The Mississippi State Bulldogs (3-6, 1-4 SEC) will try to make it three in a row against No. 1 Alabama (10-0, 5-0) Saturday at 6:45 p.m. at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The game will be broadcast to a national audience on ESPN.
The game can be seen as an opportunity for revenge for the Crimson Tide after losing the last two to the Bulldogs. Last season, the No. 22 Tide fell 17-12 to the Bulldogs in Starkville for the Bulldogs’ sixth victory. In 2006, the Bulldogs upset Alabama 24-16 in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide has not scored an offensive touchdown against Mississippi State since 2004.
“We know that they’ve beat us the past two years, and it makes us mad, OK?” said senior Alabama quarterback John Parker Wilson. “We want to go out there and win the game to keep doing what we’ve done this season. We’ve just kind of had a bad taste in our mouth the last couple of years [with MSU] and Auburn.”
MSU head coach Sylvester Croom praised Wilson on his performance this season.
“[Wilson] has performed at a very high level this year. He is running the offense extremely well. He is putting the ball exactly where he is supposed to,” Croom said. “He hasn’t hurt them. However when he’s had to make a play, he has made the play.”
Alabama’s leading rusher is junior Glen Coffee, one of four SEC running backs averaging over 100 rushing yards per game. He is second in the SEC with 1,020 yards and eight touchdowns.
The leading receiver for the Tide is true freshman Julio Jones, who has frustrated SEC defenses with 40 catches for 634 yards and four touchdowns.
“Having a guy like Julio Jones now makes a huge difference for them. In one play, he can change the ballgame,” Croom said.
Croom called Alabama’s offensive line the strength of the team.
“They have one of the best offensive lines in t he country. They have two guys on the line that I think are truly, truly great players. I think their center Antoine Caldwell and left tackle Andre Smith rank right up there with the best Alabama has ever had,” said Croom, who played on Alabama’s offensive line himself from to 1972 to 1974.
On defense, Alabama is second in the SEC, allowing on 13.1 points per game and only 264.5 yards per game. UA’s outstanding defensive line includes junior college transfer Terrence Cody.
The Tide is tied with Tennessee and Vanderbilt for first in the SEC with 15 interceptions on the season. Five of them have come from last year’s All-SEC senior safety Rashad Johnson, and four more have come from junior cornerback Justin Woodall.
On special teams, junior Javier Arenas is one of the most dangerous return men in the country, leading the FBS with 384 yards and a touchdown on 30 punt returns, despite most teams intentionally punting away from him. Arenas doesn’t see much chance of a loss against the Bulldogs this weekend.
“I think this year, they won’t be tough at all because all of our guys have that ‘want-to’ and that tenacity to go out there and be successful. I don’t think that will happen,” Arenas said.
Unlike Arenas, Alabama head coach Nick Saban isn’t taking the Bulldogs lightly.
“Mississippi State is a very good team. They have two one-point losses in the league, or they’d be right up in the thick of things,” Saban said. “I think Mississippi State has got as good a defensive team as anybody we’ve played all year.”
The Bulldogs are 18-71-3 alltime against the Crimson Tide, and 1-4 all-time against teams ranked No. 1. The lone victory was a 6-3 over No. 1 Alabama in Jackson on Nov. 1, 1980.