Two fourth-down plays in the second half of Saturday’s game turned out to be the deciding factors in the University of Alabama’s 28-14 victory over Mississippi State. Leading 21-14 with four minutes to play in the third quarter, Alabama (8-2, 5-1) had the ball on the MSU (3-6, 0-5) 36-yard line.
On fourth down with 11 yards for a first down, Tyler Watts connected with Triandos Luke for a 36-yard touchdown to score the final points of the game.
With just over nine minutes left to play in the game MSU cornerback Kevin Dockery blocked an Alabama punt, setting up the Bulldogs on the Alabama 26-yard line.
After pushing the ball to the 11, MSU faced fourth and six. On a questionable call, Fred Reid took the hand-off and fought for four yards. The Bulldogs turned the ball over on downs, and squandered their best scoring opportunity of the second half.
“I am not going to question the call on the fourth down. We thought we could make it with that play,” said MSU head coach Jackie Sherrill in a post-game press conference.
The Alabama offense, which leads the SEC, torched the MSU defense in the first half for 250 total yards and three scores. Watts threw for 113 yards and two touchdowns, while Alabama rushed for 116 yards.
For the game, Alabama posted 409 total offensive yards.
“We went in at halftime, and the coaches made some adjustments for us against the option,” MSU dog safety Michael Gholar said. “Playing in the secondary, you have to just forget about it if you get beat. You have to know that is going to happen. We don’t blame anyone for losing today’s game.”
While MSU controlled the ball for three more minutes during the game, the Bulldogs could only gain 246 yards on offense. Kevin Fant threw for 127 yards, one touchdown and one interception on 19-33 passes.
Jerious Norwood once again led the Bulldog rushing attack with 58 yards on nine carries. Reid gained 30 yards on 11 carries, while Dontae Walker ran for 19 yards on four carries. Justin Jenkins led the Bulldog receivers with 35 yards on four receptions. Ray Ray Bivines also caught four balls for 33 yards and the only Bulldog touchdown. Donald Lee set a career-high with four catches for 21 yards.
Brent Smith added the rest of the Bulldog offense by nailing two first-half field goals. The first came just nine minutes into the game when his hit was good from 30 yards. Smith made his second three-pointer with four minutes remaining in the first half from 32 yards out.
Gholar led the Bulldogs with 13 tackles and Mario Haggan added nine stops during the game. Willie Evans made six tackles, one for a loss, one forced fumble and one sack.
“We have to take from this game that we all played hard, and we did not quit,” MSU cornerback Korey Banks said. “I am proud of myself and this team that we kept fighting. I know that we all left everything out on the field. That is all you can ask.”
The Bulldogs will return home this Saturday against the Tennessee Volunteers. The Dawgs and Vols have not met since the Vols beat State 24-14 in the 1998 SEC Championship game in Atlanta.
Game time has been set for 11:30 a.m. and will be televised by Jefferson Pilot Sports.