By Andrew Edwards
Staff Writer
Believe it or not, Alabama lost on Saturday and the sun still came up the next day.
The Crimson Tide lost a hard-fought game against the LSU Tigers this past weekend, but they can’t allow that to affect the rest of their season.
After the game, Saban preached to the media that this team “can’t waste a failure”. Alabama still has a legitimate shot to make the college football playoff, and its redemption tour could potentially start this weekend in Starkville if the team makes a statement.
This doesn’t need to be a barn-burner like the 31-24 MSST game in 2017; instead, the tide will need to be aggressive as possible and not take their foot off the gas – like Saban tends to do against lesser opponents. Winning by the largest margin possible might be the Alabama’s best hope for the playoff at this point, or as the committee likes to call it – style points.
The unfortunate part for Mississippi State is that Alabama might be more motivated now than if they’d beaten LSU.
The Bulldogs simply are not very good this year. The team is 1-4 in their last five games, although they did have a nice victory over Arkansas in their final game before the BYE this past weekend. Their best shot to even keep this game close will be to control clock and limit the amount of times that Tua can his hands on the ball, and that will start with their running back, Kylin Hill.
In a season that has been pretty forgettable for the Bulldogs, Hill has been the one lone bright spot. He currently has 1,027 rushing yards for the year and had 21 carries for 234 yards and three TDs against Arkansas. They need to get the ball to him early and often to test an Alabama defense that has been susceptible at times this year.
Player to Watch: Alabama RB Najee Harris
After taking some early season criticism, Harris has been on an absolute tear for the Crimson Tide. He’s put up 451 rushing yards in his last four games with 146 of those coming against LSU. He seems like man on a mission, and it will be interesting to see if he can continue that success against the Bulldogs.
Key Matchup: Mississippi State O-Line vs Alabama D-Line
The Mississippi State O-line has helped its team to the 22ndbest rushing attack in the country. If they can win at least half of their battles against a Bama D-line that hasn’t looked like its usual self this year, then MSST could have a chance in the game.
