Starkville, Miss. — Alabama competed in its first SEC road game of the season in Starkville against the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Despite the late night matchup, the Crimson Tide showed no signs of tiring out as it defeated the Bulldogs 40 to 17.
FIRST QUARTER
Scoring summary:
—TOUCHDOWN Alabama: Jalen Milroe 53-yard rush (3 plays, 70 yards, 1:21)
Alabama 7, Mississippi State 0
—TOUCHDOWN Alabama: Chris Braswell 28-yard interception return
Alabama 14, Mississippi State:0
Key play:
Jalen Milroe breaks a 53 yard run for the Crimson Tide’s first score of the game. With the offense struggling in the first part of the quarter, Milroe explodes out of the pocket and breaks away for a long touchdown run, finally giving the offense some life.
Player of the quarter:
Chris Braswell finishes the quarter with one tackle and one interception that he returned 28 yards to the end zone. Jihaad Campbell tipped Will Rogers’ pass that Braswell grabbed out of the air to force the turnover. Braswell’s touchdown was Alabama’s second of the game.
SECOND QUARTER
Scoring summary:
—FIELD GOAL MSU: Kyle Ferrie 31-yard field goal
Alabama 14, Mississippi State 3
—FIELD GOAL Alabama: Will Reichard 38-yard field goal (6 plays, 46 yards, 2:30)
Alabama 17, Mississippi State 3
—TOUCHDOWN MSU: Mike Wright 15-yard touchdown rush (9 plays, 64 yards, 3:33)
Alabama 17, Mississippi State 10
—TOUCHDOWN Alabama: Jase McClellan 2-yard rush (12 plays, 75 yards, 5:19)
Alabama 24, Mississippi State 10
—TOUCHDOWN Alabama: Jalen Milroe 10-yard touchdown rush (3 plays, 31 yards, 0:26)
Alabama 31, Mississippi State 10
Key Play:
Jase McClellan powers through the middle for a 2-yard touchdown rush, extending the Alabama lead to double digits. With the run game being the prominent mode of offense, McClellan was a sure recipient of the ball with the Crimson Tide on the 2-yard line.
Player of the quarter:
Jase McClellan put together a solid performance throughout the quarter, tallying 32 yards off of 6 carries. McClellan also came down with a 19-yard reception to bring Alabama to the red zone, and eventually set up his touchdown run to seal the first half.
THIRD QUARTER
Scoring summary:
—TOUCHDOWN MSU: Jeffery Pitman 1-yard reception from Will Rogers (11 plays, 75 yards, 5:49)
Alabama 31, Mississippi State 17
—FIELD GOAL Alabama: Will Reichard 38-yard field goal (12 plays, 54 yards, 6:12)
Alabama 34, Mississippi State 17
Key play:
Will Reichard makes a 38-yard field goal to extend the lead to 17 points. Alabama’s offense rolled down the field, but lost some yardage following a third down sack. However, Reichard stepped up on fourth down to drill the field goal. Following Reichard’s field goal, he was 2-for-2 in the game.
Player of the quarter:
Amari Niblack puts up a great quarter receiving the ball. Niblack finished the quarter with 43 receiving yards on two receptions, bringing the offense into field goal range where Will Reichard drilled a 38-yard field goal to extend the lead. Following the quarter, Niblack led the team in receiving yards.
FOURTH QUARTER
Scoring summary:
—FIELD GOAL Alabama: Will Reichard 34-yard field goal (6 plays, 18 yards, 3:29)
Alabama 37, Mississippi State 17
—FIELD GOAL Alabama: Will Reichard 48-yard field goal (4 plays, 4 yards, 1:30)
Alabama 40, Mississippi State 17
Key play:
Jalen Milroe completes a 26-yard pass to CJ Dippre, converting a 2nd and 23 to bring the Alabama offense into the red zone. Dippre’s reception setup Will Reichard’s 34-yard field goal to make it a 20 point Crimson Tide lead.
Player of the quarter:
Caleb Downs comes down with a game clinching interception with about seven minutes left in the quarter. Downs picked off Will Rogers’ pass at the Bulldog 45-yard line, and set up the offense with field position for Will Reichard to make another field goal. Downs was also able to pick up a tackle in the quarter as well.
GAME BALLS
Caleb Downs: Downs was the second leading tackler of the Crimson Tide defense with 13 tackles, including a game sealing interception in the fourth quarter. Downs continues to be the star true freshman that he was advertised to be.
Jase McClellan: McClellan was all over the ground against the Bulldogs. He finished his night with 63 yards rushing off of 15 carries, along with touchdown rush. McClellan also came down with two receptions for 25 yards.
Amari Niblack: Niblack was Alabama's leading receiver in the matchup, contributing to multiple scoring drives after a couple 20+ yard receptions. Niblack finished the game with 61 yards off of 3 catches.
Jihaad Campbell: Stepping in for an injured Deontae Lawson, Campbell played his role perfectly, leading the Crimson Tide with 14 tackles, including a tackle for loss and an interception. Campbell also tipped a pass from Will Rogers that resulted in Chris Braswell picking it out of the sky for an interception of his own.
Will Reichard: Reichard continues to stay perfect this season as he tallies a 4-for-4 night, with his longest kick coming from 48 yards out. All of Reichard's kicks were from beyond 37 yards each time.
