STARKVILLE — After last year’s game against Alabama, Mississippi State linebacker Jett Johnson said the Bulldogs might have had a reason to get discouraged.
“We let the logo get us down a little bit — the ‘A’ and stuff,” Johnson admitted.
Intimidation in the face of the Crimson Tide appeared to be part of — but certainly not all of — the reason MSU lost 49-9 to Alabama at Davis Wade Stadium.
Asked about Johnson’s quote Monday — five days before the Bulldogs face the Tide in Tuscaloosa — Mississippi State coach Mike Leach said his team should be worried about something else instead.
“If they’re sitting there looking at that and paying attention to that, they’re looking at the wrong thing,” Leach said. “They need to be looking at themselves and how well they’re competing with themselves and playing the best that they can play.”
That “best” will have to be pretty darn good for the No. 24 Bulldogs (5-2, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) to upset the sixth-ranked Crimson Tide (6-1, 3-1 SEC) at 6 p.m. Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Both teams are coming off road losses, with MSU falling 27-17 at Kentucky and Alabama losing a 52-49 thriller at Tennessee.
Leach said the keys to rebounding after a loss are simple: “stick together” and “work hard.”
“If everybody’s really committed to what they’re doing, they just get right back at it and try to work through it,” he said.
Leach appeared to question that commitment after Saturday’s game, saying his team got “fat, dumb and happy” after consecutive wins over Texas A&M and Arkansas at home.
He placed the blame on his own coaching staff for failing to impart its message to the Bulldogs.
That can’t happen Saturday if Mississippi State has any shot at beating Alabama for the first time since 2007.
The Tide starts defending Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young at quarterback, while Georgia Tech transfer running back Jahmyr Gibbs is in the top 20 nationally in rushing yards and ranks 10th in yards per attempt.
“They keep you thinned out because you’re trying to tend to both of them,” Leach said. “You can’t just focus on one thing, and then you’re vulnerable to both a little bit.”
Tennessee used an up-tempo offense and took advantage of a connection between quarterback Hendon Hooker and wide receiver Jalin Hyatt. Hyatt caught five touchdown passes and was quite deservedly named SEC offensive player of the week.
The Volunteers’ 52-point total against the Tide tops, by a field goal, Mississippi State’s scoring output against Alabama in the past seven games between the two schools.
The Tide, meanwhile, have scored 265 points in those seven games.
A considerable recruiting gap between Alabama and MSU — really, between Alabama and everyone else — has been an issue.
Leach said the Bulldogs are working on filling that chasm.
“The biggest thing is you just focus on what you’ve got and what resources you have and just try to elevate them as much as you can,” he said. “I think we’re making progress. You try to make it as fast as you can. In the past two years, it’s become a more volatile recruiting situation, and the dust hasn’t settled on it.”
For the time being, Alabama still has a significant edge over Mississippi State — one so big it’s almost understandable why Johnson and his teammates found the Tide so formidable.
But if the Bulldogs want to take a stab at one of the country’s best teams Saturday, Leach said they can’t come in with the same mentality.
“They can only control the guy in their uniform,” he said. “They can’t control the guy in the other uniform. They’ve got to focus on themselves.”
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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