Every team in the SEC has blemishes on their record this season except Alabama. The Crimson Tide are the only undefeated team left in the conference and are looking to extend their record to 6-0 on Halloween night.
Mike Leach is in his first season as head coach of Mississippi State, and expectations were through the roof after knocking off LSU Week One. Leach brought his famous air-raid offense to the one conference that is known for heavy run offense and tough defenses.
Alabama head coach Nick Saban said in his Monday press conference about preparing for the Bulldogs, “Everyone knows about the kind of offense they run. A very pass-oriented offense, a lot of spread formations. They do a really good job in executing it.”
The Bulldogs have not won a game since the first game of the season, as teams are starting to figure out how to defend the pass-heavy attack. Saban will be preparing to roll the Tide through Mississippi State.
“This is really going to be kind of a different preparation for us on both sides of the ball relative to what we normally see,” Saban said while discussing preparation for Leach’s team.
Alabama has historically been known as a team geared up to stop the run game. However, the conference has slowly been converting to more offensively balanced teams through the years. As we are seeing each week, this has made SEC teams more prepared to handle a heavy passing attack.
Mississippi State’s offense isn’t the only thing Alabama will prepare for this week. The Bulldog defense has been playing well this year, and Saban said the scheme on defense is also different for the conference.
Saban said about the Bulldog defense, “Defensively, they have really played well this year, they are one of the top defensive teams in the league. They play hard, very physical, and have got a little different kind of scheme.”
How will the Tide be able to game plan for an offense that they are not used to seeing week in and week out? Figuring out what defensive schemes to run will be key for Alabama’s preparation. Zone coverage has been better for stopping Leach’s offense, according to Saban.
“When you’re that spread out on the field and they’ve got five guys going out for a pass all the time. … When you play man to man somebody gets beat and you’ve got an issue, and when you play zone you have a better chance to play inside out and break on the ball,” he advised.
One key to stopping Mississippi State’s offense will be getting in the backfield and disrupting the quarterback.
When Saban was asked about how he felt his pass rush played against Tennessee last week he said, “When people seven-man protect, which is what they did a lot in the last game, you’re not going to get a lot of pass rush with four guys rushing. So, I think sometimes it’s relative to who you are playing against.”
Things could definitely be improved in this aspect of the defensive side.
Saban acknowledged this, saying, “I definitely think this an area that we need to improve and certainly an area we are going to work hard on because it’s going to be important in this game.”
The pass rush will be one of the keys to Alabama defeating the Bulldogs this Saturday. When a team passes as much as Mississippi State, getting the quarterback off his game consistently will make the job of the secondary much easier.
The Bulldogs will travel to Tuscaloosa on Saturday to take on the Crimson Tide at 6:00 p.m. CT.
Hayden Crigler is a contributing college football writer for Yellowhammer News. You can contact him through email: hayden@new-yhn.local or on Twitter: @hayden_crigler.
