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Bulldogs Visit Crimson Tide in SEC Game of the Week
This weekend, the Ole Miss Rebels are away from action as they prepare for a trip up to Fayetteville next Saturday to take on the Arkansas Razorbacks, but despite the absence of one Mississippi school, there is a very key matchup for the Mississippi State Bulldogs as they face the Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa.
Kick off is set for 2:30 p.m. on CBS.
Mississippi State is sitting at 9-0 on the season after a 45-16 win over Tennessee Martin on homecoming, and Alabama is 8-1 with a loss to Ole Miss.
This rivalry between the Mississippi State and Alabama is separated by a short drive across Highway 82. Earlier this week, coach Dan Mullen discussed how his squad is preparing for this weekend matchup.
“We have had really good energy the last couple of weeks of practice,” Mullen said. “It is a long season and these are young kids. These guys have been going at it since the start of camp. I think you want that energy to stay high. In a game like this, the energy is going to be high all week at practice. This is a game our guys have been looking forward to.”
The Bulldogs have excelled on both sides of the ball this season and have to continue going into Bryant-Deny Stadium. Coach Mullins is 0-5 against the Tide with Dak Prescott orchestrating the offensive the Bulldogs have a good chance to come out of Alabama with a win.
Alabama is coming in off of a very emotional overtime win against the Tigers in Death Valley. The Crimson Tide at home is and has always been a very dominant team, with Blake Sims at QB and a top notch wide out in Amari Cooper that can give any defense trouble.
The Tide have been rolling since their only loss against the Ole Miss Rebels with the offense fire power that offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin has brought into T town.
For the Bulldogs, Dak Prescott has led the way as a quarterback with high numbers both in passing and rushing. The Psycho defense of Mississippi State is also one of the better defenses in the country and has caused a number of problems for Texas A&M, LSU and Auburn so far this season.
Adam Brown is HottyToddy.com sports editor and can be reached at adam.brown@hottytoddy.com.
| Sat, Aug 31 |  | vs Furman | W, 76-0 |
| Sat, Sep 7 |  | vs Middle Tennessee | W, 52-3 |
| Sat, Sep 14 |  | @ Wake Forest | W, 40-6 |
| Sat, Sep 21 |  | vs Georgia Southern | W, 52-13 |
| Sat, Sep 28 |  | vs Kentucky | L, 20-17 |
| Sat, Oct 5 |  | @ South Carolina | W, 27-3 |
| Sat, Oct 12 |  | vs LSU | L, 29-26 (2 OT) |
| Sat, Oct 26 |  | vs Oklahoma | W, 26-14 |
| Sat, Nov 2 |  | @ Arkansas | W, 63-35 |
| Sat, Nov 16 |  | vs Georgia | W, 28-10 |
| Sat, Nov 23 |  | @ Florida | L, 24-17 |
| Sat, Nov 30 |  | vs Mississippi State | W, 26-14 |
| Thu, Jan 2 |  | vs Duke (Gator Bowl) | 6:30 PM • ESPN |
| Mon, Nov 4 |  | vs Long Island University | W, 90-60 |
| Fri, Nov 8 |  | vs Grambling | W, 66-64 |
| Tue, Nov 12 |  | vs South Alabama | W, 64-54 |
| Sat, Nov 16 |  | vs Colorado State | W, 84-69 |
| Thu, Nov 21 |  | vs Oral Roberts | L, 100-68 |
| Thu, Nov 28 |  | vs BYU | W, 96-85 OT |
| Fri, Nov 29 |  | vs 13 Purdue | L, 80-78 |
| Tue, Dec 3 |  | @ Louisville | W, 86-63 |
| Sat, Dec 7 |  | vs Lindenwood | W, 86-53 |
| Sat, Dec 14 |  | vs Southern Miss | W, 77-46 |
| Tue, Dec 17 |  | vs Southern | W, 74-61 |
| Sat, Dec 21 |  | vs Queens University | W, 80-62 |
| Sat, Dec 28 |  | @ Memphis | L, 87-70 |
| Sat, Jan 4 |  | vs Georgia | 11:00 AM SECN |
| Wed, Jan 8 |  | @ 23 Arkansas | 6:00 PM TBA |
| Sat, Jan 11 |  | vs LSU | 5:00 PM SECN |
| Tue, Jan 14 |  | @ 5 Alabama | 6:00 PM TBA |
| Sat, Jan 18 |  | @ 17 Mississippi State | 5:00 PM TBA |
| Wed, Jan 22 |  | vs 13 Texas A&M | 8:00 PM TBA |
| Sat, Jan 25 |  | @ Missouri | 5:00 PM SECN |
| Wed, Jan 29 |  | vs Texas | 8:00 PM ESPN2 |
| Sat, Feb 1 |  | vs 2 Auburn | 3:00 PM TBA |
| Tue, Feb 4 |  | vs 10 Kentucky | 6:00 PM ESPN |
| Sat, Feb 8 | | @ LSU | 7:30 PM SECN |
| Wed, Feb 12 |  | @ South Carolina | 6:00 PM SECN |
| Sat, Feb 15 | | vs 17 Mississippi State | 5:00 PM TBA |
| Sat, Feb 22 |  | @ Vanderbilt | 2:30 PM SECN |
| Wed, Feb 26 | | @ 2 Auburn | 6:00 PM TBA |
| Sat, Mar 1 |  | vs 12 Oklahoma | 1:00 PM TBA |
| Wed, Mar 5 |  | vs 1 Tennessee | 8:00 PM TBA |
| Sat, Mar 8 |  | @ 6 Florida | 5:00 PM SECN |
Ray Finkle
November 11, 2014 at 6:16 pm
Have you actually watched Alabama and Mississippi State play other than Alabama’s game at Ole Miss and highlights on ESPN? Alabama’s offense has struggled on the road and a 14-13 win at Arkansas and a 20-13 OT win at LSU beg to differ that Alabama is “rolling” with an offensive firepower. And the Psycho defense is one of the better defenses in the country? They rank 91st overall and 124th in pass defense. They are giving up over 300 yards a game passing and have played only two teams that rank in the top 50 in passing (A&M and Southern Miss; okay, really one true top rated passing attack). State has given up an average of 467 yards a game and 30.5 points per game in road SEC contests (LSU and Kentucky). Definitely one of the best defenses in the nation. You can argue that they gave up once they had a big lead in the LSU game, but you can also argue that LSU’s defense has vastly improved since it played State. State is, however, put up 556 yards/game and averaged 39.5 points in those games. The offensive stats are nice and all until you look at what Alabama is doing at home this season against its two SEC opponents thus far, Florida and A&M. Alabama outscored those teams by an average of 55.5 to 10.5 and outgained them by an average of 637 to 186. Alabama has struggled against running quarterbacks but made good adjustments in the LSU game. I think Bama is going to try and make Dak beat them with his arm. State’s defense has definitely been playing bend don’t break this season in most of its SEC games, and it’s hard to imagine that they won’t break this weekend against the best receiver in the nation. Can Dak and Co. generate enough offense to beat Alabama? I really don’t think they will with the game being played in Tuscaloosa.