No. 7 Alabama blew past No. 16 Mississippi State 56-23 on Saturday at Davis Wade Stadium, with quarterback Keelon Russell throwing three touchdown passes and the Crimson Tide forcing four turnovers. The win pushed Kalen DeBoer’s team to 5-0 while Mississippi State fell to 4-1.
Alabama scored on its first two possessions, and the second one didn’t even require the offense. Dijon Lee Jr. picked off Kamario Taylor and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown to make it 14-0 just 8:30 into the game. Mississippi State’s top performer, wide receiver Anthony Evans III, caught 12 passes for 166 yards and two touchdowns, but it wasn’t nearly enough to offset a Bulldogs offense that managed just 18 rushing yards on 30 carries.
Key moments: How Alabama Crimson Tide pulled away
The Crimson Tide never trailed. Russell found Ryan Coleman-Williams for a 15-yard score on the opening drive, and Lee’s pick-six made it 14-0 before the first quarter hit the eight-minute mark. Mississippi State answered with a 12-play, 75-yard drive capped by a two-yard Taylor-to-Evans touchdown pass to cut it to 14-7.
Alabama answered every push. Russell scored on a 17-yard scramble early in the second quarter, and after a Taylor touchdown pass to Zion Ragins pulled the Bulldogs within 21-14, Trae’shawn Brown ran it in from seven yards out to make it 28-14. A Kyle Ferrie field goal as time expired in the half left Mississippi State down 28-17, still within striking distance.
The third quarter buried it. Russell hit Rico Scott for a 13-yard touchdown and Brown added an eight-yard score to push the lead to 42-17 before Evans’ 45-yard touchdown catch, with the two-point try failing, made it 42-23. Alabama closed it out in the fourth quarter with another Russell-to-Scott touchdown and a short Austin Mack scoring run for the final margin.
Top performers
Russell finished 16-of-22 passing for 285 yards and three touchdowns, without an interception. Brown led the ground game with 66 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries, while Lotzeir Brooks caught four passes for 96 yards. Lee’s interception return for a touchdown was his lone pick of the day, part of a defense that totaled two interceptions and recovered two Mississippi State fumbles.
For the Bulldogs Taylor threw for 258 yards and three touchdowns but was intercepted twice. Evans’ 166 receiving yards and two touchdowns stood out in a loss defined by the run game’s collapse: Bulldogs backs combined for just 18 yards on 30 carries, and Taylor’s six scrambles went for negative 26 yards.
What they said
Alabama’s Lee made his pick-six memorable off the field as well. According to Bleacher Report, Lee posted a video trolling Taylor after returning the interception for a touchdown, adding to a rough day for the quarterback that included two turnovers and negative 26 yards on scrambles.
What it means
The Crimson Tide improved to 5-0 and padded its total-yardage edge with 483 yards of offense against 302 for Mississippi State, while winning time of possession 34:41 to 25:19. The Crimson Tide converted six of nine third downs and survived two lost fumbles, outlasting a Bulldogs offense that went 7-of-17 on third down but turned the ball over four times overall. Mississippi State dropped to 4-1 with its first loss of the season, undone by a run game that averaged just 0.6 yards per carry.
What’s next
The Crimson Tide return to action next week looking to stay unbeaten. Mississippi State will look to bounce back and repair a run game that managed just 0.6 yards per carry.
Reporting from Bleacher Report contributed to this story. Official statistics: ESPN (official league data).
