runs of 65 and 74 yards. At 240 pounds, he is bigger and faster than most defensive backs. His day put him in some elite company: 

Not including the two long runs, Henry was contained most of the day. He did play a major role in killing the clock late in the fourth quarter, though.

Pass Defense

As far as the secondary goes, Alabama was average. Dak Prescott was able to throw for 303 yards, although the Tide did pick him off in garbage time. The star of the day was the entire Alabama defensive front, which totaled nine sacks. If not for the sensational pass rush, Mississippi State could have torched the Crimson Tide through the air. Saban thought his defense would be successful heading into the game: 

Run Defense

It was clear that Alabama’s game plan centered on shutting down Prescott on the ground. The quarterback is one of the biggest dual-threats in the country, so Alabama had a tough task coming in and responded emphatically. The Tide held Prescott to just 14 yards on 26 carries, as the Bulldogs totaled 89 rushing yards on 42 carries as a team. This turned Mississippi State into a one-dimensional offense, which the Crimson Tide pass rush took full advantage of. 

Special Teams

Cyrus Jones’ 69-yard punt-return touchdown in the second quarter opened up the scoring and changed the momentum of the game in Alabama’s favor, and it never looked back. Other than that, the Crimson Tide struggled a bit on special teams. Adam Griffith had a field goal blocked, and punter J.K. Scott turned in several disappointing punts, particularly early when Mississippi State was controlling the game. However, it is hard to call Saturday a bad game for the unit when it contributed a significant touchdown. 

Coaching

Schematically, Alabama’s coaching staff did not make too many adjustments during the game, nor did it have to. The Crimson Tide were obviously the superior team, and the coaches just allowed the players to wear out Mississippi State. Credit goes to the staff for sticking with what was working and continuing to feed Henry down the stretch. 

Unit	First-Half Grade	Final Grade
Pass Offense	B-	B-
Run Offense	D	F
Pass Defense	B-	B
Run Defense	B+	B
Special Teams	D	C-
Coaching	C+	C+

Pass Offense

Prescott gave his team a chance with his production through the air, as it was the only slightly positive threat Mississippi State posed. Yet, Alabama ravaged the offensive line, as Prescott had almost no protection throughout the game. According to head coach Dan Mullen, Alabama just beat the Bulldogs with straight rushes: 

Run Offense

Mississippi State needed to establish a ground game in order to establish any sort of tempo. Judging by how Alabama took care of Leonard Fournette and LSU, that was not likely to happen. The Crimson Tide were all over Prescott and the Bulldog running game that the unit essentially became a non-factor. Again, this was largely due to the mismatch at the line of scrimmage. 

Pass Defense

The Bulldogs secondary was solid in forcing Alabama to dump the ball off short through the air and taking away any downfield attack. Discounting the Ridley touchdown, the unit shut down Coker and the Crimson Tide receivers. Unfortunately, it did not affect the outcome too much. 

Run Defense

Despite what the numbers indicate, Mississippi State did an admirable job of corralling Henry. Outside of his two long touchdown runs of 65 and 74 yards, he only averaged three yards per carry. However, those huge plays impacted the game as Henry went right through the defense on both occasions. The big back eventually wore down the run defense. 

Special Teams

This unit allowed Jones to score the game’s biggest touchdown, which makes this grade pretty low. Add in a missed field goal early, and the special teams were responsible for giving Alabama all the momentum it needed. Mississippi State tried to redeem itself with the blocked field goal, but it was not enough. 

Coaching

There was not much Mullen and his staff could have done to combat Alabama’s pass rush and overall dominance at the line of scrimmage. His team was simply outmatched. The one area where the coaches disappointed was relying too heavy on Prescott, who was either the passer or primary rusher on 69 of the team’s 87 offensive plays. It was no secret Alabama was going to sell out to stop Prescott, so Mullen should have made a stronger effort to spread the ball around.