One of the hallmarks of storytelling – and we’re talking about it in the context of weekly sportswriting here – is to play up the little guy, and get people excited about the miracle that may come.
Mississippi State found itself this week’s darling; how else can you describe how the Bulldogs’ very capable quarterback, Kamario Taylor, dominated the media’s spotlight, while Alabama’s Keelon Russell stood quietly behind the curtain as if he was Taylor’s understudy?
Our pregame preview uncovered a pretty lopsided talent advantage to Alabama, but even then it was hard to have the courage to pick the Crimson Tide to win by multiple scores, and we didn’t do it. So when Alabama ran through Mississippi State like a bus through the U.S. Highway 82 corridor, it makes us want to take a second look at the concept of hype, and how regularly we all buy into it.
Kamario Taylor is a fine quarterback, and by all reports is an equally fine person. What he isn’t, is a miracle worker. Taylor suffered an ankle injury against Missouri, which nearly every media outlet chose to overlook while they were busy building him into something he wasn’t. Taylor’s footwork against Alabama didn’t look like what he’d put on tape up to this point. Then he lost his backfield sledgehammer, RB Fluff Bothwell, after one play, also to an ankle injury.
The big hit to Mississippi State’s hopes, though, came when LB Jalen Smith appeared to suffer a serious knee injury while trying to bend back and stop Keelon Russell from scoring on a quarterback keeper. The air clearly went out of the Bulldog sideline following the injury, and while Smith’s replacement, Fatt Forrest, played a solid game, the loss of Smith was one hit too many for a team that was already playing well over its heads in 2026.
Alabama has suffered its share of injuries this season, too. Wideout Noah Rogers (and in this game, a half-speed Ryan Coleman-Williams), running back A.K. Dear, defensive lineman Jeremiah Beaman, linebackers Desmond Umeozulu, Cayden Jones and Justin Hill – the hits have come regularly, and in most cases, not to players buried down the depth chart. Against Mississippi State, RT Jayvin James was added to the list.
But that’s where the similarities in these two programs end, and it’s the same story that has followed both programs for decades. Alabama typically can replace those losses with players of equal, or near-equal ability. Mississippi State has never been afforded the same luxury, and the Bulldogs weren’t able to make it happen today, either.
Kamario Taylor looked tentative and at times even wobbly, running backs Kolin Wilson and Xavier Gayten combined for 37 yards on 20 carries, and while Fatt Forrest recorded 6 tackles and a half-sack, he was often slow to get to his lane and stop Alabama’s running backs from making cuts back into the middle of the field. Meanwhile, Bama replaced James with a JUCO transfer who had played sparingly in the first four games of the year, Tyrell Miller, and then continued to rely on the play of Rico Scott at receiver and a four-headed rotation at running back. The results spoke for themselves.
In the final analysis, Mississippi State has certainly improved as a team from a year ago, but the Bulldogs also benefited from a hype machine running at full output. The reality is the Bulldogs, 11 a side, have talent comparable to most of the teams occupying the top third of the conference. But the bench is thin, and for every Anthony Evans – who could start for any SEC team at wide receiver, including Alabama – there’s a Zion Ragins being asked to fill a starting role in the slot, or Kolin Wilson being asked to run the ball between the tackles.
Alabama now reaches the apex of its schedule, as Georgia comes to town in a week. The Bulldogs have been lightly tested so far, and while everyone expects Kirby Smart to have his troops ready, the fact remains Georgia hasn’t been asked to solve an offense like the one Alabama possesses. Alabama is averaging 49.6 points per game against a schedule that has some real teeth. And with Bama’s newfound offensive balance, even if Georgia is the top team in the country like many say, there’s no opponent, Bulldogs included, that are impossible for Alabama to beat right now.
Here’s the Five-Point Breakdown for Alabama-Mississippi State:
1. Winning in the SEC is often about running the football and stopping the run. Alabama certainly ran it well … We realize it’s dangerous to say out loud that all of Alabama’s run-game problems are “fixed,” because that tempts fate too much. But the evidence gets stronger with each passing week. It’s a combination of several factors: Better talent at running back, better fit among personnel on the offensive line, a better offensive line coach, a quarterback that brings his own running threat to the table, an improved tight end unit, and better offensive coordination and playcall design. There are probably other reasons, but we’ll stop there. Against Mississippi State, the engine was running on all cylinders again, with the notable exception of Daniel Hill fumbling twice and losing it once.
