Before Saturday’s game even arrives, the buzz around Alabama and Mississippi State is going to be impossible to miss. The conversation will center on the same thing over and over: Keelon vs.
Kamario. The two are friends, they play with similar skill sets, and they’re also among the youngest starting quarterbacks in college football.
Kamario Taylor will be making his sixth college start Saturday morning, while Keelon Russell will be making his fifth.
That spotlight doesn’t mean the respect goes one way. Alabama fans, by the sound of it, wouldn’t swap Keelon for any other college quarterback, and not for many NFL quarterbacks either.
But that shouldn’t take anything away from Taylor. He’s described here as a special talent, and he might be the toughest quarterback Alabama has to deal with all season.
The programs around them, though, sit on very different ends of the spectrum. Mississippi State has zero “recognized” National Championships, according to the NCAA.
Alabama has 16 by that same count, plus two more claimed by the Crimson Tide. The Bulldogs have won one SEC Championship.
Alabama has 30 SEC football titles.
There’s a style clash too, and it may matter just as much as the names under center. Jeff Lebby has Mississippi State playing what Nick Saban used to call a fastball offense.
The Bulldogs aren’t always the absolute fastest team in college football, but they’re regularly near the top. Alabama will speed things up now and then, but it does not operate anywhere near Mississippi State’s pace.
The Crimson Tide is one of the slower tempo offenses in the sport.
That difference becomes even more important because of where the game will be played. Mississippi State’s stadium brings a setting that opposing fans love to complain about.
They use words like unfair and illegal. The SEC does ban artificial noisemakers, but the Bulldogs’ cowbells are exempt.
That means the ringing can continue until the opposing center touches the ball before the snap.
Mississippi State also gives its fans clear instructions on when to ring and when to yell. Whether everyone follows them is another question, and opponents of the Bulldogs have plenty to say about that.
Still, when Mississippi State has the ball, the cowbells should ring only to a point, and the Bulldogs’ offense should be able to communicate just fine. Alabama’s offense, on the other hand, won’t get the same benefit.
In Other News...
Shane Beamer Finally Addressed South Carolinas Ugly Alabama Sideline Drama
Dylan Stewarts night against Alabama came with far more attention for the wrong reasons than the numbers on the stat sheet. The South Carolina edge rusher was flagged for a late hit on quarterback Keelon Russell and later threw a punch at Alabama tight end Josh Ford, drawing a penalty without getting ejected. He also played through back issues and was used sparingly, a rough evening that put his edge and his discipline under the microscope.
Shane Beamer didnt duck the uglier parts of it afterward, calling out Stewarts unsportsmanlike conduct while still noting the freshmans competitiveness and the way he responded in the second half. Beamer also said the staff eventually had to take Stewart off the field after he refused to come out on his own, a detail that adds another layer to a situation South Carolina will have to manage carefully as it tries to keep one of its most talented defenders pointed in the right direction. [Read more 🡒]
Alabama Game Day Is Becoming A Celebrity Stage For Tide Culture
Saturday in Tuscaloosa looked as much like a reunion of Alabama bloodlines as a football game. Former Tide standouts from both the gridiron and the hardwood, including Mark Ingram and Brandon Miller, were in the building, adding another layer of star power to a day already built around the programs long-running pull on people who have worn the script A or simply grown up around it.
The crowd also reflected how far Alabama game day reaches beyond the roster. Scott Stapp, who has long backed the Tide and has family ties to the program, made an appearance, and Kid Rock was part of the scene as well, underscoring how the schools culture keeps drawing recognizable names into the fold. With Creed performances on the calendar, the overlap between Alabama football and celebrity presence is becoming its own kind of tradition, even if the story of why those connections keep deepening is still very much unfolding. [Read more 🡒]
Nick Saban Framed Alabamas Weekend In A Way Tide Fans Will Love
Saturdays ESPN College GameDay setup had plenty of the usual banter, but it also gave Alabama fans a familiar kind of comfort. Nick Saban was back on the panel alongside Johnny Knoxville, Pat McAfee, Desmond Howard and Kirk Herbstreit, and the crew spent part of the show weighing several notable matchups, including South Carolina at Alabama and Oklahoma at Georgia, while also breaking down Texas-Tennessee.
Knoxville showed up in Tennessee gear and made no secret of where his support was headed, adding to a panel that was already split on the Texas-Tennessee game. For Tide fans, though, the most interesting piece was how Saban framed Alabamas weekend in the broader college football picture, with the former coach once again in a spot where his perspective carries extra weight whenever the Crimson Tide are in the conversation. [Read more 🡒]