Alabama vs Mississippi State prediction, game preview, how to watch. Week 8, Saturday, October 22
Alabama vs Mississippi State How To Watch
Date: Saturday, October 22
Game Time: 7:00 ET
Venue: Bryant-Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa, AL
How To Watch: ESPN
Record: Alabama (6-1), Mississippi State (5-2)
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Alabama vs Mississippi State Game Preview
Why Mississippi State Will Win
Let’s just say the Alabama secondary is having a few issues.
Oh sure, it was fine against the ULMs and Vanderbilts of the world, but it struggled to handle Quinn Ewers and the Texas offense – at least before Ewers got knocked out – and now everyone’s trying to hand Hendon Hooker the Heisman after he threw for 385 yards, five touchdowns, and led Tennessee to a late game-winning drive in the 52-49 classic.
That’s bad, and the penalty problems are worse.
There weren’t any flag issues against – again – the ULMs and Vanderbilts of the world, but the 15 penalties against Texas could’ve and probably should’ve been in the 20s, there were ten against Arkansas, and the 17 against Tennessee were a killer.
Mississippi State has its own penalty issues – the Tide should be able to keep up – but more importantly, this isn’t the time to face one of the most productive quarterbacks in college football.
Will Rogers might have struggled a bit in the 27-17 loss to Kentucky last week, but he’s going to throw it 40 times, he’s going to keep the pressure on the Bama corners to deal with the quick-hitting passes, and …
Why Alabama Will Win
Rogers doesn’t throw deep enough to matter. That’s not the Mississippi State offense.
Alabama’s secondary has problems with the big played downfield, but it’s not all that bad against everything else. It struggled with Xavier Worthy of Texas, and Tennessee’s Jalin Hyatt turned into Randy Moss last week with his epic five touchdown performance.
Everyone saw the Texas and Tennessee games, but no one else was able to do too much through the air.
Rogers can pick apart the Tide with his midrange throws, but that’s fine – the defensive backs can tackle.
For all the slings and arrows Alabama’s defense is taking, it’s fantastic on third downs. The D is better suited for this style of attack – it’ll bend, but it shouldn’t do a whole lot of breaking.
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What’s Going To Happen
14 in a row.
Mississippi State won 17-12 in Nick Saban’s first season with the Tide in 2007. It hasn’t been pretty since then.
The 2017 game was a fight – Alabama pulled it out 31-24 on the way to the national title. Over the last four years it beat the Bulldogs by a combined score of 152 to 16, an average of 38 to 4.
Kentucky’s Will Levis was able to hit just about everything in last week’s win over the Bulldogs, and the Wildcat ground game was able to rumble without a problem. Arkansas didn’t have KJ Jefferson and it was able to run, too, in the 40-17 loss. LSU was able to run for over 200 yards in its win over Mike Leach’s team.
Bryce Young will be Bryce Young against a Bulldog D that doesn’t generate a ton of pressure, the running game will take control, and the secondary will hold up well enough.
It won’t be a total wipeout, and it won’t be a razor sharp performance, but there won’t be too much of a hangover after the Tennessee loss.
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Alabama vs Mississippi State Prediction, Line
Alabama 37, Mississippi State 20
Line: Alabama -21, o/u: 61
ATS Confidence out of 5: 3
Alabama vs Mississippi State Must See Rating (out of 5): 4
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