The ascension of Trae’shawn Brown from recruiting afterthought to the guy that is getting an ever-increasing number of snaps in critical situations is certainly one of the most intriguing stories of this team, and the flexibility Brown gives Alabama across all aspects of running back play – fumbles aside, Daniel Hill has played well, but lacks the outside run game Brown brings – has allowed Alabama to get more creative with its run play design. What all this really does is free up Keelon Russell at quarterback, and allows Ryan Grubb to design more RPO and play-action plays knowing the defense has to respect more than just the downfield passing game. Having TE Danny Lewis Jr. finally healthy is certainly adding to the picture, and a new wrinkle this week was using Jay Lindsey as a fullback. Lindsey’s block on Brown’s second touchdown run was violence on film. There’s a good chance Alabama will be top-30 in both running and passing when statistics are published Monday…
2. … and Alabama stopped the run pretty well, too. Alabama held Bulldog running backs to 44 yards on 24 carries, a 1.8-yard average. By the time sack yardage was taken away from the total, the Bulldogs only put up 18 total yards on the ground. Granted, the running game is not Mississippi State’s calling card, but as Alabama fans rightly remember from a year ago, running for 18 yards per game in SEC contests is not a recipe for success. There were plenty of contributors to this effort – Alabama’s linebacker group will be addressed in point No. 4 – but we need to talk about the defensive line.
Alabama used a slightly different rotation for this game, which saw a lot more of Edric Hill and Isaia Faga early in the game from inside, and more work for Fatutoa Henry outside. Everyone contributed; Hill didn’t record a tackle but did deflect a pass, Faga recorded a tackle for loss in the running game, and Henry was exceptionally productive for his snap count, finishing with 3 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and a half-sack. Watching Steve Mboumoua and Mhari Johnson contribute at the end of the game also bodes well for the future. We profiled Alabama’s DL as having a solid advantage over Mississippi State’s OL in our game preview, and did the Tide ever cash in on that edge.
3. Turnovers took whatever remaining steam there was out of the Bulldogs, especially important in a game that had success early in moving the ball. Alabama’s two turnovers were certainly nothing to celebrate – and Daniel Hill’s fumble probably should have been blown dead, given the fact the defender made the tackle after losing his helmet, which is not allowed under current rules – but Mississippi State turned the ball over four times and each were back-breaking in nature. What’s crazy to note here is that, in regard to team stats, the game should have been very close: Alabama led the Bulldogs in first downs only by one, 22-21 overall.
Alabama had over twice the number of penalties that Mississippi State had, and while the Tide had an edge in time of possession, it wasn’t all that huge given that a lot of Bama’s edge came late in the game while running out the clock. The fact Alabama has now recorded 4 pick-sixes on the season is somewhat mind-boggling, and the upgraded physicality of this team isn’t just limited to the tight end group and the offensive line. Alabama is playing more aggressively across the board and the attitude extends to how the defense hits and finishes tackles just as much as it does the OL and TE groups finishing blocks.
4. The game was a coming-out party of sorts for LB Xavier Griffin. Griffin’s playing time went up with the loss of Justin Hill, and it’s going to keep going up provided he can continue to provide value as an occasional outside linebacker and also continue to keep hitting on his assignments. Griffin led the team with 9 tackles, which included a tackle for loss, a sack and a QB hurry. His speed is what jumps off the page. A lot of his playing time today came while playing in place of Caleb Woodson, and as good as Woodson has looked so far since transferring to Alabama from Virginia Tech, Griffin is clearly faster and twitchier. That’s not to say Woodson played poorly today; he recorded 3 tackles, an interception, a pass breakup and a QB hurry. That’s called filling up a stat sheet.
He did give up a touchdown pass to Anthony Evans, but that came on a 4th-and-6 with Alabama attempting to disguise a corner blitz and getting caught. We’ll also give a shout-out to a couple of other non-linebackers who made contributions today, notably DE Fatutoa Henry and S Dre Kirkpatrick Jr. We like the aggressiveness both players bring to their spots, and Alabama will need to find a way to continue to work Henry into the DE rotation once Desmond Umeozulu returns from injury. Jah-Marien Latham also had a nice day, picking up a half-sack. Overall it was a very good day for Bama’s first and second levels of the defense.
5. The emergence of Rico Scott and Marshall Pritchett open up the offense even further. We’re excited to see what a fully-healthy Noah Rogers is going to mean to this receiver corps, but where do you play him? Lotzeir Brooks and Rico Scott have proven themselves as worth far more than just being “the other guys” across from Ryan Coleman-Williams. Scott had a banner day against Mississippi State, catching 4 passes for 56 yards and 2 touchdowns, as well as continuing to block in the running game like the defense disrespected his mama. Scott was also called on to handle Mississippi State’s last punt, after Dijon Lee badly misplayed an earlier punt and Ryan Coleman-Williams needed no further exposure to hits while nursing an injured leg.
The emergence of Marshall Pritchett at tight end is its own story; while Pritchett still has some work to do blocking, he’s getting better at it, and he’s the only guy in the tight end room who can approximate what Alabama got last year from Josh Cuevas as a receiver. We’ve previously mentioned Jay Lindsey’s value-add playing fullback, and we would also be remiss if we didn’t give an attaboy to RT Tyrell Miller, who did yield a sack to MSU’s Will Whitson but otherwise played about as well as Alabama could expect from a backup making his first career start.
Follow Jess Nicholas on X at @TideFansJessN