Alabama Outpaces Mississippi State in Statement Road Win

STARKVILLE, Miss. — All eyes were on the quarterbacks.

But in a game that was hyped up as the potential best QB battle of the season between Keelon Russell and Kamario Taylor, it was the Alabama defense that made the biggest statement.

The No. 7 Crimson Tide sacked Taylor five times, forced four turnovers, and held No. 16 Mississippi State to just 0.6 yards per carry, allowing the offense to run away with a 56-23 win and improve to 5-0.

It was a dream start for Alabama, as the Crimson Tide's defense forced a fumble in plus-territory on the Bulldogs' opening drive. A six-play, 48-yard touchdown drive ensued, in which Ryan Grubb's offense gained at least four yards on every play before Ryan Coleman-Williams found the end zone.

Sixty-five seconds later, the lead was doubled, as Taylor was picked off by Dijon Lee, who took it back thirty yards to the house. All of a sudden, just six-and-a-half minutes into the game, Mississippi State's offense faced an inflection point, at risk of giving Alabama the chance to take a three-score lead.

Taylor settled in, leading a surgical 12-play, 75-yard drive to get the Bulldogs on the board, but Russell answered right back, finding the end zone on a 17-yard scramble, encapsulated by an open-field pancake block by tight end Kaleb Edwards, on the first play of the second quarter.

Just as it appeared we were in for the electric back-and-forth that was advertised from the two sophomore quarterbacks, both defenses stepped up, and the teams traded punts.

Chaos and sloppiness then took over. With the Bulldogs primed to punt the ball away again at the nine-minute mark of the second quarter, Lee muffed it, giving Taylor a chance in Alabama territory.

Bray Hubbard forced a fumble two plays later, giving Alabama the opportunity to pull away, but Daniel Hill gave it up right back (his second fumble of the first half). This one set up the Bulldogs at the 11-yard line, where Taylor found Zion Ragins to cut the deficit back to seven.

A set of punts followed, before Alabama's offense finally woke back up thanks to explosive completions to Lotzeir Brooks and Coleman-Williams. Trae'Shawn Brown scored at the two-minute warning, before Taylor led Mississippi State to a field goal to send the game to halftime with the Crimson Tide leading 28-17.

So which version of Alabama's offense was going to show up coming out of the halftime break? Would we see the team that ran for 150 yards against Kentucky and diced up Florida State, or the sluggish unit that looked apathetic against South Carolina?

Russell answered that immediately with a seven-play, 75-yard drive capped off by a third-and-long dime to Rico Scott to give the Crimson Tide a 17-point lead.

Caleb Woodson picked off Taylor on the ensuing possession to set Alabama up at the Bulldogs' 21-yard line. Another Brown touchdown three plays later put the Crimson Tide up by 25, effectively ending the game.

Taylor would get one final touchdown via a deep ball to Anthony Evans III, who had 12 receptions for 166 yards and two touchdowns on the day, but Alabama answered with another score, on a drive that marked the last appearance for either starting quarterback.

Austin Mack took over, leading a touchdown drive of his own in the fourth quarter that was headlined by a ridiculous 37-yard run from EJ Crowell.

The Crimson Tide's dominant win came largely by committee. No receiver cleared 100 yards, no running back cleared 70, and seven different players recorded at least a half-sack. The sum of the parts: Alabama's most complete performance of the season.

This story will be updated with quotes.

Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Twitter/X, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok for the latest news.

Add us as a preferred source on Google