Preview: Alabama vs. Mississippi State

Whenever I think about Mississippi State, my thoughts initially go to my friend Dean. Dean and I have known each other since elementary school and he was one of my best friends through high school and college. For reasons I don't remember (and may never have known), he latched on to the Bulldogs (as well as the New York Jets and whatever team Ron Gant was playing for) and they became his team and have been since. He's held season tickets even though he's never lived there; from Facebook, I can tell that he still goes down there about once a season, if not more often. He's a true fan. For the Crimson Tide, playing Mississippi State this weekend is quite similar to how guys on opposing intramural teams would often play him; for Alabama's sake, I hope the result isn't the same.

In college, my group of friends and I called ourselves Tres, taken from the song "Tres Deliquentes" (the song starts at the 26 second mark). We lived on the third floor of our dorm; we participated in what we thought of as delinquent behavior (at the time); we did have some legitimate delinquents among us, though they'll go nameless in this space; and we played all our intramural games with a chip on our collective shoulder, feeling looked down upon like the guys in the song (as best we could interpret). Our dorm wasn't considered cool (though we believe we changed that, at least during our years there) and we took on the identity of always having something to prove.

In our games, we typically felt overlooked and looked down upon, taking no greater joy than beating our opponents badly (when we could) and laughing to ourselves as we exited the field or court. We practiced football in one of our university's parking lots by night, using the lines as yard markers; most of the time it was touch, but some touches may have been closer to tackles. Though Gamma Bob seemed to have our number in our early days, we won more often than not. We played tough, we played smart, and we played hard. In a lot of ways, Dean may have embodied more than any us.

In football, he played on the line. It took almost two seasons for teams to pick up that he was actually playing as a tight end, often releasing automatically at the snap. I played quarterback my junior and senior years and he was my go-to target, seemingly always open or making the first block if I took off running. He probably led our team in receiving touchdowns. Thinking back, it seems like he never dropped a pass. And no one on the opposing team seemed to pick up on it until we were up by three scores.

In basketball, it was much the same way. Dean played the post and had a pretty good shot too. More than anything, he rebounded like a beast. He also made some crucial shots in games that have unfortunately escaped my memory. But we'd get to the end of the game, look at the scorebook and Dean would have led the team in scoring. He was a 12-10 guy that opponents seemingly let run wild. And if Alabama isn't ready, the Bulldogs could do the same.

The Tide needs to recognize that this is going to be just as tough a game as Tennessee and LSU were. State's home schedule has been quite imposing, already having played four teams currently ranked in the top 15 of the BCS (LSU, Georgia Tech, Houston, and Florida), which account for four of their five losses. Questionable calls abound in those games like cowbells in the stands. They play a tough brand of football and would love to make this three out of four years defeating the Tide. The Bulldogs have also had a week off, allowing them a freshness that could possibly tip the game in their favor.

The Bulldogs' spread attack features their running back, Anthony Dixon, the second-leading rusher in the SEC this season. Though a spread offense often opens up a lethal passing attack, along the lines of Texas Tech or Utah, Dan Mullen's version in Starkville takes the inherited parts and juices it up a bit, propelling this already talented back to the front of the pack of SEC rushers. Defensively, they can be opportunistic, as demonstrated in the effort against Florida. Though young, they're giving up less than 150 yards rushing each game; opposing teams average a bit over 200 yards passing, which might help build on what Alabama's passing attack was able to do against LSU.

The LSU game gave the Tide a taste of what it's like to be in a wire-to-wire, back-and-forth game, something the Bulldogs have frequented on their home turf. Though McElroy played much better last Saturday than most of October combined, he has yet to hear a crowd of 53,000 sound like more than 100,000, thanks to an ignored SEC ban on artificial noisemakers, made famous in Will Ferrell's now-signature SNL skit, which, should be noted, had nothing to do with Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field. (Though, I would like to see said skit on that video board; when I was there last year for the Arkansas/MSU game, I spent more time watching it than the field which was only 15 rows away.) It's going to be a loud Saturday night for McElroy and his composure is going to be tested. The experience from the LSU game could prove quite helpful for him, especially coupled with a returned confidence to hit the deep routs and the return of his tight end, Colin Peek.

I don't think Alabama is going to look past Mississippi State. If the game is close, it's not going to be because the Bulldogs were overlooked; it's going to be because the Bulldogs played well. Saban's team seems to have learned its lesson on how to focus on one game a time, as demonstrated by the last two regular seasons. However, there could be a letdown in intensity that comes from playing in such a hyped-up like LSU. It is a Saturday night ESPN game, which typically involves a lot of action, scoring, and excitement.

However...

As far as I can see, or maybe it should be as much as I hope to see, Alabama's defense should contain Mississippi State's offense, adding Dixon to the group of top SEC performers who've suffered through disappointing games against McClain and company. Mark Ingram should continue going through defenders like McKinley High students went through cupcakes in last night's episode of Glee and look for Julio Jones to have another 100-yard receiving game. State's special teams give up an average of 15 yards per punt return, meaning that Javier Arenas is already lining up down field, ready to take one back; don't be surprised if he does.

If you're looking for a 45-38 shoot-out, turn over to ESPN2 for the Auburn-Georgia game. This one will probably be closer to 24-10.