Bama continued to get it done through the air in a 41-0 shutout against Mississippi State.
Mike Leach’s team is known to have a relatively weak defense by SEC standards, but the air-raid offense was supposed to make up for that. As it turns out, Alabama is too much for Mississippi State to handle on both sides of the ball.
After the game, Saban discussed how he evaluated the Bulldogs defense, saying, “They played good zone, so it was hard for us to make big plays, but I think we did a good job, and this was a good game for us.”
Maybe explosive plays were not necessary for the Tide.
“I think that Mac made some good throws and made some good plays… you can’t force the deep throws,” Saban said of his quarterback.
Mac Jones was 24 for 31 on passing against the bulldogs for 291 yards. Also throwing four touchdowns to Devonta Smith.
Smith has been incredible this year, but has had to compete with other stars such as Jaylen Waddle and John Metchie. However, tonight it was all Smith. He had 203 receiving yards on the night with four total touchdowns.
While there was little other production from other Bama receivers, the Tide still executed the passing game better than Leach’s offense.
The Crimson Tide have been getting better and better all year long. However, the offense and defense have not been as dominant all season as they were against the Bulldogs.
“Defense did a good job of getting them off the field, did a much better job on third down, and did a good job of implementing what was a pretty new scheme for us to play against this team and their offense,” Saban said, discussing his team’s success.
The defense for Alabama had a great night in shutting down Mississippi State’s passing attack by having two interceptions and just overall stalling the Bulldog offense.
The defense stepped up again for the Tide. After the game, Saban said, “Turnovers were a big thing in the game, and you know we were able to make some big plays and explosive plays on offense.”
Saban later said, “I don’t think they expected us to play the way we played so that probably was a positive for us. We did a lot of research in the off-season on who played them well and who played that offense well even at Washington State. We watched all the games this year and who struggled, why they struggled, and who played really well against them.”
Bama’s defense was ready to stop the pass and only stop the pass this week against Leach’s air-raid offense. With Saban even saying, “The way we played the game today, we were begging them to run the ball.”
Even with Saban’s defense begging, State only ran the ball for 37 yards on the night.
Mississippi State couldn’t get any points on the board all night, prompting Saban to point out, “Getting a shut-out in this day and age is a real positive thing for this defense.”
Shut outs are rare these days, especially with the fast-paced, and high-powered offenses of modern football.
When asked about what he worked on with the defense to get them ready for this contest, he said, “We have to break on the ball, vice the ball, and tackle well in space. I think for the most part we did a really good job of that.”
On Jaylen Waddle being out, and being an inspiration for the team, Saban said, “I think it’s always a boost for the team when Jaylen is around. He is such a positive guy and he is very supportive of his teammates, and really a great team guy. So, it’s always good to have him around, and I’m sure it was uplifting to have him around and see that he is okay and uplifting them.”
Who will fill the void left from Waddle’s absence? Well, Saban thinks other people have to step up and trust the process.
“Other people have to step up and I think we are going to have to get some consistent performance out of a lot of players. We got to play some guys at the end of the game today. Which I thought was good, but they’ve got to step up and learn how to play too. Learn how to play fast, know what to do, know how to do it, and know why it’s important to play that way.”
Saban is the king of the ‘Next man up” mentality. His teams are historically loaded with people that can come fill the shoes of injured or unavailable players.
The Crimson Tide will get a week off to prepare and rejuvenate.
According to Saban, it couldn’t come at a better time. “I think the bye week is coming at a really good time for us. We have got a lot of guys that need to get healed up, and a lot of other guys that we need to make an improvement so that when they’re called on they are going to go out there and play and be effective as players.”
Alabama will get a bye week before facing rival LSU on November 14.
Hayden Crigler is a contributing college football writer for Yellowhammer News. You can contact him through email: [email protected] or on Twitter: @hayden_crigler.
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