Forget LSU, Mississippi State is Alabama’s biggest test of the year
By Mark Thomas
Everyone said LSU was the toughest test of the year for Alabama, but it’s actually Mississippi State who has an elite defense and playmaking quarterback.
Everybody hyped up the LSU game for Alabama and while it was No. 1 vs. No. 3, it wasn’t that great of a game as the 29-0 result indicated. But this week’s game against Mississippi State is going to provide more of a challenge for Tua Tagovailoa and the runaway train that it the Crimson Tide offense.
The Bulldogs are the best 6-3 team in the nation and the reason they’ll provide more of a test for Alabama starts with their outstanding defense that is reminiscent of past great units Nick Saban has had.
Mississippi State boasts the nation’s No. 2 scoring defense, allowing an average of 12.3 points per game. The nine touchdowns they’ve allowed in nine games is the fewest in the nation. The rushing defense ranks No. 18 in the nation and they’ve allowed the fewest passing touchdowns this year with four. In short, Mississippi State is tangibly better in every defensive area than LSU.
It all starts up front for the Bulldogs defense, much like the Alabama defenses are constructed, with the defensive line duo of Montez Sweat and Jeffery Simmons who ran No. 3 and No. 8 in the nation in tackles for loss with 12 and 9.5, respectively. Both are expected to be taken in the first half of the 2018 NFL Draft and will have to play their best game of the year against the Alabama offensive line that’s as good as they get. If Sweat and Simmons are able to stop the run game and collapse the pocket and disrupt Tagovailoa, it’ll give Mississippi State’s offense a chance to keep pace with the nation’s No. 1 offense.
The best chance Mississippi State has of keeping pace with Alabama and keeping this a competitive game late hinges on the Bulldogs defense. They’ll have to force turnovers and get off the field on third down and turn the ball back to Nick Fitzgerald the the offense.
Fitzgerald had Mississippi State in position to pull off the upset last year before the Tide pulled away late in the fourth quarter, as they always tend to do, when it’s not a blowout at halftime. Fitzgerald has been up and down this year, but he’s back up the last two weeks after a four-interception loss to LSU. In the last two games, Fitzgerald has thrown for six touchdowns and ran for two more and throwing for about 240 yards and rushing for another 100. When he’s on, Mississippi State is dangerous. LSU didn’t present the same type of offensive attack that Mississippi State can and hasn’t for the last eight years of their losing streak to the Crimson Tide.
Alabama has a great defense, of course, but it’ll be tested far more than it was vs. Joe Burrow and LSU who lacked imagination on offense and looked like they had no game plan for the biggest game of their season.
Having said all this and made the case why Mississippi State is the toughest test for Alabama to this point, they are still a 25-point underdog to the top team in the land. It’s going to have to be a perfect game for Mississippi State to pull off the upset, but with the defense they have and a dual-threat quarterback, it’s not impossible.