The SEC is unpredictable. On any given day, any team can beat any team. Just ask the top teams in the East.
This weekend No. 11 Mississippi State travels to Tuscaloosa to take on No. 1 Alabama for a battle of first place in the SEC West.
Head coach Dan Mullen said this week is huge for his program and right where the team wants to be.
“It’s a position we wanted to be in when I took the job here,” Mullen said. “These are the type of games we wanted to play in, and our guys are going to be excited for the opportunity to go play the No. 1 team in the country.”
Two years ago, no one predicted Auburn to be much of a threat in the SEC, much less the nation. Often times, the teams not receiving much hype before the season begins creep up and make some noise during the year.
This year’s Mississippi State squad may be the least-hyped top-15 team in the country.
No one mentioned State in SEC talks before the season, and, to be honest, no one is mentioning the Dogs now, either.
For example, after the Dogs beat Tennessee two weekends ago, Sportscenter tweeted a video of Malcolm Johnson’s game-sealing touchdown catch and said, “Malcolm Johnson, we just reserved a spot for you in the #SCtop10#TENNvsMSU.”
So of course State fans stayed up to watch the top 10 plays that night, and was Johnson’s catch on there? No. That catch should be nominated for catch of the year, yet Johnson received no acknowledgement for it.
Now that MSU has made it through to the other side of its schedule without a blemish, the Dogs can focus solely on the Tide. Junior quarterback Tyler Russell said the team had a feeling in the offseason this could be two 7-0 teams battling but has done a good job not getting ahead of itself.
“We just have to clean up some stuff we messed up on in the last couple of games, whether it be knowing the protections or anything like that. We just have to keep playing our football,” Russell said. “To have an opportunity to go in there and take something that belongs to them with us both being 7-0 trying to get first place, it’s going to be unbelievable.”
Although Alabama is currently ranked first in team defense only allowing 8.3 points per game and 195.6 yards per game, the Tide has yet to face a passing attack such as the one MSU brings.
Arkansas’ Brandon Allen, Ole Miss’ Bo Wallace, Missouri’s Corbin Berkstresser and Tennessee’s Tyler Bray are not in the same category as Russell.
Nor has Bama played against a group of wide receivers as diverse as MSU’s core receivers. Opposing teams cannot focus on any one Bulldog receiver, because of any game day, multiple Dogs could come up with big plays.
Whether Chad Bumphis, Chris Smith, Arceto Clark, Brandon Heavens, any of the tight ends or even the fullbacks and running backs are open, Russell has a plethora of receivers to make big-time catches for him.
Mullen said with any of the receivers, when given the opportunity, they will make the play.
“The balance of our receivers allows you to do some great things. We have some experience out there on the field, so Tyler doesn’t always hone in on one receiver,” Mullen said. “The maturity helps with that. Our guys are ready, and when they’re number is called, they’re going to make the plays, and if it’s not, they’re going to do their job anyways.”
Running back LaDarius Perkins, who is quietly having a big year for the Dogs, said Bama always seems to be having a great year, and MSU knows how good the Tide are.
“They (Alabama) are going to see a team that’s going to work hard always and fight to the end no matter what,” Perkins said. “We’re going in there knowing we can win as long as we just play our game, make sure we’re consistent onoffense and defense makes the stop, we’re going to be fine.”