When Alabama rolled into town to take on Mississippi State, the much-anticipated clash turned into a game of miscues for State as the Dogs fell 24-7. The Bulldog defense held Alabama in check for most of the game, but in many cases on Saturday night, MSU was its own worst enemy.
Head coach Dan Mullen said a team like Alabama waits for the other team to make a mistake and then pounces. Although MSU planned to play a clean game and pounce on the Tide’s mistakes, the Dogs had too many mistakes of their own.
“If you’re going to beat one of the top teams in the country, you have to make all the plays in the game, and we did all the little things you can’t do,” Mullen said. “I have to make sure we’re more mentally tough in those situations, so we don’t have those breakdowns.”
After facing the third best team in the country, the road does not get much easier for the Dogs this weekend as they travel to Fayetteville to take on another top-10 team in the Arkansas Razorbacks.
Defensive coordinator Chris Wilson said the team has a lot to work on going into this weekend, but the group also has a lot of confidence.
“I’m excited about the game on the road, but I feel there’s great progress, and I believe our guys are committed,” Wilson said. “They’re all in, and they’re a fun group to coach. They absorb everything we ask them to do, and as long as they keep that attitude and we keep being positive in coaching, we have a bright future.”
State’s first big miscue came on Alabama’s first drive of the second quarter when a late hit out of bounds by State gave the Tide the ball on its own 48-yard line. Sophomore running back Eddie Lacy then pounded the ball in for the first score of the game, giving Bama a 7-0 lead.
Special teams greatly hurt the Bulldogs, especially in the first half. Sophomore punter Baker Swedenburg fumbled a snap in the first quarter, but Alabama missed a field goal after starting with the ball on the MSU 31. State missed two field goals in the first half; senior kicker Derek DePasquale could not connect on a 41-yard attempt and sophomore kicker Brian Egan missed a 31-yard try.
But the miscues did not stop there. Penalties came at numerous inopportune times for the Bulldogs. Three false start calls in the first half slowed three MSU drives down the field. Also, a pass interference against the Bulldogs on third down gave Bama a new set of downs on its touchdown-scoring drive in the second.
The second half was characterized by a plague of dropped passes for the Bulldogs. Potential big plays or first downs were not converted due to missed catches. On the last drive of the third quarter, senior tight end Marcus Green could not handle a fourth down pass, and State gave the ball over to Bama.
However, on the defensive side of the ball, the Bulldogs performed well as four players recorded double digit sacks. Senior safety Charles Mitchell had a team-high 13 tackles; junior cornerback Corey Broomfield recorded a career-high 12 take downs; junior linebacker Cameron Lawrence, who entered the game third in the SEC with 78 tackles, added 12 more; and junior defensive tackle Josh Boyd notched a career-high 11 tackles, two of which were for a loss.
Lawrence also intercepted his second pass of his career and was four yards away from returning it for a touchdown. He said the defense was trying to focus on itself and had a good scheme coming into the game.
“Against a team like Alabama you have to play flawless; if you make one mistake, a team like that is going to take advantage of it, and we weren’t flawless,” Lawrence said. “A lot of people questioned our defense coming into the season, and I took it personally. I play with a chip on my shoulder to prove that defense isn’t our weak point, and I believe everyone has faith in our defense at this point.”
Offensively, MSU had only 12 yards on the ground and 119 through the air for a total of 131, the lowest number of offensive yards in Mullen’s time at State. Mullen continued to rotate quarterbacks as senior Chris Relf started the game, while sophomore Tyler Russell took the majority of the snaps. Redshirt freshman Dylan Favre also saw playing time in the game.
Despite facing criticism for his quarterback choices, Mullen said he does not think the rotation impacts the rhythm of the quarterbacks, and Russell said when a switch is made, the guys do not even have time to think about it.
“That’s one thing about being a quarterback — you can’t be selfish,” Russell said. “Coach Mullen has so much experience, and he knows what he wants to do, so my job is to move the ball down the field, and if he makes a switch like that, it’s fine; we just have to capitalize and score.”