October third. The day that Mississippi State has had circled since the Southeastern Conference announced the 2026 schedule. It was the day longtime rival Alabama would return to Davis Wade Stadium for the first time since Coach Nick Saban roamed the sidelines in 2023. As the season progressed, Saturday’s matchup between the Crimson Tide and Bulldogs became a clash of top-25 undefeated teams with potential College Football Playoff implications on the line, adding extra spice to the rivalry.
Alabama won the toss and elected to defer to the second half. Mississippi State’s opening drive ended early when KaMario Taylor fumbled, and Alabama recovered and turned it into a quick scoring drive to take an early 7-0 lead. On the ensuing possession, KaMario Taylor threw a pick-six, extending the Alabama lead to 14-0. On Mississippi State’s third drive, KaMario Taylor settled in and drove the Bulldogs down the field, ending the drive with a touchdown to cut the Alabama lead to 14-7. Keelon Russell extended the Alabama lead to 21-7 after a quarterback keeper ended a nearly perfect Crimson Tide drive and started the second quarter. Mississippi State and Alabama would exchange punts in the next possessions after the defenses held the line and slowed the game down. KaMario Taylor was sacked on third and long, but a muffed punt recovered by Mississippi State gave the Bulldogs first and ten at the 45-yard line; all they needed was to capitalize on Alabama’s mistake. What seemed promising for Mississippi State would end in a fumble by Sanfrisco Magee, with Alabama recovering. The Mississippi State defense would once again force another Alabama fumble, giving the Bulldogs the ball inside the 15-yard line. With the short field, KaMario Taylor would find Zion Ragins for an 11-yard touchdown pass to cut the Alabama lead to 21-14. Despite getting all the way down to the two-yard line, Mississippi State had to settle for a field goal to end the first half, with the Crimson Tide leading 28-17 at the break.
The first half of play saw a combined five turnovers as both Mississippi State and Alabama were extremely sloppy. For Mississippi State, the sloppiness could have stemmed from Fluff Bothwell going down with an injury, or the offensive line not giving KaMario Taylor the time to make plays.
After winning the coin toss to start the game, Alabama opened the second half with the ball, looking to put a little separation between themselves and the Bulldogs. Alabama found that separation as they marched down the field to extend the lead to 35-17 with 9:40 remaining in the third. After another Kamario Taylor interception, Alabama would score seven more points to extend the lead to 42-17 with 7:07 remaining in the third. Mississippi State would respond with a Kamario Taylor touchdown pass to Anthony Evans to cut the Alabama lead to 42-23 after a failed two-point conversion. Alabama added 14 more points in the 4th quarter to secure a 56-23 victory over Mississippi State on Saturday.
After a game like that, there’s a lot of emotion if you’re on the receiving end of the beatdown, but even with the frustration of a loss to Alabama, Mississippi State isn’t out of it this season. There’s still a lot of football to be played, and to be honest, once guys get healthy, the possibility of going 8-4 or even a 9-3 to close out the 2026 season is all right there for the taking. Outside of the road games against Texas and LSU, Mississippi State has a very manageable schedule ahead,with home games against Oklahoma, Auburn, Vanderbilt, and Tennessee Tech; then there’s a road game at Ole Miss that doesn’t look as daunting as it might have in the preseason. Let’s say Mississippi State finishes the 2026 regular season 4-0 at home; that’s eight wins, plus the fifty-fifty Egg Bowl, and that could very well be the 9th win for the Bulldogs. That said, the bye week comes at the perfect time for the Bulldogs, as they now have two weeks to recover and get healthy for the second half of the season before heading south to Tiger Stadium for a matchup with Coach Lane Kiffin and the LSU Tigers.
Here’s what people need to realize: since the Southeastern Conference was founded in 1933, football has had tiers. For the last several years, Mississippi State has been in the bottom tier. Now, this year, the Bulldogs are in that second tier with Florida, Ole Miss, Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, Texas A&M, Auburn, and even Oklahoma, not a bad place to be if you’re Coach Lebby and the Bulldogs. A successful season has never been weighted by beating Alabama. The Crimson Tide have never been the measuring stick for anyone outside of Georgia, Tennessee, and Texas, so a loss to Alabama might not be ideal, but it doesn’t mean the season is over. It just means you’re a part of the pack; now go out there and take every opportunity at home, then play in a meaningful Egg Bowl, and get the 8th, maybe 9th, win of the season and continue to build for the future. Sustained success is built over time, then maintained by programs that do things the right way. Mississippi State is at the point where earning that 8th or 9th win of the season is within reach, and once they do, they can use it for momentum heading into the 2027 season and reach the College Football Playoff. Because as much as some might hate it, Alabama is just that good this year. As we’ve seen all season, Alabama has looked like the old Alabama, and Mississippi State was just the latest victim on Saturday.
Photo Credits- Mississippi State football on X
