No. 7 Alabama survived a sloppy start against No. 16 Mississippi State to pull away 56-23 and improve to 5-0. The Tide and Bulldogs combined for five turnovers in the first half, but Alabama cleaned things up and put together a dominant finish in the second half. The 56-point performance is the most ever allowed by a ranked SEC team at home.
The Crimson Tide bludgeoned Mississippi State in the second half, outscoring them 28-6 down the stretch. The first four drives of the second half all featured touchdowns, two of which lasted more than five minutes as Kalen DeBoer’s team controlled the pace of the game.
In a matchup of top quarterbacks, Alabama’s Keelon Russell stepped up and delivered a dominant performance. The sophomore from Dallas completed 16 of 22 passes for 285 yards and three touchdowns, and added another score on the ground. He largely dominated the upright Kamario Taylor, who turned the ball over three times.
Mississippi State hosted its biggest home game since at least 2014, but the Bulldogs just struggled to live up to the moment. Taylor turned the ball over on his first two drives before leaving the game with an injury in the fourth quarter. Senior tackle Jalen Smith and runner Fluff Bothwell also left the game injured.
Alabama has now scored at least 45 points in every game this season, including a total of 155 points in the last three games.
Read below for takeaways from Alabama’s key SEC win Saturday against Mississippi State.
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