Five questions as the Alabama Crimson Tide prepares for Mississippi State | BamaInsider.com
Alabama has already clinched the SEC West title with three games left in the regular season. However, the No. 1 Crimson Tide has no time to rest on its laurels as it faces another ranked opponent in No. 16 Mississippi State this week.
Alabama is vying for its 11th straight win over Mississippi State as the Bulldogs come to Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday for a 2:30 p.m. CT kickoff. Alabama is a 25-point favorite in the matchup, according to VegasInsider.com. Here are five questions to consider leading up to the game.
1. Can anyone stop Quinnen Williams?
At 6-foot-4, 295 pounds, Quinnen Williams has a hard time blending into crowds. It’s been even tougher now that the starting defensive lineman has become the face of Alabama’s vaunted defense.
“I really don’t go out for real for real, so when I do go out people do recognize me,” Williams said. “It’s cool. It’s fun to me. I’m going to always have fun. I’m not going to ever let anything stress me out about it.”
Williams hasn’t had much to stress about on the field, either. He’s left that to opposing offensive lineman. The Birmingham, Ala., native is coming off his best performance of the season against LSU where he tallied a career-high 10 tackles, 3.5 for a loss, with 2.5 sacks en route to earning Walter Camp National Defensive Player of the Week honors.
Through nine games this season, Williams leads Alabama with 12 tackles for a loss and is second on the team with nine quarterback hurries. He’s the highest rated defender in the nation with a 96.2 grade from Pro Football Focus and has been mentioned by several draft analysts as a potential high first-round pick in next season’s NFL Draft. Although, so far the redshirt sophomore is doing a good job of tuning out that praise.
“I really don’t look at myself as a star. I’m just doing my job and handling my business like everybody else should be doing and everybody else expects me to dominate my box just like I expect everybody else to dominate their box. It just goes along with everything.”
2. Is Alabama’s defense catching up to its offense?
Don’t look now, but Alabama’s defense is gaining ground on its high-powered offense. Last week’s 29-0 victory over LSU was reminiscent of the stingy Alabama defenses of old as the Crimson Tide limited the Tigers to 196 total yards, including just 12 on the ground. It also marked Alabama’s first shutout of the season.
That didn’t go unnoticed by the players on the other side of the ball.
“We only scored 29 points, but the defense stopped them,” tight end Irv Smith Jr. said. “They didn’t even score. It’s a team sport, and both aspects of the game we need to come to play. The defense did a great job last week.”
While Alabama’s No. 1 scoring offense led by Heisman favorite Tua Tagovailoa generates the bulk of the attention, its defense is slowly becoming one of the nation’s best as well. The Crimson Tide ranks No. 7 in scoring defense, allowing opponents 14.1 points per game. Alabama is also tied for fourth with 31 sacks and tied for sixth in both tackles for a loss (72) and interceptions (13).
“I think it says we’re focused and that we don’t get complacent with where we are in the season,” safety Xavier McKinney said. “I think it says a lot, but of course we’ve still got a lot to do, a lot of work to do. We’re trying to improve, get better as a defense. I think we’ll keep doing that and we’ll get better from here.”
3. Will Alabama suffer a hangover against Mississippi State.
The company line at Alabama is that all matchups are the same regardless of the opponent or its ranking. That’s what Crimson Tide players are supposed to say, but following big wins like last week, it’s not necessarily how they feel.
“I mean, we can sit here and say it was just another game, but obviously it’s one of those kind of rivalry games everybody looks forward to and everybody circles on their calendar,” running back Damien Harris said of the victory over LSU. “So being able to win that game in a hostile environment — No. 1 vs. No. 3 in Death Valley, a night game, College Gameday, all that stuff - being able to come out and play the way that we played on all phases of the ball and have the kind of success that we had, obviously that’s an exciting thing for us. It was pretty exciting.”
As sweet as last week’s win was for Alabama, the time for savoring it has passed. Last season Mississippi State almost caught Alabama by surprise as the Crimson Tide needed a fourth-quarter rally to come out of Starkville, Miss., with a narrow 31-24 victory. While Alabama enters this weeks game as more than a three-touchdown favorite, head coach Nick Saban was quick to warn his players about taking this year’s Mississippi State team lightly.
The Bulldogs rank second in the nation in scoring defense, allowing opponents just 12.3 points per game. Mississippi State is also sixth nationally in total defense, allowing an average of 278.7 yards per game.
“Moving forward, the battle gets very internal in terms of putting the last game behind you and looking forward to the challenges and the test of the future, so you can't really be complacent or satisfied,” Saban said. “We need to put that behind us and get ready for the next team, Mississippi State, who is a very good team. They're 6-3, they have one of the top defensive teams in the country. Really good front. Really good pass efficiency defense. Hard to run against. One of the top defensive teams in the country.”
4. Will Tagovailoa break Alabama’s single-season passing touchdown mark?
Saturday could be a historic day for Tagovailoa as the starting quarterback draws closer to Alabama’s single-season record for passing touchdowns. Through nine games, Tagovailoa is three touchdown throws away from AJ McCarron’s mark of 30 set in 2012. With at least five games remaining this season, it’s not a matter of if but rather how soon the sophomore will take over the record.
Tagovailoa has passed for three or more touchdowns in five games this season but could find it difficult to reach the mark this week against Mississippi State. The Bulldogs have allowed just four passing touchdowns all season and rank No. 7 in the nation in pass defense, holding opponents to 167.2 yards per game through the air. Then again, Tagovailoa didn’t seem to have too much trouble throwing against tight coverage last week when he faced a highly-touted LSU secondary.
“Every ball we have an opportunity to catch, and he has a lot of trust in us,” Smith said. “So if he feels like he has a good matchup or if we’re open he’s going to throw the ball. It’s awesome having that trust with him and being able to make plays off of him.”
5. How much will Henry Ruggs III and DeVonta Smith play?
A lot of Tagovailoa’s success this week might depend on the status of receivers Henry Ruggs III and DeVonta Smith. Ruggs needed to be helped off the field last week after suffering a leg injury while blocking on a play in the second quarter. Meanwhile, DeVonta Smith didn’t record a reception in his first game back from a hamstring injury he sustained against Tennessee on Oct. 20.
Both receivers participated in drills during the media-viewing period of practice on Tuesday and appear likely to play against Mississippi State. If either or both are unable to play, Alabama still has plenty of options to turn to, including Jerry Jeudy, who tallied 103 yards on a career-high eight receptions against LSU.
“Hopefully, we can get that group a little more healthy as we go here,’ Saban said Monday. “It’s going to be important for us, especially in games like this.”
1 Tony_Tsoukalas,
Yesterday at 12:52 AM
Last edited: Yesterday at 12:59 AM
