Hard to compare two meetings between Alabama, Mississippi State

Alabama and Mississippi State will renew its rivalry this evening in Coleman Coliseum in a match-up that will differ greatly from the last one.

These two played to a 56-52 Bulldog win in Starkville on Jan. 14. Here’s how that result means little today:

• Three of the five Alabama starters from that game won’t repeat the feat.
• Tony Mitchell (8 points) won’t play the rest of the year, Trevor Lacey (8 points) is doubtful with a sprained ankle and JaMychal Green (14) would have to come off the bench after serving a four-game suspension.
• Bulldog starter Rodney Hood (1 point) is also doubtful with a deep bone bruise, according to reports from Starkville.
• Alabama freshman Rodney Cooper didn’t play that day. He’s coming off a 17-point game at Arkansas.
• Another State starter, Renardo Sidney (8 points) will play today, but missed last Saturday’s loss at Auburn with back spasms.
• Neither 7-footer Carl Engstrom, nor Moussa Gueye played a single minute in the last game.
• Andrew Steele (7 points) was playing just his fourth game of the year in Starkville. He’s averaged 12 points in the last three games.

We’ll see if any of this matters at 5 p.m. Alabama is a 6-point favorite if you’re asking Las Vegas sports books.

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Vide of Saban’s post-Mississippi State news conference

Here’s what Nick Saban had to say in another brief news conference after Alabama beat Mississippi State 24-7 on Saturday. Lots of TV cameras, nobody asking questions makes for short chats.

 

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How Alabama beat Mississippi State

And now, a look at my game story from Saturday’s affair:

STARKVILLE, Miss. — The defensive struggle continued Saturday night.

Snapping out of a late-season slumber, Alabama found enough offense to escape Starkville with slim title hopes intact.

A 24-7 win over Mississippi State was hardly a masterpiece, but one wasn’t necessary with the Crimson Tide defense on the field.

The Bulldogs mustered just 131 yards — 12 on the ground thanks to five sacks — as the guests responded swiftly to the 9-6 overtime loss to LSU a week earlier. It was still a bit of an adventure for the No. 4 team in the nation.

Tide kickers missed their first two field-goal attempts after a stagnant start for the offense that lacked rhythm in the first half. There was an interception and long kickoff return, but Trent Richardson and Eddie Lacy helped the team break out of the funk to some degree after halftime.

“We didn’t play a perfect game by any stretch of the imagination,” coach Nick Saban said. “We had too many mistakes. We played extremely well defensively and made enough plays on offense, but we should have finished a few more drives and scored some more points early in the game.”

Click here to read the rest.

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A look back at last few Alabama-Mississippi State games

As you prepare for another beautiful game day, let’s take a look back at the last few meetings between Alabama and Mississippi State. First, here’s my game day video from last year.

Then take a look at the highlights from the last visit to Starkville from 2009.

Finally, here’s a classic Nick Saban freakout from the 2007 Alabama loss in Starkville.

Almost time to head west. More to come from the scene.

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Can Alabama get its offensive groove back?

Take a look at today’s GameDay section story about Alabama’s offense coming off its worst outing in memory:

TUSCALOOSA — Not always exciting, but consistently effective.

That was the tenor of Alabama’s offense through eight games, churning out 39 points a contest.

But last Saturday, the machine malfunctioned. Possessions hit a brick wall near the LSU 30-yard line in the 9-6 overtime loss. The Crimson Tide failed to score a touchdown for only the second time in head coach Nick Saban’s five years with the program.

“When we did things correctly, we moved the ball really nicely,” Saban said. “We had over 300 yards until the last series, when we went backwards in two-minute drill. There were some good things done. I just think there were too many occasions where we didn’t do things the way they were supposed to be done, and I’m hopeful that the players will see that the importance comes in execution.”

A week’s worth of introspection and evaluation later, the Tide travels west to Starkville, Miss., to face Mississippi State (5-4, 1-4 SEC).

Eliminating the negative plays is the first priority.

LSU didn’t have the most tackles in the backfield among Alabama’s nine opponents, but all six tackles for loss the Tigers did have came in critical situations. Five came in LSU territory, and each directly led to either a punt or long missed field goal attempt.

Click here to read the rest.

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Tickets a bargain for Alabama-Mississippi State

The price for a seat to Alabama’s trip to Mississippi State keeps getting cheaper. Forget the second mortgage, you can get in for the cost of a dinner for two at a decent restaurant.

According to ticket resale clearinghouse TicketIQ.com,  two tickets could be had for $38 a piece (as of noon Thursday).

Eight sets of tickets could be bought for less than $100 — far less than the four-figure prices sought for seats to the Alabama-LSU game a week ago in Tuscaloosa.

According to TicketIQ, which aggregates offers from a number of resale sites, there are 104 tickets for sale online.

