Alabama Football: 3 takeaways from road victory at Mississippi State

Sitting at No. 5 in the College Football Playoff rankings, Alabama football came out and made a statement against Mississippi State. What did we learn?

Precedent said that Alabama would fall even further after their loss to LSU in Week 11, but the Crimson Tide found themselves right on the cusp of the bracket at No. 5 when the dust settled on the College Football Playoff rankings for Week 12. Many Alabama fans still felt that the ranking was too low, and the team seemed to come out motivated by what was perceived as a slight even when it was advantageous against the precedent.

Using that as chalkboard material, Nick Saban’s crew came to Starkville on Saturday in Week 12 hungry to show the selection committee why they deserve a spot in the semifinals. Grinding down Mississippi State through the first half and then putting things largely on neutral in the second half, Alabama had no trouble running away with the SEC West mismatch.

Closing out with a 38-7 victory over the Bulldogs, Alabama walked away with what proved a costly win. Their Heisman-hopeful at quarterback was knocked out of the game on a hard, clean hit in the second quarter, and the big statement in the moment might have even bigger reverberations through the rest of November and beyond.

What should we take away from this victory on the road in Week 12? Here are three things to consider as Alabama puts Mississippi State in the rearview mirror and prepares for the last two games of the regular season.