Alabama vs. Mississippi State: Bulldogs to Face 2nd 'Bama Rebound in a Row

The Mississippi State Bulldogs took the field to face the Alabama Crimson Tide in 2010 one week after the Tide suffered a heartbreaking loss to LSU by a mere three points.

In 2011, history repeats. Once again, LSU topped the Tide by three points, and poor Mississippi State will, once again, bear the brunt of the Tide's frustration and will face one of the biggest resurgences in college football.  

In 2010, Alabama won 30-10 over the Bulldogs. Miss. State lost four games that season, one by three points to Auburn, and one touchdown in a two-overtime loss to Arkansas. They were a surprisingly good team; just ask the Michigan Wolverines after the Bulldogs took them to the woodshed in the 2011 Gator Bowl to the tune of 52-14.  

2010's outcome of 30-10 is not what will be happening this year. No sir, not by a long shot.  

The Tide cannot afford to hang anything less than 50 points on the Bulldogs, and they need to pitch a shutout. 

You see, there is a difference between last year and this year. Last year, the Tide was at two losses, and a blowout win would have done little for them. All they needed were wins, not votes, and they would go to a BCS bowl game, as a title-run was out of the question.  

This year, the Tide is a one-loss team, and they need to do a heck of a lot to impress the voters, or rather not disappoint them. This is because the national championship and the SEC championship is not out of the question, but well within reach.  

If Arkansas were to beat LSU at the end of the season, that would create a three-way tie between them and LSU.

Would LSU drop below Alabama in a loss? Would Arkansas jump ahead of Alabama in a win?

To assume that 'Bama would automatically be No. 1 among those three would be folly. They need to be supremely convincing in their next three games.

A win with a 20-point difference just wont cut it if the Tide hopes to miraculously get back into not only the SEC Championship race, but the national title race as well.  

It wont be fun for the Bulldogs, but the Tide must run them completely into the ground.  

Trent Richardson will run angrier than a 50/50 clone of Adrian Peterson and Peyton Hillis with an overdose of gamma radiation. If Richardson wears green body paint we won't know the difference between him and a pissed off Bruce Banner.  

The defense, knowing they held LSU to two field goal attempts in regulation and still lost, will be hungry as hell to pitch a shutout against the Bulldogs.  

They likely won't get it, as Mississippi State will have taken hints from LSU, and use quarterback Chris Relf and running back Vick Ballard in an option-type setup, the only offensive strategy all season that seemed somewhat effective against the Tide. They will come close to a shutout, however.  

In easier games this year, Nick Saban withheld his trump cards, his gambits. There was no need. Use standard formations and get the win; that was the strategy. Don't give future opponents anything to study.  

While that strategy won games against weak competition, it wont impress voters anymore. The Tide needs to completely blow it's next three opponents out of the water. They need to make it look like they are playing against Pop Warner opponents.  

Alabama will be going lights out, and from the blitzkrieg to checkmate, Mississippi State will, once again, be the unfortunate victim of a rebounding Crimson Tide.

The bottom line is that everybody on the team is mad as hell, and if they can't have a do-over with LSU, they'll just bring the pain to someone else. 

I feel their pain. I couldn't yell at LSU and their borderline dirty plays (facemasks, behind the back clotheslines, but I digress), but I could yell at my cat. Everyone needs an outlet for frustration, and Mississippi state will receive an elephant-sized amount of it.

I'm better money right now that Cade Foster puts the ball through the uprights on a kickoff.  

Final score:  59-3