Alabama football must be aware of this one trap game on its schedule.
The Alabama football team can win it all this year, but the Crimson Tide must avoid the trap game.
So what would constitute a trap game for Nick Saban’s team this fall? Though the Crimson Tide’s 2020 schedule may be switched around on us here soon, looking at what they’ve got to work with now, there is only one trap game on the schedule, and no, it’s not the one you’re thinking of. Here is why Alabama’s trap game is Saban’s first SEC West meeting with “The Pirate.”
If the Crimson Tide aren’t careful, they have the potential to be upset on Saturday, Oct. 17 when Mike Leach’s Mississippi State Bulldogs come to Tuscaloosa. While Mississippi State couldn’t be Saban when Dan Mullen was the coach, there are plenty of reasons why Leach’s team has the potential to play ultimate spoiler in their mid-season meeting with the Crimson Tide.
Mike Leach and the Air Raid could sneak up on the Crimson Tide in 2020.
There are many reasons Mississippi State could upset the Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa on Oct. 17. One, Leach inherits an excellent quarterback/running back tandem in Stanford Cardinal graduate transfer K.J. Costello and All-SEC performer Kylin Hill. Costello had his moments as was a captain while at Stanford. Hill is a Mississippi legend for getting the state flag change this summer.
While Leach has coached several other college stars before, including wide receiver Michael Crabtree at Texas Tech and Gardner Minshew while at Washington State, he’s never had a tandem like this before. Costello is arguably a more gifted passer than Graham Harrell or Kliff Kingsbury were in Lubbock and definitely more than either Luke Falk or Anthony Gordon were in Pullman.
The second reason Mississippi State can upset Alabama in this trap game is the surprising attack nature of the Air Raid. It briefly worked in the SEC back in the late 1990s when Leach was Hal Mumme’s offensive coordinator for the Kentucky Wildcats. Big Blue had a prolific passing offense, which allowed star quarterback Tim Couch to become an SEC legend and a No. 1 overall pick.
In short, the Air Raid is a most effective offensive tactic to separate talent disparity between elite blue-blood programs like Alabama, Texas and USC from those like Texas Tech, Washington State and now Mississippi State. There will be guys Saban and his staff haven’t fully scouted and Leach will use them to his advantage to get an edge on the vaunted, but unprepared Alabama defense.
A third reason, which in a way combines reasons one and two, is that this will be the most talented program Leach will have ever been a head coach at. Though Mississippi State’s talent isn’t on par with the Oklahoma Sooners, it’s a major step up from Texas Tech or Washington State. Mississippi has SEC players inside of the Magnolia State’s borders, and they live to play for State.
And the fourth and biggest reason the Mississippi State date is the ultimate trap game for Alabama is where it lies on the Crimson Tide’s schedule: After a road date with Sam Pittman’s rebuilding Arkansas Razorbacks, but before another road date with a hated cross-divisional rival in Jeremy Pruitt’s Tennessee Volunteers.
Arkansas is still a year or two away from pushing towards bowl eligibility. While he have no earthly idea if Pittman is a great head coach or not, he feels very Arkansas and will be a massive step up from whatever the hell that Chad Morris mess was in Fayetteville for two years. Look for the Hogs to play hard, but come up a couple of scores short of stunning the Tide at Razorback Stadium.
As for Pruitt’s Vols, this is a team capable of winning nine or 10 games this year. While Tennessee isn’t quite on Alabama, Florida or Georgia’s level in the SEC, the Vols are capable of pulling off an upset in one of these three rivalry games. The Georgia date will be tough because it’s in Athens, but Tennessee can beat the Gators or the Crimson Tide up in Knoxville, and Saban knows this.
There will be pressure heading into the Tennessee game. These are the same, old sorry Vols under Butch Jones and Derek Dooley’s watch. Pruitt and athletic director Phillip Fulmer will get things right in Rocky Top soon. Saban is too smart of a coach to play dumb and overlook the Tennessee program. The problem is over-preparing for Tennessee means Mississippi State gets overlooked.
Overall, Alabama can win all but one of its conference games. The two big ones in question are the SEC opener at home vs. the Georgia Bulldogs and on the road vs. the LSU Tigers in Baton Rouge. Alabama should beat Georgia at home early in the season, but winning on the road in Death Valley is never an easy proposition. Don’t count out Mississippi State for a mid-season stunner.
If Alabama overlooks Mississippi State, the Crimson Tide could be in for a rough home game.
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