TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The Mississippi State football team has set its sights on back-to-back
upsets.
MSU needs to win its final two games to become eligible for a school-record seventh-consecutive bowl appearance after a 51-3 loss to No. 1 Alabama on Saturday afternoon at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
The 48-point loss was the largest margin of defeat in Dan Mullen’s time as head coach in Starkville, eclipsing a 38-7 loss to Alabama in 2012. It dropped MSU to 4-6 and 2-4 in the Southeastern Conference.
MSU allowed 50 points in a 51-50 victory against Arkansas last season in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
“Excellent football team, Alabama,” Mullen said. “They have a great football team, and they’ve got great players from top to bottom. There are guys that can’t even get on the field that would probably start for most teams in the country.”
MSU entered the game hoping it could duplicate the excitement it generated last week in a 35-28 upset of then-No. 7 Texas A&M, which was ranked No. 4 in the first College Football Playoff poll. The Bulldogs never trailed in that game and held off a late rally to beat the Aggies.
But reigning national champion Alabama pushed its winning streak to 22 games by gaining 615 yards of offense (218 rushing, 397 passing).
“They’re a great team,” said MSU senior linebacker Richie Brown, who had six tackles and half a sack. “They’ve got a good offense and defense. One thing they do well, they keep playing and they keep coming at you.”
The Crimson Tide (10-0, 7-0) scored on 9 of 15 possessions, including 6 of 8 in the first half.
Alabama led 30-0 at halftime after Adam Griffith made three field goals (30, 28, and 39 yards) and Jalen Hurts threw two touchdown passes (4-yard pass to Calvin Ridley and 67-yard pass to ArDarius Stewart) and rushed for another (4 yards).
“One thing we’ve kind of learned from this year is to not look at the scoreboard too much,” Brown said. “This team tries not to focus on the scoreboard, keep our emotions settled, and go out there and play ball and worry about the next snap. It’s definitely tough. It takes a lot of maturity. I think this team has done a good job of learning how to do that.”
Hurts, a freshman, was 28 of 37 for 347 yards and four touchdowns, all career highs. Jamoral Graham intercepted him in the first half. The Channelview, Texas, native had a game-high 100 yards on 11 carries and a touchdown. Hurts is the first Alabama quarterback to throw for more than 300 yards and rush for more than 100.
“He’s a solid player,” Mullen said. “They do great things with him. They’ve got a lot of great playmakers to flip the ball to on different screens here and there. He does a good job of improvising.”
Stewart had a game-high 156 yards on eight catches and three touchdowns.
Hurts found Stewart for touchdowns of 15 and 20 yards in the third quarter. Backup Cooper Bateman hit Trevon Diggs for a 5-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
MSU senior linebacker De’Andre Ward had a game-high seven tackles and half a sack.
“Alabama’s a really good football team. We respect them a lot, so it’s not terribly difficult,” Brown said of moving on. “It’s not like losing to South Alabama. That was pretty hard. We have a lot to learn. We could have played a lot better. We didn’t play with the best effort we have all year, and we didn’t make the plays that we made in the Texas A&M game.”
MSU needs to beat Arkansas next week and Ole Miss on Nov. 26 in Oxford in the Battle for the Golden Egg to become bowl eligible. MSU faced the same scenario in 2013 and won at Arkansas in overtime before outlasting Ole Miss at home in overtime.
Mullen said he isn’t going to dwell on the loss very long, but he knew Alabama was going it was going to be a challenge to beat Alabama.
“There’s a reason they’re No. 1 in the country,” Mullen said. “They played like it. We’ve just got to move on and get ready for Arkansas.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