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Dan Mullen talks Alabama, crowd support, Missouri

Mississippi State coach said the following on the SEC media teleconference:

• “We need everyone in the state of Mississippi,” Mullen said of the support necessary Saturday.
• Tuscaloosa product Brandon Wilson is a the ultimate worker to go from walk-on to star in Mississippi State program.
• Missouri is good for SEC.
• “They deserve all the hype they’re getting. They’re one of the top two teams in the country,” Mullen on Alabama.
• The hype on Alabama is real.

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Saban talks Penn State scandal, injuries, Mississippi State

Here’s a taste of what Nick Saban just said on the weekly SEC media teleconference:

• On Joe Paterno retirement: “It wouldn’t be appropriate” to make comments. All the concern should be about the kids, he said.
• Miss. State only lost to ranked teams and Starkville is always hard place to play, Saban said.
• Recovering from intense game is a weekly routine. Stretch and stride is part of the Sunday routine after a game on their own. “It takes a couple days to come back from any game you play.”
• Barrett Jones is day to day, Kirkpatrick, Smelley and Maze practiced yesterday.
• “We were good friends and he was a helluva lot better player than I was,” on Missouri coach Gary Pinkel — Saban’s teammate at Kent State.
• “We have respect for both of their quarterbacks,” Saban said on the two passers at Mississippi State.
• Trent Richardson has “it.”
• Players focused on lot of football left on schedule, not potential BCS scenarios that could keep title hopes alive.

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Alabama-Mississippi State tickets going cheap

Just a week ago we were talking about four-figure ticket prices for LSU at Alabama. So it looks like a fire sale for the Crimson Tide’s follow up.

You can attend the Mississippi State game for as little as $60 a person, according to a quick look at StubHub.com.

Lower bowl tickets for the relatively small Davis Wade Stadium start at $100. Two tickets on eBay are priced as low as $81 for the pair.

The Bulldogs disappointing 5-4 record and the hangover for Alabama fans likely drove down demand for this one.

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Video of o-line working without Jones while Scott Cochran cheers drill

The Alabama offensive line already lost the Kouandjio brothers for the season with knee injuries. Now left tackle Barrett Jones is limping with a sprained ankle suffered Saturday against LSU.

Since backup left tackle Cyrus Kounadjio can’t play Saturday at Mississippi State, it appears like Alfred McCullough could win the job. He was mentioned by Nick Saban as  a potential replacement if Jones were to go down.

McCullough, who was at right guard Saturday, was practicing left tackle blocking moves on the sideline before Jones returned from the locker room without missing a series.

Here’s a look at the group from today’s practice with strength and conditioning coach Scott Cochran helping judge the pull drill.

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Which road game would you attend?

We’re still a month away from SEC Media Days and the unofficial beginning of football season in Alabama. So things are slow.

So why not ponder the ultimate road trip of the fall. The Crimson Tide has a few interesting destinations on the itinerary this fall. Click here for the full schedule.

But if you had to chose just one, which would you attend?

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Basketball season resumes, interrupts recruiting nonsense

We here at The Daily Bama Blog will take a break from the never-ending recruiting to cover the other sport of February — basketball!!

Alabama plays Mississippi State in a few minutes in Coleman Coliseum.

Click here for updates on Twitter.

(Thus far,  I see no signs comparing any football recruit to a traitorous figure in American history.)

Live bloggin’ Bama hoops SEC opener at Miss. State

There is about as much excitement possible for an SEC West basketball game packed into “The Hump” this afternoon in Starkville. We’re about to hear the starting lineups.

For all the other action, follow along on The Daily Bama Blog’s Twitter feed. Just click right here.

Saban ‘not apologizing’ for McCarron spanking

Since our deadlines are absurd for these night games, I wasn’t able to shoehorn this one in anywhere. None the less, I’m sure you’d be interested to hear Nick Saban’s response to a question postgame that alluded to last Saturday’s spanking of AJ McCarron. (Click here for background if you’re unfamiliar)

He wasn’t happy.

“Hey, football is a tough game for tough people. It really is and there is a lot of intensity and there is a lot of intensity on the sidelines and there is a lot of intensity in practice.”

Then he brought his A-game

“I’m not apologizing for anything that I did, to be honest with you. AJ doesn’t have a problem with it. Nobody else should have a problem with it. I’ve getting patted on the ass since 9-years old playing peewee football. So if you don’t like that, I guess you should watch the Golf Channel.”

 

Will the Georgia State game sell out?

There were empty seats Saturday night against Mississippi State.

So we can all be honest here. Thursday night’s game could be one of the ugliest beatings in a long time if Alabama chooses to take it there against Georgia State.

But that wouldn’t serve much of a purpose with Auburn coming to town next Friday. That means plenty of backups will see tons of playing time.

That said, and being a Thursday night affair, will Bryant-Denny Stadium fill to the brim? There were empty seats in the corner for Mississippi State on Saturday. You decide.