Tide Dominates Mississippi State, 56-23
Keelon Russell emphatically wins quarterback dual over Kamario Taylor
By: Dave in Tuscaloosa
For the week leading up to 7th-ranked Alabama’s tussle with 16th-ranked Mississippi State in Starkville, most of the attention was on Bulldog sophomore quarterback Kamario Taylor. It certainly made sense, as he had been catapulted into the Heisman Trophy conversation after leading upstart Mississippi State to a 4-0 start and a national ranking. By Saturday afternoon, the conversation shifted to the other sophomore quarterback who stole the show in Starkville.
Tide quarterback Keelon Ruddell’s breakout campaign continues right on schedule as the sophomore ruled the day against Taylor and the Bulldogs, accounting for 285 passing yards, three touchdown passes, and one on the ground to lift the Crimson Tide to its 17th straight win over Mississippi State, 56-23 on Saturday. Despite passing for three touchdowns and 258 yards, Bulldog quarterback Taylor did not have his best day, and in addition to throwing two interceptions (including a first quarter pick six), he also coughed up a costly fumble that led to Alabama’s first touchdown of the day. The win propelled the Tide and Coach Kalen DeBoer to 5-0 and 2-0 in the conference. In his three seasons at the helm, this is the first DeBoer Bama team to win its first five games, and it elevated the head coach’s career record to an impressive 20-6 against top-25 opponents.
This was possibly the Tide’s most complete performance, as Alabama mitigated a frenzied atmosphere in Starkville and quickly neutralized the cowbell crazies with two early scores. Not only did they lead from wire to wire, but the Crimson Tide also looked, at times, dominant to the degree that reminded the Bama faithful of the days of Saban. Behind Alabama’s sensational sophomore quarterback is well supported by a physical, impactful offensive line, a stable of elusive backs that run north to south, and a receiving corps that is surprisingly deep and effective. Offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb’s unit has averaged 48 points per game so far in 2026, good for 4th nationally. To complement the impressive offensive is an aggressive, opportunistic defense that is deep and can dominant.
The general consensus on the 2026 Tide is that the team is getting better by the week, and Saturday’s rout of a good Bulldog squad on the road added credence to theat narrative. Reminiscent of last week’s fast start against South Carolina, the Tide shot out of the gate early. MSU received the opening kickoff and picked up two first downs and found themselves on the Tide 43. But on first down, Taylor dropped back to pass and lost the ball off of a pump fake. Bama’s London Simmons pounced on the loose ball and six plays later, Russell hit Ryan Coleman-Williams from 15-yards out to open the scoring. Three plays after that, Taylor was forced out of the pocket and as he scrambled left, he threw an ill advised pass that was intercepted by Tide corner Dijon Lee. Lee turned the interception into a pick six from 30 yards out and the Tide was on top 14-0 at the 8:30 mark of the first quarter. The Bulldog offense responded with an impressive 12 play, 75-yard scoring drive that ended with a Taylor to Anthony Evans III 2-yard pass to give the Bulldog faithful hope. As they have done all season, the Tide offense responded by marching 75-yards in 8 plays to answer. Russell ran it in untouched from 17-yards out to increase the lead to 21-7. The highlight of the drive was a brilliant 39-yard completion on 3rd and 19 to fellow sophomore Lotzeir Brooks that set up Bama at the MSU 30-yard line.
The second quarter got sloppy with both teams fumbling the ball away while both offenses struggled to move the ball which resulted in four total punts in the quarter. Bama’s second fumble of the day occurred at the 9:22 mark of the quarter when usually reliable Daniel Hill put the ball on the turf deep in Bama territory. On the next play, Taylor hit Zion Ragins from 11-yards out to cut the Tide lead to 21-14. After an exchange of punts, Russell led the Tide offense on a 7 play, 88-yard scoring drive that culminated in a Trae’shawn Brown 7- yard touchdown run to increase Bama’s lead to 28-14 with 1:56 to go until half. The key play of the drive happened with Bama on its own 16 and facing 3rd and 6. Russell hit Brooks deep for a 50-yard gain to keep the drive alive. Mississippi State responded with an impressive drive of its own to end the half that ended with a Kyle Ferrie 32-yard field goal to end the half with a 28-17 lead.
Traditionally, Alabama has struggled with the start of the second half, in particular when they receive the second half kickoff. Not on Saturday, as Grubb’s offense made easy work of the Bulldog defense. Rico Scott hauled in the first of his two touchdown catches on the day on a perfectly thrown 13-yard pass against tight coverage to increase the halftime lead to 35-17. The Bama defense continued the second half momentum with their second interception of a Taylor pass on the day, this time by linebacker Caleb Woodson that set up the Tide offense up on the State 21. Three plays later, Brown scored his second rushing touchdown of the day from 8-yards out to increase the Bama lead to 42-17 with 7:07 left in the third quarter. To their credit, the State offense did not give up and they answered Bama’s quick start to the quarter by driving 75-yards in 11 plays that included converting on two 4th downs. One was a beautiful 45-yard Taylor to Evans strike on 4th and 6 for a touchdown and after a failed 2-point conversion, the Tide lead stood at 42-23 with 2:38 left in the third. The fourth quarter belonged to Alabama to end any hope of a Bulldog comeback. Russell would complete a 10 play, 75-yard drive by hitting Rico Scott from 7-yards out and backup quarterback Austin Mack would complete the scoring with a nifty 3-yard touchdown run to make the final score 56-23.
There were heroes on both sides in this contest. For Mississippi State, receiver Anthony Edwards III had a career day, hauling in 12 passes for 166 yards and 2 touchdowns. For the Tide, Russell had another great day as did Lotzeir Brooks (4 catches for 96 yards) and Ryan Coleman-Williams has regained his form from a breakout freshman year in 2024, catching 3 balls for 43 yards and a touchdown. On the defensive side, Alabama freshman linebacker Xavier Griffin is emerging as a budding star. He led all Bama defenders with 9 total tackles which included a sack. Not to be outdone is Devan Thomkins. The transfer from USC is making a living disrupting opposing quarterbacks, and he found himself in the MSU backfield all day.
On the horizon for the Tide is another showdown with Kirby Smart and the 2nd ranked Georgia Bulldogs in Tuscaloosa on Saturday night. It’s well known that Smart’s record against the Tide is not great (2-7), yet the last time Bama and Georgia met was last December in the SEC Championship game where the Dawgs had their way with the Tide in a 28-7 rout. In addition, so far this season, Georgia looks like the nation’s most complete team. The unbeaten Dawgs have breezed through their early schedule and like the Tide, sit at 5-0 and 2-0 in the conference. Georgia will be looking for Kirby’s first win over Alabama in the regular season (the other UGA win over Bama took place in the 2022 national title game) and the Dawgs will be looking for their first win in Tuscaloosa since 2007 when they edged the Tide 26-23 in overtime.
