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Mississippi State vs. Alabama 2016 Final Score: What We Learned From The Tide’s 51-3 Win

This game was over from the opening kickoff.

By Tom Stephenson
NCAA Football: Mississippi State at Alabama Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports

A week after an upset win over Texas A&M, Mississippi State got a harsh dose of reality in a 51-3 loss to Alabama.

Jalen Hurts was the story for Alabama, as the true freshman carried the Alabama offense through the air and on the ground. Hurts threw for 347 yards on 28-of-37 passing, with 4 touchdown passes and 1 interception; he also got 11 carries for 100 yards and another TD. Three of those TD passes were to ArDarius Stewart, who caught 8 passes for 156 yards. On the other side of the ball, Mississippi State’s offense never could get anything going against a smothering Alabama defense.

If there was one negative for the Tide, they had three drives that stalled in the red zone resulting in Adam Griffith field goals, but that’s a minor complaint; when you’re generating as many scoring opportunities as Alabama’s offense was today, you can live with some of those ending with field goals.

With the win, Alabama improves to 10-0, 7-0 in the SEC. Mississippi State’s bowl hopes are on life support as the Bulldogs dropped to 4-6, 2-4 in the SEC. Alabama gets a tuneup next week against Chattanooga before the Iron Bowl, while Mississippi State gets Arkansas at home next week before finishing the season at Ole Miss.

What did we learn?

  1. No running back? No problem. Bo Scarborough didn’t play, and Damien Harris was limited to three carries on the day, but this wasn’t a problem for Alabama. Jalen Hurts and true freshman RB Josh Jacobs simply picked up the slack. This is what happens when you put together top recruiting classes year after year: you can weather some injuries.
  2. Mississippi State still has problems. The win over Texas A&M last week may end up being a simple fluke. You probably expected the Bulldogs to lose, but Alabama made them look like a Sun Belt team.
  3. Jalen Hurts will be a Heisman contender in 2017. Hurts has now thrown for 2000 yards and could break 1000 rushing yards by the end of the season. Those numbers are pretty good for anyone, let alone a true freshman. Think he’ll be a Heisman contender next year? Yes. Yes, he will.

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