Mississippi State has already checked one long-awaited box this season. After 14 tries, the Bulldogs finally broke through in a ranked-versus-ranked matchup, edging then-No. 19 Missouri 31-24 last Saturday to end a 12-year drought in those games.
Now comes the bigger test.
No. 16 Mississippi State will host No.
7 Alabama on Saturday afternoon in Starkville, Miss., with both teams unbeaten and both carrying plenty of momentum into an SEC showdown. For Jeff Lebby’s group, the win over Missouri was a milestone.
It also set the stage for an even tougher chance to build on it.
"Gonna be an incredible challenge. But our guys are excited about that piece of it," Mississippi State coach Jeff Lebby said of this week's game. "That's what this schedule is, that's week in and week out."
The Bulldogs’ last victory over a ranked opponent while also being ranked themselves came on Oct. 11, 2014, when they knocked off No. 2 Auburn 38-23.
Mississippi State was No. 3 that day. Last week’s win over Missouri finally snapped that stretch.
Alabama arrives at 4-0 overall and 2-0 in the SEC, and the Tide have looked sharper with each passing week under Kalen DeBoer in his third season. They opened the year by fighting through slow starts against Kentucky and Florida State, then looked far more complete in last week’s 49-18 rout of South Carolina.
"I thought the improvement in a lot of areas for our football team from Week 3 to Week 4 showed up," DeBoer said Monday. "I think our physicality shows up, and so just proud of the guys in a lot of those areas. Obviously, there's always things we got to improve, but I thought it was our most complete game up to this point."
A big reason for that progress has been first-year starter Keelon Russell, who is settling in fast at quarterback. Against South Carolina, he threw four touchdown passes, doubling his season total in one afternoon.
Over his last two games, Russell has accounted for nine total touchdowns - seven passing and two rushing - without a turnover after throwing two interceptions at Kentucky on Sept. 12.
"I think his composure has shown up, and I think that's directly related to his decision-making," Alabama offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb said of Russell. "... I feel like Keelon's ahead of the curve on some of those things, and he will continue to have to work on things that are going to pop up in hostile environments like what he'll see on Saturday."
Russell has been impressive, but he won’t be the most productive quarterback on the field when the teams meet. That distinction belongs to Mississippi State’s Kamario Taylor, who has given the Bulldogs a spark since making his first start last November against rival Ole Miss.
Taylor has thrown 14 touchdown passes this season, tied with Southern California’s Jayden Maiava and Miami’s Darian Mensah for the national lead. He ranks 10th in the country with 1,192 passing yards and has only two interceptions. Against Missouri, he piled up 360 passing yards, including 135 in the fourth quarter as Mississippi State erased a 24-17 deficit with two touchdown drives.
For Lebby, Taylor’s growth has been about more than just numbers.
"I think he's done a much better job of understanding not taking the unnecessary hit," Lebby said. "Our very first goal for him was to start a minimum of 13 games, and then we're gonna move from there. But he's all the way in on taking care of himself and knowing how important it is."
Taylor has plenty of help around him, too. Mississippi State’s offense ranks fourth nationally at 533.3 yards per game, with Fluff Bothwell adding 402 rushing yards and three touchdowns and Anthony Evans contributing 28 catches for 408 yards and three scores.
The challenge now is far bigger. Mississippi State is trying to end a 16-game losing streak to Alabama, with its last win in the series coming in 2007.
In Other News...
Ole Miss Took A National Stage Loss Fans Wont Easily Ignore
Saturdays SEC showcase on ESPN ended up being a mixed bag for the league, but the loss that stung most for Ole Miss came in the kind of spotlight the Rebels do not get to control very often. Floridas win over Ole Miss was part of a high-profile Week 4 slate that also included Texas taking down Tennessee and LSU knocking off Texas A&M, with all three ABC telecasts drawing strong numbers and Texas-Tennessee delivering ESPN networks highest-rated noon kickoff in a decade.
For Ole Miss, the on-field result came with the added frustration of seeing another conference opponent seize the national conversation. The Rebels were already in the middle of a crowded Week 4 window that produced plenty of attention for the SEC, and now they have to sit with a result that landed in front of a big audience. Week 5 brings another round of league-heavy television inventory, including Alabama at Mississippi State, Tennessee against Auburn, Missouri at Florida, and Clemson hosting Miami in primetime, but Ole Miss will have to wait for its next chance to turn a national stage into something more memorable. [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss Offense Has One Urgent Fix Coming Out Of The Bye
After a blowout loss to Florida, Ole Miss has spent the bye week doing what every team hopes a midseason pause will allow: taking a hard look at what went wrong and resetting before the next stretch of games. For the Rebels, the biggest concern on offense has been getting out of the gate cleaner and finding better rhythm up front, where the line has been pushed to tighten its cohesion and set a stronger tone early.
Senior right guard Patrick Kutas said the loss should stay with the team as motivation, not something to shrug off once the schedule resumes. For Ole Miss, the challenge now is turning that frustration into sharper starts and steadier execution, because the bye only matters if the problems it exposed lead to real improvement when the Rebels line up again. [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss Has A New National QB Talking Point Fans Will Love
Bill Connellys latest quarterback rankings gave the SEC plenty of room to boast, with five league passers landing in the top 12 and a broader national conversation that will catch Ole Miss fans attention. ESPNs analyst put Miamis Darian Mensah at the top of the Power 4 group, but the Southeastern footprint in the list was hard to miss, especially with names like Trinidad Chambliss, Kamario Taylor, Keelon Russell, Gunner Stockton and Aaron Philo all drawing notice.
For Rebels followers, the most interesting part is the way the leagues quarterback discussion is shifting around young talent and fast-rising production. Kamario Taylors jump was singled out as a major improvement, and with Alabama and Mississippi State set to meet soon, the SECs quarterback hierarchy is likely to keep getting shuffled in real time. Ole Miss may not be the center of this particular ranking, but it is exactly the kind of national QB chatter that tends to matter in Oxford. [Read more 🡒]