The college football world will watch Saturday when the No. 1 Mississippi State University Bulldogs take their unblemished record on the road to Tuscaloosa, where the Alabama Crimson Tide will be waiting to make their own kind of statement to the entire college football landscape. Alabama will already feel like it is being under appreciated, as they have yet to appear in the top four of the College Football Playoff rankings. This past week’s rankings saw the Crimson Tide get jumped by TCU. There exists no better possibility of reclaiming a spot atop the national rankings than to take down the No. 1 team in the country.
While many people spent the first half of the season questioning this Alabama team from top to bottom, the Crimson Tide has responded to its critics by ravaging off three impressive wins against SEC competition over the past four weeks. It enters this weekend’s heavyweight bout as the declared favorite by Vegas, even though it is ranked four spots lower in most of the national polls.
Most would feel disrespected by this spread, however, some of the major voices within the Bulldog locker room are using it as fuel to get motivated for this weekend’s big game. Wide receiver De’Runnya Wilson said his team has always had a certain edge about them.
“We always have had a chip on our shoulder,” he said. “Before the season no one even expected us to be No. 1 in the country, so we just enter every game and every day remembering that and go from there, honestly.”
It’s not just Vegas that sees Alabama as the favorite, but the overwhelming majority of media personalities and college football experts seem to agree with the notion Alabama will make some sort of positive statement. If this is going to be the case, then Alabama will need all aspects of its team to be functioning at the high rate that has been displayed over the past couple of Saturdays. Its defensive prowess still remains better than ever.
The Tide currently ranks fourth in the nation in terms of total defense, only giving up 4.27 yards per play. To go along with this, it has only given up a total of 11 touchdowns to opposing offenses, the best mark set by any team in the country, as it ranks second nationally in scoring defense. Its defensive unit is highlighted by players such as strong safety Landon Collins, who helps give his squad an intellectual and physical advantage on game days, as well as defensive end Brandon Ivory. For a squad that has been lauded as the most aggressive defense in the country, its discipline also stands out, evidenced by the fact that it does not usually help opposing teams out with miscues or penalties.
Potential Heisman candidate and Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott said he is excited at the opportunity to go up against a defense of the magnitude Alabama possesses and pointed to its overall physicality as a potential obstacle.
“They’re definitely going to be a physical group.  They’re big guys, they run well, and they tackle well from back to front, defensive line to secondary,” he said. “This league is just physical.”
Thankfully the Bulldog offense which can bring just as many accolades to the table as the Alabama defense can. This is because it ranks sixth in the country in total offense, and  it has managed to score at least 31 points in every game this season, except in the game versus Arkansas. Its strong suit though is running the football. The MSU offense  currently averages 5.64 yards per rushing attempt and has compiled 2,294 total yards on the ground for its campaign. Half of this equation is attributed to junior running back Josh Robinson. Against Auburn he posted 97 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 19 carries. Along with this, the game that gained him the most recognition came against LSU, where he collected 197 yards on only 16 carries to help down the Tigers. 
Robinson said his ability to produce comes when the stadium lights are shining at their brightest.  
“You know big- time players make big-time plays in big-time games. That’s what we live for, and it’s the reason we came to play for Mississippi State. To play on a big stage, against SEC opponents, which is the best conference in college football,” he said.
The primary concern facing the Bulldogs heading into the game lies in the matchup between their secondary and Alabama quarterback Blake Sims’s favorite wide receiver target Amari Cooper, who is having a good enough season to be mentioned in the Heisman race himself. Cooper has amassed 1,215 yards on 79 receptions, crossing the goal line 10 times. Only once this season has he failed to go over 70 yards, and that came against Arkansas. It’s no secret the Bulldogs have been below average at defending the pass this season, ranking last in the SEC.    
Head Coach Dan Mullen said his unit will need to be disciplined to contain Cooper.
“One, what you can’t do is do the same thing over and over on him. Because they’ll find out what you’re doing, they’ll get in a rhythm and go take advantage of you. So you’re going to have to change it up, change your look, change the people that are covering him and get some help to the guys that are covering him,” he said. “And most importantly is he’s going to catch the ball. When he catches it, get him on the ground. Because a lot of what he does is he’s really good before the catch, but he’s even better after the catch.”
The true fortitude of this year’s defense rests in its ability to stop the opposing team’s running game. That will more than likely be put to the test this weekend with a collision course set to occur with the superb double punch of Alabama’s running backs T.J Yeldon and Derrick Henry. Both are incredibly tough runners that are deceivingly shifty in the open field. If the Bulldogs wish to walk away from hostile territory with their perfect record intact, they will want to limit the Alabama rushing attack early and often. 
A win for Mississippi State would almost surely guarantee it the SEC West title and a berth in the SEC Championship game.Alabama’s entire season hinges on a favorable result. Its journey of making the playoff will either be completely destroyed or more alive than it has been all season long, depending on what the scoreboard reads after 60 minutes on Saturday.