Nick Saban will turn 69 on Saturday. Alabama will look to prevent Mike Leach and Mississippi State from ruining the party. The No. 2 Crimson Tide (5-0) has won 12 straight games over the Bulldogs (1-3) and is currently a 31-point favorite heading into Saturday’s 6 p.m. CT kickoff inside Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Today we will dive into some of the matchup’s storylines by providing three observations, two questions and one prediction.
THREE OBSERVATIONS
Saban provides injury updates
Alabama’s secondary might soon get a shot in the arm as junior college transfer Ronald Williams Jr. is nearing recovery from a broken arm he suffered during preseason camp. Wednesday, Saban provided an update on the defender who has since returned to practice with the team.
“He’s been practicing the past two weeks,” Saban said. “He didn’t go to Tennessee because he was sick, but he did practice and we would have taken him on the trip. He has practiced all week this week, and I think he’s feeling more and more comfortable using his arm.
“It’s healed. He’s been cleared, but the player has to get comfortable using whatever was hurt before he’s ready to play. But I see significant progress this week."
Williams came to Alabama as the No. 10 JUCO player in this year’s class. The 6-foot-2 defensive back is capable of playing multiple spots across the secondary. Last season, he played cornerback for Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College last season, recording 31 tackles, three interceptions and five pass breakups over 10 games.
After a slow start, Alabama’s secondary has shaped up over the last two weeks, holding opponents to 216 yards per game through the air while limiting opposing quarterbacks to a 49.2 completion rate.
Through five games, the Tide ranks No. 80 in the nation allowing opponents 279.8 yards per game through the air. Mississippi State ranks No. 5 in the nation averaging 357.5 passing yards per game
Saban also provided an update on offensive lineman Deonte Brown and starting defensive lineman LaBryan Ray. Brown, who missed the second half against Tennessee with a shoulder injury, is expected to be available and has practiced every day this week. Ray, who has missed the Tide’s last two games with an elbow injury, was ruled as questionable.
"I think we'll probably, to get him right and get him well, it probably would be much better for us to just wait until after this bye week," Saban said of Ray. "He's been out there, he's practiced. But he continues to have issues and problems. So we just need to shut him down and let him get healed up so that this is not going to be a problem in the future."
Another iceberg in Alabama’s secondary
Alabama is hoping it will be rough sailing for Mississippi State’s passing attack this weekend.
Last week, the team released a video of Surtain comparing himself to an iceberg.
"This is not an island, it's an iceberg,” the Alabama cornerback said of his game. “And to live here, you have to be cold-blooded."
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