Alabama is taking an unusual route into Saturday’s game at Mississippi State, and Kalen DeBoer says the plan is simple: skip the overnight stay and make the trip from Tuscaloosa on game day.
The Crimson Tide and Bulldogs meet at 11:00 a.m., and instead of traveling Friday and settling in, Alabama will leave campus Saturday morning. DeBoer pointed to the short distance between the two schools and said the setup gives his team a chance to stay in its own beds before heading out.
“We've had some success with those morning games, but we got to go on the road and travel that morning,” DeBoer said. “So, it's gonna be a little different.”
Tuscaloosa and Starkville are about 90 minutes apart on the road, with Alabama in the western part of the state and Mississippi State on the eastern side of Mississippi. That proximity makes the day-of-game plan possible, even with an early kickoff that will force an early departure and a tight turnaround before warmups.
DeBoer said this is not a totally new approach for his team, noting that Alabama has handled earlier morning travel before. That familiarity is part of why the staff is comfortable with the decision heading into a road test against a surging Mississippi State team.
The matchup carries major weight in the SEC standings. Both teams enter undefeated, and Alabama would pick up a significant boost in its College Football Playoff case with a road win over a top-20 opponent.
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