Saturday’s game was a game of firsts for the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Along with the team’s first loss of the season came numerous statistics uncharacteristic of the Dogs.
MSU won the coin toss before the game for the first time this season, and from there, things went downhill fast.
Devon Bell’s first field goal attempt was blocked for the first time this season on MSU’s opening drive.
Senior offensive lineman Tobias Smith said it was tough to start out so well and not get any points on the board.
“It’s hard to drive the length of the field on any good team like that and just get a field goal blocked,” Smith said. “It was kind of demoralizing, but I knew we had a lot of football left to play.”
It was the first time Johnthan Banks did not look like one of the best cornerbacks in the country. A.J. McCarron’s first two touchdown passes were thrown to a receiver within a few feet of the mid-season All-American.
Senior linebacker Cameron Lawrence said it was frustrating because the defense made silly mistakes.
“We’ve never had anyone come out and do that to us,” Lawrence said. “Just mental errors, not keeping proper leverage, not setting the edge on the run game, just simple things that we’ve done right all year long, and you can’t not do that against the number one team in the country.”
The first half was the first time MSU has been shut out in a half since last year’s game against Alabama. State’s offense just seemed a second slower than the Tide defense in most aspects.
Russell was hurried and knocked down play after play, forcing him to throw some uncharacteristic, off-target passes.
Smith said with more big games soon, a key focal point for the offensive line will be protecting Russell.
“Tyler is a tough guy, and every time he came into the huddle I could look into his eyes and tell he was ready,” Smith said. “We definitely need to protect Tyler better and keep him clean, and if we do that, I think it will be a different outcome.”
The game was also the first time this season State lost the turnover battle. Russell threw only his second interception of the season on third and goal from the one-yard line.
Jameon Lewis lost a fumble on a kickoff return, and the Dogs turned the ball over on an Alabama punt. In addition, State converted two third downs in the first half that were called back because of a penalty.
Head coach Dan Mullen said the little things, such as the turnover ratio, come down to attention to detail and complete focus.
“To win these games, you have to have complete focus and execute for 60 minutes. We obviously didn’t do that, and we made some critical mistakes,” Mullen said. “We didn’t score touchdowns in the red zone. All of the little things you have to do in great games, give them credit for. We didn’t do them tonight.”
A positive first for State came on the defensive side of the ball. In the second quarter, MSU forced Alabama into three consecutive three-and-outs, the first time the Tide has done that all season.
The State defense gave up just three yards on nine plays during that time. Lawrence said the guys got all the first-play jitters out of their systems and started playing normal football.
“It took us realizing these boys are the real deal, and they’re here to play,” Lawrence said. “We regathered ourselves, gathered our focus and went back out there and knew what we had to do and just settled down.”
The Bulldogs also had their longest drive of the season of 97 yards in the third quarter.
No. 18 MSU can build on these defensive and offensive highlights heading into this weekend’s game against No. 16 Texas A&M. Fittingly, this game will be the first top-20 matchup at Davis Wade Stadium since 2001.