The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: Alabama 30, Mississippi State 6

The final word of the Crimson Tide's bounce-back homecoming victory over Mississippi State at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Author:
Christopher Walsh
Publish date:
Oct 23, 2022 12:00 PM EDT

In this story:

Even though the Alabama Crimson Tide offense didn't have its best game, there was plenty for fans to feel good about following the 30-6 homecoming victory over Mississippi State.

Three things stood out primarily:

1) Quarterback Bryce Young (shoulder) was able to get to the bye week without any more major setbacks, and can rest up some for the stretch run.

2) Despite missing some key players due to injuries, the Crimson Tide defense made some adjustments and Mississippi State wasn't able to exploit some of the weaknesses that had been exposed. Nick Saban defines an explosive play as 13-plus yards on the ground, and 17-plus yards in the air. The Bulldogs had three, all in the passing game, with the longest gain just 21 yards.

3) The Crimson Tide bounced back well from last week's 52-49 loss at Tennessee. It dominated a ranked opponent while making very few major mistakes.

"There wasn’t a lot of anxiety," Saban said. "There wasn't always perfect execution, but to me, that's a start. It is kind of time to answer the bell and now the challenge is to build on that."

Player of the Game: Interior linebacker Henry To'oTo'o had a game-high 13 tackles, including one for a loss.

Play of the Game: ESPN put a timer on how much time Young had to throw his first touchdown pass, and had it at 10.5 seconds. He eventually found wide receiver JoJo Earle in the end zone for the 31-yard score.

Statistic of the Game: The touchdown as time expired was the first Mike Leach's team scored against Alabama in three games. Mississippi State has been outscored in those games 120-15.

The Good

• "They got six points," Nick Saban said. "I'm pleased with the way we played on defense." Coming in, the Bulldogs were eighth in the nation in passing offense, averaging 334.6 yards per game. It finished with 231. The Crimson Tide defense totaled 15 pass breakups, six tackles for loss and four sacks.

• The way some players who had rough games at Tennessee bounced back. That includes defensive back DeMarcco Hellams, who wasn't in coverage as much and ended with 12 tackles and two pass breakups. Will Reichard also went 3-for-3 in field goals and made his third 50-plus yard field goal of the season.

• Cornerback Eli Ricks. Yep, he's pretty good, and looks ready to make a big impact down the stretch.

The Bad

• Alabama's going to take a public-relations hit and more for Saban's postgame explanation for why he didn't suspend wide receiver Jermaine Burton, who started and had two receptions for 40 yards. For anyone who has been on a field when fans rush out of the stands, yes, it can be a very scary situation. However, Burton sure didn't look scared with when he struck a woman and maybe other Tennessee fans when walking off the field.

• Mississippi State had a season-best nine tackles for loss, adding up to 32 yards. The Bulldogs also had six pressures.

• This is really nitpicking for a team that went from 17 penalties a week ago down to three, but two of the infractions were for passing interference. Saban didn't agree with the second one, which happened in the end zone during the final seconds.

The Ugly

Alabama averaged 1.1 yards per rushing attempt. It had 29 yards on 26 carries, with one explosive play on the ground.

5 Things That We Noticed

1) Go back and look at the first touchdown, and watch center Darrian Dalcourt. With the help of a little nudge from left guard Javion Cohen, he absolutely knocked senior linebacker Jett Johnson on his rear. He he not gotten back up and kept going, Young would have had even more time to throw a pass.

2) Saban remained unbeaten at home during the month of October while at Alabama, improving to 31-0. Remember, the month closes with his birthday on the 31st.

3) When the Bulldogs went for it on fourth down at the Alabama 15, Mississippi State was 21-for-22 in red-zone scoring this season, including 20 touchdowns. It's still averaging 5.38 points per red zone possession.

4) Even though 12 different players caught a pass for the Crimson Tide, they tallied just 72 yards after the catch on 37 receptions, for an average of just 1.95 yards per catch. However, with Young not throwing downfield much, the Bulldogs were able to focus on keep the receivers in front of them for most of the night.

5) We wish we had better video of this, but the best thing we saw Saturday was the reaction of Mississippi State senior safety Shawn Preston Jr. when he realized that he and his little brother, freshman wide receiver Shazz Preston, were on the field together.

The second best thing was Mississippi State coach Mike Leach talking about his players having dinosaur hands and his evolutionary concerns for Starkville, Miss.