The Time to Beat Alabama is NOW
Mississippi State has lost to Alabama in each of the last seven seasons. The Crimson Tide are the only SEC West school Dan Mullen has failed to beat, and it hasn’t really been close with an average 19 point margin of victory for Bama. But in 2015 the Bulldogs are at home with their most decorated quarterback in school history – the time to beat Alabama is now.
As soon as State lost to LSU in the second game of the season and quarterbacks Nick Fitzgerald and Elijah Staley shined against Northwestern State, talk of a potential big year in 2017 began to arise. With those QBs being juniors, along with the prized talent of the last few recruiting classes being upperclassmen plus home games against LSU and Bama, it’s natural to look at 2017 with the same optimism that 2014 brought.
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Tomorrow is never promised. Nor is it always what you think it will be. We hardly have to look far for an example of what I’m talking about. Just up the road Ole Miss has finally arrived at their money year: 2015. The greatly heralded 2013 recruiting class has reached their junior year and they feature a talented roster that could boost as many as four or five first round picks in the 2016 NFL Draft. But some of those players have battled injury, and they’ve been unable to stay consistent through the year losing to Florida, Memphis and Arkansas – teams they were probably more talented than. While their season isn’t a bust by program standards, they haven’t exactly capitalized on the season like they had hoped with the exception of the Alabama game and have eliminated themselves from any hope of making the College Football Playoff.
Mississippi State is going to host Nick Saban and his evil empire this Saturday. The last couple of games in Starkville have been a little closer than the ones in Tuscaloosa. That gives you hope – but perhaps more than anything is Dak Prescott. At long last MSU fans have a quarterback worthy of bragging about. For years we’ve hoped someone would emerge as a SEC standout at the most important position. Now we have him, and now is the time to beat Alabama. Not in 2017 or any other year. The time is now.