STARKVILLE, Miss. — Second-ranked Alabama (9-1, 6-1 SEC) used big plays to defeat No. 17 Mississippi State (7-3, 3-3) 31-6 on Saturday at Davis Wade Stadium. The Bulldogs out-gained the Crimson Tide 393-379, but a trio of big plays for touchdowns in the first half gave UA a lead it never lost. All four of Bama’s touchdown plays were for 60 or more yards.

“Not going to win doing that,” head coach Dan Mullen said. “For 55 plays we played unbelievable defense. For three were played terrible defense.”

MSU senior quarterback Dak Prescott put the offense on his shoulders on a tough night, accounting for the majority of MSU’s yardage, completing 22-of-43 passes for 300 yards, in addition to several first down runs. Junior receiver Fred Ross also had a big night, building on his impressive season, catching eight passes for 114 yards against the UA secondary.

The downfall for MSU was Alabama’s defensive front tallying nine sacks, including six in the first half.

“It wasn’t like they were fancy blitzes,” Mullen said. “They just rushed the quarterback and we didn’t do a great job protecting him.”

–hailstate.com–