STARKVILLE — The Tide are rolling into town once more. Saturday, Mississippi State will welcome No. 5-ranked Alabama to Davis Wade Stadium looking to snap an 11-game losing streak against coach Nick Saban.
Sitting at 4-5 and 2-4 in the SEC, MSU still has bowl aspirations ahead of it with three games to play, while No. 5 Alabama (8-1, 5-1 SEC) is picking up the pieces from last week’s loss to No. 1 LSU in Tuscaloosa.
Here are three matchups to watch Saturday afternoon:
MSU secondary vs. Alabama wide receivers
While Alabama may not be its dominant self this season, the Crimson Tide receiving corps is as good as it’s ever been.
Boasting a four-headed attack of Henry Ruggs III, DeVonta Smith, Jaylen Waddle and Jerry Jeudy, the quartet has combined for 2,587 receiving yards this season.
Smith and Ruggs are the big-play threats of the bunch as they average 18.7 and 20 yards per reception, respectively, while the former is leading the team with 934 receiving yards this season.
As for Jeudy, he enters the week as a likely option to be the first receiver off the board in April’s NFL Draft. A dynamic playmaker, he’s second on the team in touchdown receptions (9) and receiving yards (753).
Waddle is the quietest of the bunch receiving-wise — having totaled just 319 yards receiving — but he leads the nation in punt return yards (379) and average yards per return (25.27).
“Alabama has speed — track speed,” MSU senior safety Jaquarius Landrews said of the Crimson Tide receiving corps. “We’ve got to play up to their level.”
Though the Bulldogs have struggled some against the pass this season — they rank No. 66 nationally in passing defense — a full stable of cornerbacks should be available Saturday with the expected return of freshman Jarrian Jones.
With Jones, classmate Martin Emerson Jr. and junior Cameron Dantzler all slated to play, MSU will at least have a full contingent of defensive backs to go to in containing Alabama’s prolific wideouts.
MSU running back Kylin Hill vs. Alabama defensive end Raekwon Davis
Kylin Hill enjoyed a return to form in Fayetteville two weeks ago as MSU trounced Arkansas 54-24.
Finishing with a career-high 234 yards and three touchdowns against the Razorbacks, Hill now leads the SEC in rushing and sits No. 13 nationally with 1,027 yards on the season.
And though he has been prolific of late, he will face a staunch Alabama defensive line anchored by senior defensive end and Meridian native Raekwon Davis.
Davis, who chose the Crimson Tide over MSU and Florida State out of high school, boasts a massive 6-foot-7-inch, 312-pound frame and has totaled 36 tackles this season.
“I mean (he is) incredibly athletic and very stout against the point of attack,” coach Joe Moorhead said. “He uses his hands very well. He is a disruptor or game wrecker versus the run and the pass.”
And while Davis is a major space eater up front, the Crimson Tide have been more susceptible against the run this year compared to past seasons. Entering this week, the Alabama rush defense ranks No. 33 nationally — its worst rating since finishing 2014 as the country’s 59th-best unit.
That said, MSU is wary of the young talent the Crimson Tide defense boasts.
“Those guys are the top-rated guys,” senior center Darryl Williams said. “Everybody is looking forward to the challenge to see how we fare up against those guys.”
“We’ve got to be more to be more physical, be able to get guys out of spots, out of gaps, so that our running backs have some holes to hit come game time,” he continued.
MSU vs. history
It’s no secret the MSU-Alabama series is lopsided. As noted, the Crimson Tide lead the all-time results 83-17-3 and and are riding an 11-game win streak over the Bulldogs coming into Saturday’s contest.
Further, Saban has a career record of 16-1 against MSU between his time in Tuscaloosa and in Baton Rouge — where he served as the head coach at LSU from 2000 to 2004 — with the lone Bulldog victory coming against his inaugural Crimson Tide team in 2007.
Recent results have offered Bulldog fans a glimmer of hope after falling to the Crimson Tide 24-0 last season and 31-24 the year prior, but the sentiment remains — MSU is battling not only another top-five Alabama team Saturday, but a decades-long history against their neighbors to the east.
“From a mindset standpoint, in taking to the kids last week and after practice (Sunday), to win this game we are not going to have to do anything extraordinary,” Moorhead said. “We are going to have to do the ordinary extraordinary well. We are going to have to have a great week of practice and take care of the little things on and off the field.”
With an extra week to prepare courtesy of a bye and Alabama coming off a demoralizing loss to LSU last weekend, the schedule lines up for MSU to spring an upset. But in the words of Moorhead, it will take doing the ordinary things extraordinarily well for the Bulldogs stand a remote chance.
“Just like LSU, Auburn, and all the other games on the schedule, our kids are going to go out with a high degree of confidence,” he said. “A level of confidence is earned through our preparation and how hard we play and how well we execute, rather than who the opponent is.”
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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