Mississippi State Falls Just Short in Tuscaloosa
Nov 15, 2014; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Blake Sims (6) carries the ball for a first down past Mississippi State Bulldogs linebacker Beniquez Brown (42) in the fourth quarter at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
Mississippi State pushed Alabama for four quarters, but did not have enough in the end. The Crimson Tide defeated the Bulldogs 25-20 in front of a loud home crowd.
Mississippi State cannot seem to solve Alabama’s run defense. The first half of the game was reminiscent of past years against Alabama as plays seemed to go nowhere and Bama got out to a 19-0 lead. It looked like a blowout would ensue, but State weathered the storm and figured out ways to move the ball effectively.
Alabama’s second touchdown was initially ruled a fumble and MSU recovery. While it certainly looked like the runner most likely crossed the goal line, no angle given in the CBS broadcast was conclusive. Still, the call was overturned to give Bama the 19 point lead.
MSU’s drive to close the first half ended in a field goal, but it could have been more as the Bulldogs had 1st and Goal from the 1. A false start pushed it back to the six and Prescott missed a wide open Malcolm Johnson with a badly overthrown ball. It was 19-3 at the half.
The Bulldogs were a different team in the second half. They dominated the 3rd quarter with excellent defense forcing three and outs, and also moved the ball very well on offense. The issue was in the red zone again when they settled for a field goal on the opening drive, then Prescott threw an interception in the end zone. Still, the defense held, and a good punt return by Fred Ross set up good field position which allowed MSU to score their first touchdown, and narrow the score to 19-13.
The drive of the game was during the 4th quarter when Blake Sims converted three 3rd down plays. Two of them were 3rd and 8 or greater and he ran for the first down. The result of the drive was a touchdown, and after a failed two-point conversion the score was 25-13.
Mississippi State once again drove down the field only to have Prescott throw an INT deep in Bama territory. After getting a stop on defense, the Bulldogs had just over three minutes and two timeouts to get a couple of touchdowns. Dan Mullen’s clock management was absolutely horrible as State did score a touchdown but there was only :13 seconds to play when the drive was over.
The story of the game was field position. State was routinely backed up inside their own 20 yard line while Bama had the ball near midfield to start a number of drives. Devon Bell had a really poor game punting the football.
There is no doubt (if anyone is asking) that Mississippi State is a lot better this year just in terms of sheer athleticism and ability. They made a fairly large handful of mistakes from dropped passes to penalties to turnovers and still hung with Alabama on the road. They out-gained the Tide 428-335 in total yards.
The question now becomes how far does MSU drop in the playoff poll, and we’ll save that discussion for later.
Alabama now controls their own destiny in the West. State is still alive, and can win the division if they beat Vandy and Ole Miss and Auburn wins the Iron Bowl. Bama, MSU, Ole Miss and Auburn are all still alive as of right now (Auburn needs to beat UGA tonight to remain that way).
The Bulldogs are now 9-1 (5-1). We’ll have much more on the fallout from this game tomorrow.