The road was not kind to Mississippi State over the weekend.
The Bulldogs (6-4, 2-4 SEC) were shut out 24-0 at top-ranked Alabama.
Alabama’s offense didn’t put up the video game-like numbers that had seemingly become commonplace. The defense played so well, again, that it didn’t matter.
The top-ranked Crimson Tide had its second straight shutout while Josh Jacobs ran for a touchdown and caught a scoring pass.
Alabama raced to a fast start but mostly stalled from there against the Bulldogs and the nation’s No. 2 scoring defense.
Tua Tagovailoa started the fourth quarter on a stationary bike after getting his right knee checked out in the medical tent following a low hit. He didn’t return and wasn’t needed, mainly because of a defense that was overshadowed by an offense that had led the nation in scoring much of the season.
Alabama had five sacks and Mississippi State had four in a rough day for both quarterbacks against two talent-rich defensive lines.
Tagovailoa was 14 of 21 for 164 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He also lost a fumble on a botched exchange with Damien Harris.
“I think certainly, defensively, we continue to play well,” Mississippi State coach Joe Moorhead said. “We continue to fight our tails off. We held them under 350 yards. It was most prominent bowing their back on that last drive and keeping them out of the end zone. That’s the type of pride and physicality we play with defensively. We certainly gave ourselves an opportunity with how we played.”
Nick Fitzgerald was 11 of 20 for 125 yards for Mississippi State, which gained just 44 yards on 30 rushes.
Alabama scored touchdowns on its first two drives, consuming more than 10 minutes combined with 156 yards. The Bulldogs mostly held the Tide’s prolific offense in check after that.
Alabama outgained Mississippi State 305-169 in total yards.
The Tide’s third TD was set up by a fumbled punt return at Mississippi State’s 27 in the second quarter.
MSU will try to bounce back from its latest loss and improve its bowl destination by winning the final two regular season games.
The Bulldogs host Arkansas on Saturday at 11 a.m. on ESPN for their final home game.
“We’ve just got to keep moving on,” said MSU nose guard Jeffery Simmons. “That wasn’t our first loss and we know how to move past a loss. We’ve come back and won after losses. We just have to come in, make corrections and move on.”
State has won five of the last six games against the Razorbacks, including a 28-21 victory in Fayetteville last year after falling behind 14-0.
Arkansas (2-8, 0-6 SEC) lost 24-17 at home to LSU over the weekend.
