Alabama Football Blanks Mississippi State, 41-0
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — On Halloween night, it was the University of Alabama that put a fright into the Mississippi State Bulldogs, dominating its way to a 41-0 shutout victory inside Bryant-Denny Stadium.
"It was a really good win for our team," Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban, who turned 69 today, said postgame. "I was concerned about this week. We had a lot of guys beat up. A lot of guys had to miss practice. They really had to choose energy over their feelings in this game and I was really pleased with the way we played."
Placekicker Will Reichard drilled a 40-yard field goal on the Crimson Tide's opening drive to put the home team up, 3-0, after wideout DeVonta Smith dropped a 22-yard touchdown pass, which was a rare sight for the Alabama offense in 2020.
But Smith would eventually make up for his rare mishap, torching the Bulldogs defense for nine catches and 159 yards, which resulted in three scores, all in the first half. His touchdowns came on receptions from quarterback Mac Jones of 35, 53, and 11 yards, respectively.
The senior pass catcher added two more catches, 44 yards, and a touchdown from 10 yards out that put the No. 2-ranked Crimson Tide (6-0) up, 34-0, with 13:50 left in the fourth quarter, putting the exclamation point on the sixth victory of the year.
Smith is now tied with Amari Cooper for most receiving touchdowns in school history with 31 all-time. His is also now the only player in Southeastern Conference history to have multiple four-receiving-touchdown games.
He had a five-touchdown performance against Ole Miss in 2019.
"It's just a blessing to be in this position with the greats that have came through here and set the standard for me," Smith said.
Jones would go on to complete 24 of his 31 passes for 291 yards and a completion rate of 77 percent. It was the third time that he threw for four touchdowns or more in his career.
Senior tailback Najee Harris was a bell-cow for the Alabama offense all night, carrying the ball 21 times for 119 yards. He also caught six passes for 36 yards through the air, putting him over the 150-total-yards-from-scrimmage mark.
"It seemed like whenever he got the ball he was running for 10 yards, running all over the field," Jones said. "The o-line definitely made some big holes. Najee is definitely going to get you those 5-10 yards and it sets up everything else."
On defense, it was a struggle for the Bulldogs offense to get anything consistent against a Crimson Tide unit that is playing its best football at the right time, as Alabama held Mississippi State to seven three-and-outs, 200 total yards, three turnovers, and two sacks.
It was the first time that a Mike Leach-coached team had been shutout in his career.
The Bulldogs only managed 38 total yards through the first two quarters, which is the lowest that an Alabama defense has allowed in the first half of a game since it held Auburn to 31 in 2016.
Crimson Tide linebacker Dylan Moses stopped the only real scoring threat the Bulldogs presented, when he intercepted a pass from Will Rogers in the end zone late in the third quarter.
He was the team's second-leading tackler with seven, while freshman linebacker Will Anderson recorded five tackles, two tackles for loss, and two quarterback hurries.
Freshman defensive back Malachi Moore had a team-high eight total tackles, one tackle for loss, and two pass-breakups.
Alabama's Patrick Surtain II would return an interception 25 yards for a touchdown in the waning moments of the fourth quarter to make it, 41-0, sealing the win. Freshman defensive tackle Tim Smith forced and recovered a fumble as well.
"I disguised it because I had seen them run that concept earlier in the game," Surtain said. "I recognized the play before it happened. I jumped the route, caught the ball, and you know, knew it was a house call."
Rogers, who went on to throw for 147 yards on 24-of-37 passing, entered the game for the Bulldogs (1-4) when starting signal caller KJ Costello suffered a concussion on the team's opening drive of the second quarter.
Mississippi State running back Jo'quavious Marks was the Bulldogs leading rusher and receiver with 37 yards on seven catches and 32 yards on nine carries.
"All in all, it was a big win for us," Saban said. "It's great to win on your birthday so I was really happy about that present as much as any. I think the bye week is coming at a really good time for us. We got a lot guys that need to get healed up, and we have a lot of other guys that need to make some improvement so that when they are called on they are going to be able to go out there and play and be effective as players."
