STARKVILLE — Will Rogers knew facing No. 12 Alabama’s secondary, a group with three NFL prospects at cornerback, would be a challenge. He probably did not anticipate throwing a pick-six to an edge rusher.

Mississippi State trailed 7-0 after Crimson Tide quarterback Jalen Milroe took off on a scramble and outraced two Bulldogs defensive backs for a 53-yard touchdown. One play after Jah-Marien Latham hurried Rogers and forced him to throw the ball away, Latham again came after MSU’s quarterback.

Rogers got the pass away off his back foot toward running back Jeffery Pittman, but Latham put his hand up and deflected it right into the arms of Chris Braswell, who shook free of Pittman’s grasp and raced down the sideline for Alabama’s second touchdown in less than a minute.

“The starters at the University of Alabama, they’re probably going to be better than your scout team guys,” Rogers said. “They’re really good players, obviously.”

It has been a month of highs and lows for Rogers, who looked out of sorts against LSU but threw for a collegiate career-high 487 yards against South Carolina. That number dropped to 107 on Saturday night, and of his 25 interceptions in a Bulldogs uniform, eight have come against the Crimson Tide.

Barbay’s offense comes to life

MSU (2-3, 0-2 Southeastern Conference) trailed 17-3 in the second quarter and got a jolt of energy from its special teams as Lideatrick “Tulu” Griffin found a seam on a kickoff return and took it out to the Bulldogs’ 36-yard line.

That’s when offensive coordinator Kevin Barbay called his best drive of the night, putting men in motion, changing up the looks and keeping the defense guessing. MSU quickly faced third-and-8, but Rogers connected with Pittman out of the backfield on an angle route and the junior-college transfer dragged defenders with him to the Alabama 40.

In another third-and-8 situation three plays later, the Bulldogs caught the Crimson Tide off guard by running the ball, and Jo’Quavious “Woody” Marks found a big hole through right tackle for another conversion. A screen pass to tight end Antonio Harmon, who had come in motion before the snap, then got the ball into the red zone.

On the next snap, backup quarterback Mike Wright perfectly sold a fake handoff to Marks and took off on a zone read, defended by a block from offensive lineman-turned-tight end Malik Ellis, and raced untouched for a 15-yard score to trim MSU’s deficit to seven.

The Bulldogs managed just 32 rushing yards against a South Carolina defense that had struggled to stop the run, but the running game was a bright spot against the Crimson Tide. Even accounting for sacks, MSU rushed for 154 yards Saturday night, and five different ball carriers — Marks, Pittman, Wright, Rogers and freshman Seth Davis — had at least one run for 10-plus yards.

“We did a nice job at times running the football and being able to puncture the defense a little bit,” Bulldogs head coach Zach Arnett said.

Two-minute drill goes off the rails immediately

Alabama responded to MSU’s touchdown drive with one of its own, going 75 yards in 12 plays and taking more than five minutes off the clock to restore the Tide’s two-touchdown lead. The Bulldogs had just over a minute left in the first half to steal some points back, but on their first play, Rogers looked for Harmon but failed to account for linebacker Jihaad Campbell, who undercut the route for an easy interception.

That gave Alabama the ball at MSU’s 31, and on second-and-6, a well-protected Milroe found Isaiah Bond, who won his matchup against safety Marcus Banks and brought the ball to the 10. Milroe did the rest with his legs on the next play, scrambling for his second rushing touchdown of the night.

For the second time in the first half, the Bulldogs had surrendered two touchdowns in less than a minute, and just like that, a manageable 17-10 deficit had ballooned to 31-10.

Arnett blamed himself for the sequence, even though MSU was able to steal three points before the half in a similar situation in the South Carolina game.

“You’re not going to be a whole lot of football teams when you give up a touchdown and then you have an opportunity for a two-minute drill and you throw an interception on the first play and give them a short field,” Arnett said. “I should have taken a knee. We had the ball coming out of halftime; at least you’re down 14. (Instead) we go into halftime down 21. Really poor job by the head coach.”