Quick recap: No. 11 Alabama whips Mississippi State 40-17
No. 11 Alabama took advantage of three Will Rogers’ interceptions on Saturday night as the Tide rolled past Mississippi State 40-17 at Davis Wade Stadium.
Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe passed for 164 yards and rushed for 69 yards and two touchdowns to pace the Tide offense. Meanwhile, State was held to 261 yards of offense and the Bulldogs mustered just 107 yards passing.
For State, Rogers was just 15 of 27 passing for 107 yards with one touchdown pass and three interceptions. Jo’quavious Marks led the Bulldogs’ ground game with nine rushes for 68 yards while Lideatrick Griffin had five catches for 21 yards.
Trailing 31-10 at the half thanks to a pair of late Alabama scores in the second quarter, Mississippi State struck first in the second half as Will Rogers hit Jeffery Pittman for a two-yard touchdown pass. It was State’s first touchdown pass against Alabama since the 2014 meeting.
Alabama followed up with a pair of Will Reichard field goals to push its lead to 37-17 with 9:04 left in the final quarter of play. The Tide would add a fourth field goal from Reichard in the fourth quarter to conclude the scoring as Alabama defeated Mississippi State for the 16th straight time.
Both teams struggled on their first two drives of the game with a total of four punts. However, Alabama produced the big play on its third drive of the game to take a first-quarter lead. Milroe sprinted 53 yards up the middle for the touchdown and Alabama led 7-0 with 4:48 left in the opening quarter.
Alabama’s defense then got on the board on the ensuing series. Chris Braswell caught a tipped Rogers pass and returned it 28 yards for a touchdown, giving the Tide a 14-0 advantage with 3:51 left in the first quarter.
Mississippi State put together a solid drive to open the second quarter. But a sack of Rogers at the Alabama 14-yard line forced State to settle for a 31-yard field goal by Kyle Ferrie, cut the Tide lead to 14-3 with 12:44 left in the half.
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Alabama answered the field goal with a 48-yard three pointer from Reichard to push the Tide lead to 17-3 with 10:07 remaining in the half.
On the ensuing series, the Bulldogs put together another solid drive and this time they found the end zone. Quarterback Mike Wright kept it for a 15-yard touchdown run to cap a nine-play, 64-yard drive as the Bulldogs cut the deficit to 17-10 with 6:26 remaining in the half.
The Tide wasted little time responding, however, and Alabama marched 75 yards and took a 24-10 lead with 1:07 left in the half following a Jase McClellan two yard touchdown run.
But Bama wasn’t through scoring. Rogers threw his second interception of the half as Jihaad Campbell picked off Rogers at the State 28 yard line. Milroe finished the short drive with a 10 yard touchdown scamper and the Tide led 31-10 with 31 seconds remaining in the first half.
Mississippi State gets a much-needed break from SEC play next weekend. The Bulldogs play host to Western Michigan in an 11 a.m. kickoff at Davis Wade Stadium.
