Nick Saban knows exactly why trips to Starkville can turn messy in a hurry.
With Alabama set to face Mississippi State in Week 5, the former Crimson Tide coach said Friday on The Pat McAfee Show that road games against the Bulldogs were never simple business. Saban called them “always a trap game” and said getting his team locked in was one of the toughest parts of those weeks.
“It is always a trap game when Alabama goes to Mississippi State,” Saban said. “It was one of the hardest games for me to get our players up for, to respect Mississippi State for as good as they were, and to play in that environment.”
He added that the atmosphere in Starkville was a major part of the challenge, with the cowbells adding to the noise and making the setting especially difficult for visiting teams.
“It's always tough for Alabama going to Mississippi State..
It was one of the hardest games for us in that environment” ~ Coach Saban #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/8E3blgiNny
Saban’s comments come at a time when Mississippi State is drawing more attention than it has in a while. The Bulldogs are undefeated, and Kamario Taylor has been playing like one of the best quarterbacks in college football. That has given Saturday’s matchup a level of buzz many recent Mississippi State teams did not have when Alabama came to town.
Alabama also has another major test looming, with Georgia coming to town next weekend. Saban’s point was clear: the Tide will need to handle Mississippi State first before looking ahead to what comes next.
In Other News...
LSU Fans Will Recognize The Recruiting Path Behind Mississippi States New QB
Kamario Taylors path to Mississippi State looks familiar to anyone who watched Dak Prescotts rise in Starkville. Both quarterbacks arrived without the kind of national buzz that usually follows a SEC starter-in-waiting, and both ended up finding their way to Mississippi State after college recruiting took them on a route that was not exactly linear. For a program that has long valued development as much as pure pedigree, the comparison makes sense before Taylor has even had much time to settle in.
Prescott turned that under-the-radar arrival into a breakout 2014 season and eventually a career that carried him all the way to the NFL. Taylor is still at the point where the story is being written, but his emergence as the starting quarterback invites the same kind of conversation Mississippi State fans know well, especially when a familiar recruiting trail seems to be leading toward another opportunity to prove doubters wrong. [Read more 🡒]
Kamario Taylors Basketball Backstory Shows Why Mississippi State Fans Are So Intrigued
Before he ever became a quarterback prospect, Kamario Taylor was the kind of high school athlete who seemed to do a little bit of everything. He played football, basketball, baseball and track before eventually narrowing his focus to football, and that all-around background helps explain why Mississippi State fans have been so intrigued by him since he arrived in Starkville.
Jeff Lebby first crossed paths with Taylor on a basketball court, then nudged him toward football as the sport where his future belonged. Taylors basketball resume at the college level has been brief, with limited action in the 2021-22 season and no game appearances since, but the backstory still adds another layer to a player Bulldogs supporters are eager to watch develop. [Read more 🡒]
Mississippi State Plays In College Footballs Brightest Spotlight
Septembers television numbers only reinforced what Mississippi State already knows about life in the SEC: every week can feel like a prime-time event, whether the Bulldogs are the headliner or part of the backdrop. The conference drew 41% of total minutes watched in college football despite playing fewer games than other leagues, and SEC matchups averaged 4.8 million viewers while generating 22.6 billion minutes watched. Nine of the 10 highest-rated games during the month included at least one SEC team, which is the kind of reach that turns even routine Saturdays into national storylines.
For Mississippi State, that spotlight is part opportunity and part pressure. The SEC remains the sports biggest draw, and the Bulldogs are competing in a league where the most-watched games are rarely isolated from the rest of the conversation, especially when neighboring rivals are pulling huge audiences of their own. Texas-Ohio State topped the months ratings, while Ole Misss win over LSU came in second, another reminder that the conferences biggest stages tend to magnify everything around them, including the road Mississippi State is trying to carve out. [Read more 🡒]