NCAA Game Summary - Mississippi State at Alabama
(Saturday, November 13th)
Final Score: (11) Alabama 30, (17) Mississippi State 10
Tuscaloosa, AL (Sports Network) - Greg McElroy completed 12-of-18 passes for
227 yards and two touchdowns, while being intercepted once, as 11th-ranked
Alabama bounced back from a loss to LSU with a convincing 30-10 win over 17th-
rated Mississippi State at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Mark Ingram ran for 53 yards on 18 carries and caught two passes for 77 yards
and a score while Marquis Maze made five grabs for 89 yards and a touchdown
for the Crimson Tide (8-2, 5-2 SEC), who have taken three straight and eight
of the last 10 meetings from the Bulldogs.
Julio Jones made three catches for 41 yards and dashed 56 yards for a
touchdown for the hosts, who have won 19 straight home games.
"I am pleased with the way our team played today," Alabama head coach Nick
Saban said. "I was pleased with how anxious they were to bounce back and
compete, to be relentless in the game, to try to be physical and to establish
the kind of identity for our team that we want to have in terms of intensity,
toughness, ability to execute and focus. There are still some inconsistencies
in the running game, which is something we need to continue to work on and get
better at."
Chris Relf connected on 8-of-16 passes for 70 and was intercepted once before
being relieved by Tyler Russell, who went 4-for-7 for 80 yards and a touchdown
for the Bulldogs (7-3, 3-3), who had a six-game win streak, their longest
since 1999, snapped.
"We did not follow our recipe of what has gotten us here, which was take care
of the football, make plays when we need to make them on both sides of the
ball and the kicking game," said Bulldogs' head coach Dan Mullen. "We were
sloppy. One thing you get worried about coming off a bye week and the
disadvantage of coming off the bye week is getting back into the speed of
things again. We need to learn from this and our young players need to
learn from this. These environments are places you have to learn to come in
and win at if you're going to build a championship football program."
Alabama got the ball to start the game and moved to the Bulldogs' 19-yard line
before Ingram gained only a yard on 3rd-on-2. Jeremy Shelley came on to nail a
36-yard field goal to get the Tide on the board 3:05 into the game.
The teams then traded field goals, as Derek DePasquale's 24-yard field goal
tied the game with just over 5 1/2 minutes to go in the quarter before Cade
Foster put the hosts ahead again with a 45-yarder with 50 ticks to go.
McElroy found Maze on the right side for a short completion before he shed a
tackle, slashed inside to his left at the Bulldogs' 30 and raced into the end
zone to give Alabama a 13-3 edge with 7:09 to go before halftime.
Mississippi State picked up a couple of first downs on their next drive before
it stalled and they were forced to punt. Maze brought the kick back 81 yards
for a touchdown that was nullified by a penalty but the Tide wasted little
time making up for their mistake.
On the ensuing play, Ingram took a screen pass to the right side, got sprung
by a Jones block and outraced every tackler down the sideline 78 yards to
paydirt to finish off the longest reception of his career and give
the Tide a 20-3 advantage.
Jones ran right on an end around, slipped a tackle at midfield and sprinted to
the end zone to finish off his 56-yard run on Alabama's first play from
scrimmage in the second half to extend the margin to 27-3.
Shelley added his second field goal of the night from 28 yards out just over
three minutes into the fourth quarter to give the Tide a 27-point cushion.
Tyler Russell took over for Relf and directed a 10-play, 78-yard drive that he
capped off with a 27-yard scoring pass to Chad Bumphis, who outjumped two
defenders to make the grab with just over eight minutes left in the game.
Game Notes
Alabama leads the all-time series, 73-18-3, including a 40-9-1 mark in
Tuscaloosa...The Tide have won five of the last six meetings as the
hosts...The Tide's 19 straight home wins are one shy of the third longest
streak in school history, established from November 1, 1941 to November 11,
1950...The Tide have won 10 of their last 12 games against ranked
opponents...Vick Ballard led the Bulldogs with 80 rushing yards on 19 carries
while LaDarius Perkins toted eight times for 44 yards...Bumphis was the
visitors' leading receiver with three catches for 43 yards.
11/14 00:14:21 ET

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