Mississippi State football faces the herculean task of taking down the Alabama Crimson Tide. Could an upset by the Bulldogs be in the cards?
Mississippi State’s chances of defeating the seemingly unstoppable Crimson Tide this week are bleak, to say the least, but I would like to play Devil’s advocate and look into how the Bulldogs could escape Bryant-Denny Stadium with the most high-profile upset of the season.
The Tide have owned this matchup throughout its history with an 80-18-3 record and have owned it recently with 10 straight wins over the Bulldogs. The last time Alabama lost to Mississippi State was on November 10, 2007. It was Nick Saban’s inaugural season with Alabama and the Tide would go on to finish the season 7-6 and were led by quarterback John Parker Grant. After starting 6-2, LSU would get the best of Alabama and Mississippi State was next on the schedule.
Alabama found themselves up 9-0 in the early parts of the second quarter with Leigh Tiffing nailing three field goals including one from 51 yards out. The Bulldogs came storming back with a field goal from Adam Carlson and followed it up by taking John Parker Wilson‘s first interception of the day 100 yards for a touchdown to go up 10-9 before halftime.
Future San Franciso 49er and Buffalo Bills star, Boobie Dixon found his way to the end zone for the only offensive touchdown of the day on a three-yard punch in. The 17-points would be enough to win the game and force Alabama to fall for their second straight loss. Alabama would go on to lose two of their next three games including the famous loss to Louisiana-Monroe at home.
Nick Saban has looked determined never to lose to Mississippi State ever again and has done a phenomenal job with that since that year. The Tide have outscored the Bulldogs 308-94 since losing in 2007. When the matchups are close, they are competitive but when the Tide rolls then it rolls big with six of the 10 wins coming from 20+ points.
Mississippi State has a slim chance of pulling it off this weekend and here are five reasons they pull it off.